Good Gracious

Some people adore Martha Stewart. Some people can’t stand her, and “Martha Stuart’s (better than you at) Entertaining,” by Tom Conner and Jim Downey (HarperPerennial; $10), is for them.

From the cover, where a stylish “Martha Stuart” graciously hosts a pool party while walking on water, to the last chapter, where she teaches crafts to children chained to their chairs, the real Martha Stewart’s aura of effortless mastery and queen-bee serenity are mercilessly mocked. The chapter on Easter features a papal visit--the Pope visiting Martha, not the other way around. He also loses a contest to see who can turn wine into water.

One recipe in that chapter, complete with echt-Martha illustrations, shows how to pipe cream cheese and caviar designs onto communion wafers. It must be said that the recipes in this book, like all comic recipes, depend on wild incongruity and are best read in small batches. They do include some pretty funny ones, such as Freshly Caught Record Striped Bass With Cucumber Scales. (You wouldn’t want to cook it, though.)

This is the second Martha Stewart parody by Conner and Downey, and they graciously end it, as well they might, with thanks to “the nearly inimitable Martha Stewart, peerless stylist, entrepreneur and (to date) good sport.”