Since I too am considering writing a first book, I find this is an interesting thread, and I appreciate the words of wisdom of zootjs and ketzel. Along these lines, I have a question for everyone: Is there a market for a new and comprehensive book on tomatoes? By that, I mean one that covers, at least to some extent, everything about tomatoes that a tomato enthusiast/aficionado/junkie/addict/head might want to know (and maybe more). I am considering writing such a book, and in fact already have prepared an outline and introduction. But before I put a year or two's work into it, I would very much appreciate any opinions anyone may have on the subject. What I have in mind is something that would cover at least the following subjects: 1. Biology and cultivation (including different species and cultivars), 2. Genetics and genetic modification (e.g., sad story of the Flavr Savr gene), 3. Origin and evolution (meet your cousin, the tomato), 4. World-wide diffusion and subsequent history (how did the tomato get to India and China, anyway? The English? The Portuguese? The Spanish? One author suggests early sea contact with Peru) 5. Adoption and use in different food traditions (e.g., how do tomatoes fit in with the religious aspects of Indian food tradition?), 6. Health aspects (e.g., effect on prostate and lung cancer, macular degeneration, sun damage to skin), 7. Commercial and economic issues (do they really eat 200 pounds per person per year in Egypt?), 8. Connections with famous people (e.g., Ronald Reagan), 9. Film and literature (nobody should miss Attack of the Killer Tomatoes or its sequels), 10. Myths (e.g., the Robert Gibbon Johnson story) and misconceptions, 11. Tomatoes and sex (no misconceptions there, and no conceptions, either, I suppose [smile]), 12. Enthusiast organizations and festivals (the most spectacular is in Spain), 13. Etymology of popular and scientific names (where did the name lycopersicum -- Wolf Peach -- come from?), and 14. Home growing and cooking (somewhat). I know of course that there are many books on how to grow tomatoes, and many recipe books, and I certainly don't intend to compete with such books. What I am thinking of is something that would not only contain quite a lot of information about a broad range of subjects relating to tomatoes, but also use tomatoes as a lens to look into some of the things mentioned (history, biology, even cosmology: for example, without supernovas, tomatoes could not exist). Needless to say, with such a range of topics, I could only cover most things in a fairly summary manner; the selling point would be its breadth, not its depth on any subject. I would make reference to other books for more depth on a given subject. Would you buy such a book? At Amazon prices? Would it be better to have lots of pictures, maps etc. and a higher price or fewer of such things and a lower price? There the various books on other food items, some of which have done quite well in the market, notably Mark Kurlanskys three books, on cod, salt and oysters, respectively. There is also one on the potato by Larry Zuckerman and one on the olive by Mort Rosenblum. Each of those is, however, somewhat less comprehensive than what I outlined above, which brings me to a second question: Should I cut back the scope and make it a bit deeper in the areas retained? If so, what should I leave in or keep out? Should I make it pretty much purely a history book with a particular twist, like KurlanskyÂs? Or would that narrow the audience too much? Just to elaborate for a moment, a historical work would start with the break-up of Pangaea, the latest supercontinent, which started drifting apart 200 million years ago. The breakup resulted in separate biospheres developing in the Americas and Eurasia, which meant that the tomato was unknown to the bulk of humankind until the the last 500 years. During that time humans have, from a biological perspective, re-united the divided parts of Pangaea. Before they did so, the tomato spread from its origin in the alto plano of the West Coast of South America to what is today Mexico and Central America, but not to what is today the US (why it didnÂt is an interesting issue I would try to explore) or anywhere else. In the last 300 years or so, it has been adopted into almost every food tradition on earth. How and when it did so is a story that, to my knowledge, has never been fully told, except as it relates to the US (in Andrew SmithÂs book cited below). Telling that story would allow me to bloviate on various subjects such as international trade routes and social history. As I write that last paragraph, it occurs to me that this story alone would be quite an undertaking, one that could not really be done justice in a single chapter of a broader book. But then ÂÂare the 30 million home tomato gardeners in the US going to buy a history book? Or will you want growing tips, recipes, cosmology, sexual innuendo and genetics and such thrown in? I suppose I could include some of those topics in a book that is primarily a history, but would a book that is primarily a history that grab your attention, or, more relevantly, give you an uncontrollable urge to buy it? Hey, maybe I could include OprahÂs favorite tomato recipes. I could put that in a chapter entitled, "the tomato and popular culture." I would appreciate any thoughts any of you may have. Thanks very much, Jonathan P.S.: I have looked at the following, none of which (it seems to me) is quite what I have in mind: 1. Tantalizing Tomatoes, ed. by Karen Davis Cutler (New York 1997) 2. The Tomato in America, by Andrew Smith (Columbia, S.C. 1994) 3. The Great Tomato Book, by Gary Ibsen (Berkeley 1999) 4. The Great Tomato Book, by Sheila Bluff (Short Hills, N.J. 1999) (The preceding two books have the same title and were published in the same year; rather remarkable.) 5. In Praise of Tomatoes, by Steven Shepherd (New York 1996) 6. Exploring the Tomato, by Mark Harvey, Steve Quilley and Huw Beynon (Cheltenham, U.K. 2002) 7. All About Tomatoes, by Walter L. Doty (? 1981) 8. Terrific Tomatoes, by Mimi Luebbermann and Faith Echtermeyer (? 1994) 9. 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, by Carolyn J. Male (New York 1999)

