McInerney Appears on Iron Chef America

It’s an unfortunate circumstance of being a writer in this culture that we don’t get a whole lot of publicity. Paris Hilton and Ashton Kutcher get so much attention that I have nightmares about them both, but the best writers in the world are generally relegated to odd appearances on PBS and sometimes an interview in the local entertainment rag. We, as book fiends, certainly pay attention to them, but the larger public often ignores our best authors.

So I was thrilled to turn on Iron Chef America on the Food Network Saturday night and see Jay McInerney featured as one of the judges. In addition to his novels and short story collections, McInerney is of course a respected voice on the finer things and author of Bacchus & Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar.

The battle pitched Iron Chef Cat Cora against challenger Neil Fraser in a pork fight. Even though Cora pulled out all the stops with bacon-flavored ice cream, Fraser pretty much wiped the floor with the Iron Chef. McInerney’s comments were accurate and humorous and it was good exposure for any literary writer.

Exposure that will undoubtedly kick into high gear this week as his newest novel, The Good Life hits bookstore shelves this week. Certainly, here at Slushpile.net, we’ve got a lot lined up on McInerney this week including an interview with the fantastic author. So stay tuned! And if you go see Jay at any of his book signings, just remember to bring vanilla or chocolate because the bacon-flavored ice cream kind of weirded him out.