In Pursuit of the Common Good, Twenty-five Years of Repairing the World One Bottle of Salad Dressing at a Time, by Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner.

my abhorrence of the phrase "the common good" aside, I absolutely adored this book.

so much so that I started it around 7pm last night and finished it around 10:30pm last night.
that's right.
it's a read all in one night it's so good you can't put it down kind of book.

I love everything about this man.
his movies.
his blue eyes.
his food (as I sit here eating his pretzels)
his sense of humor.
his charity work.

so to hear in his own words how, and why, he and his partner a.e. hotchner decided to give conventionality the proverbial finger, produce all natural foods without those pesky preservatives, and then give every single cent of profit to charities is pretty darn neat.

add to that the whole back story (and continuing story) of their Hole In The Wall Gang Camps (which apparently are now all around the world, something I didn't know) and you have a pretty compelling book.

and if the letters from campers to paul and hotch thanking them for their camp experience at the end of the book don't make you tear up a little bit, you have no soul.

and if the letters from consumers to paul and hotch about the various other uses for their salad dressing and a few just telling paul he has nice eyes don't make you giggle, [see above].

and, there are recipes in the back!
what more could you want?

if you love good food and good people, you'll like this book.

but fair warning, it'll really really make you miss paul newman...

.