Comments: This is exactly what it's authors/producers say it is – part "fanzine," part cookbook. That is, if you're not a fan of the Top Chef show and its speedy "Quickfire Challenges" (and even if you are), this is only partially usable as a cookbook.

In case you're out of the loop, Top Chef routinely calls upon its chef-contestants to make an appetizer using only vending-machine foods, create a dish based on a color, make something delicious using three different canned foods, cook using $10 of ingredients from one aisle of the supermarket, create a signature hot dog, make a dessert for a bunch of Girl Scouts, take a dish from Top Chef: The Cookbook and turn it into a soup, etc., etc. The editor has done a reasonable job of selecting the most successful, appealing, and user-friendly of the contestants' recipes, but these are not hoops you'll want to jump through every night.

Drawing from the first five seasons of the show, the book features 75 recipes – including Pizza alla Greek; Bittersweet Chocolate Cake; Snapper with Blackberry-Beet Compote; Strawberry-Saffron Freeform Tart; Kebeb Sausage with Tomato Jam; Lime Gingersnap Crumble Sundae; Reuben Benedict with Thousand Island Hollandaise; Rice Salad with Seared Skirt Steak; Leek, Ham and Egg Soup; Poached Egg Salad; Pan-seared Trout with Summer Corn, Tomatoes, and Grapes; and some less traditional dishes.

The book includes lots of sidebar material, including interviews with contestants, tips for home cooks, tons of photos, trivia related to the chefs, dishes, and ingredients, and advice on hosting a Quickfire Cocktail Party and staging Quickfire Challenges at home.