A full six years before the debut of Instagram, which allows every Anthony Bourdain wannabe with a cell phone to post pics of their restaurant meals online, Tucker Shaw decided to photograph every single thing he ate for an entire year. This includes pieces of beef jerky he ate at home, a costly meal at NYC's Le Bernardin, Ring Dings and late night bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios. Although I've never actually looked at any food photos on Instagram (and kind of think the practice is pretty self-indulgent and silly), as a foodie the idea is kind of intriguing to me so the cover and title of this one instantly called out to me.

And once I started flipping through it, I discovered so much more than a bunch of poorly lit cell phone photos of foodstuffs.

It's really quite addictive and proves to be insanely personal, even despite the fact that the food photos are accompanied by almost no text. Based on what little information is provided, you get a glimpse into Shaw's life as a youthful New Yorker creative - how often he's out socializing, when he's home alone, at what point he appears to have settled down with someone (Danny), his travels, when he's flush and when he's broke and, of course, all his eating habits, tastes, experiments and splurges. We're even with him through the death of his father.

This is an entertaining and revealing glimpse into one man's life as reflected in his food choices. Loses one point for the lousy photography.

I really enjoyed this. Possibly more than I should have. ( )

This is another great bathroom book. It doesn't require huge chunks of time to read because it isn't a book to read so much as experience. Shaw's photos are all candids in so much as they're all staged so poorly that their charm comes from what he WASN'T trying to show. The man eats a lot of cereal. We as a member of a generation of cereal eaters, that's enough credibility for me. ( )