TG - I think you have found the true cause of our high crime rate - our culture. This discussion is timely, as I happened across an article on Buzzfeed or some such website where it listed what the state departments of other countries advise when coming to the U.S. While we did receive high marks for being friendly, foreign tourists were warned about robbery, high crime, and an armed US citizenry (one country said don't get in a fight with an American because they are likely to be armed with a gun). I thought to myself, oh please, the United States has to be one of the safest places in the world for tourists. But as I read more about the crime problem here as compared to other countries, I'm starting to see why those warnings are issued. Jas - I support gun ownership, with limitations. I support background checks, including mental health screening. I support regulation of the type of gun you are permitted to own. I see no need for an AR-15 in the home, for example. These are the weapons that can take out an entire office/classroom/movie theater in a matter of seconds. But, as is true with most things political in America, politicians won't meet in the middle. The only two acceptable views are anybody can own anything or guns should be plainly outlawed. Any politician who strays too far from those party lines is swiftly reprimanded.

Just as an update I copied below in italics what I originally wrote above. This student earned a poor grade on a team assignment for lack of participation (and his teammates had also complained to me privately about his odd behavior). I asked on his feedback sheet that he talk with me after class. I had a moment of panic... like this isn't something I should be getting involved in. But he stayed after class and I had to follow through. So I explained his grade and said I noticed he seems nervous or distressed sometimes, and that if he ever needs help with class or any other matter I'm available to help him and can also point him to school resources. He just sort of looked at me and nodded without any indication of how he was interpreting my offer of help. He just said thanks and left. I then called my dean and she was so very supportive. We have (like most colleges and universities have developed) a base of resources including trained counselors who are available for our students. I'm also able to make a formal recommendation for intervention for the student but this is made known to the student when it is done. She suggested I talk with another administrator at the college who has more experience with this first. I'm torn about what I've done, like a cross between being proactive while also feeling guilty about profiling a student who seems disturbed as a potential mass murderer. The latter is what makes this feel icky... Anyway, I acted. editing to add that I was more tactful and concerned about the student than what initially appears in my explanation above. I do believe he may have some personal issues (his teammates alluded to this but for privacy reasons I did not inquire with them further). At this young adult age many students have difficulty transitioning from being under their parents roof to meeting the demands of college. I really am concerned about him and I explained this to my dean. I did not preface it with my suspicions that he could be violent... I didn't even allude to that. Only that he appeared to be distressed and I wanted to make him aware that we have resources if he feels he needs assistance. First, I'm a part-time college teacher and I noticed one of my students seems sullen. He wears sunglasses in class and a dark hoodie over his head. He shakes a bit. He looks unhealthy. He doesn't make eye contact when I call on him and he doesn't appear to have any friends on the campus. The other students avoid him. I suspect he's on drugs and maybe there's more to it. I'm going to reach out to him and ask if he's OK. I'm going to express concern about his well-being and see if I can point him to resources. Depending upon how he responds I'm going to document my concerns with the college. If he ever commits a violent crime I don't want to be the person interviewed by police who says they always thought he was a little off but never did anything about it. Will I be overstepping my bounds? I don't care. Will he be offended by my inquiry? I don't care. I really don't. I am going to speak up because he does not appear to be a stable person and yet has access to guns as a citizen of this country.

The Swiss do more of something like I think the founders imagined. Every male who is mentally and physically fit for military service gets called up for training upon turning 18. Not sure how long it lasts, maybe 6-12 months, and then they get issued a gun which they would then bring with them if they were called to defend the country. Not sure about the ammo. But anyway, you can buy a gun and ammo in most of Europe, but the restrictions are a bit tighter, not sure if they have the gun show loopholes like we do. I think Europeans are not as bothered by this because they don't have this really strong fascination with guns. Some people are big into shooting sports just like here, but I dunno, Europeans are just more world weary, war weary maybe, I mean they've been having violent uprisings for way longer than us. I met a Swiss man once who talked quite a bit about Europeans attitude towards guns and he felt Americans were immature about it. He felt the Swiss had a better attitude because they got training in responsible gun use from their military training. Of course he was a real Teutonic type of a guy, not at all loosey goosey, very formal in his manners. He found a lot of American behavior unruly, lol! The Constitution is built upon "natural" principles which means they are build upon reason which we finally agreed applied to all humans. What could we reasonably expect a reasonable person to want to do. Yes, the founders wanted citizens to have the right to bear arms. But they were also educated men and lovers of reason, so I would like to see some of that come into the current gun debate. I don't know what to do about this violent culture that is escalating here in the US, but I do think as smart and reasonable citizens we can come up with some solutions. If we are at least allowed to research and talk about it and discuss it without absurd and untrue slogans being substituted for sincere efforts to learn about the causes and get something done. I'm like most posters here, I'm getting sick and tired of this being business as usual and acceptable. Some modest reforms might help, but so will addressing many aspects of this problem. There are clearly lots of alienated people here and abroad and we've got to figure out ways to make ourselves less vulnerable to the negative gang mentality that people get swept up in. We've chipped away at a lot of problems here in this country and made progress so it can be done. I know that young men in violent and unstable situations are very vulnerable to lashing out. Here in the US they join gangs of various ilks. But then again, Mateen had every chance to settle down and become a solid citizen (education, jobs, marriage, etc.) and he just couldn't do it. Lots of cases like this, then add this inflammatory rhetoric that is so easily accessible . . .