The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner)

October 28, 2002
Browne's third tasty outing (following Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love
in 1999 and God Save the Sweet Potato Queens
in 2001) finds the Boss Queen taking on Betty Crocker (source of "some of the insane ideas we have struggled with and against for the last 50 years") and channeling Suze Orman for financial advice ("There's a lot to be said for rich old guys with bad hearts and no relatives, but you can't always get what you want"). Culinarily challenged readers will be happy to find this book's main course is still Browne's hilarious anecdotes and observations about enjoying life after 40. She caps each escapade with the perfect artery-clogging recipes (with names like "Whatchamacallit Chicken," "Gooiest Cake in the World," "Bitch Bar Bacon Swimps" and "Pig Candy"—bacon rolled in brown sugar). Whether she's dealing with her mother having a stroke, confessing her obsession with buying a cement monkey or waxing on the joys of wigs or her potential second career as a plastic surgery consultant, Browne is riotously funny and human. Fans will be charmed when she falls in love with a younger man ("who totally missed Motown because he wasn't born yet") or reveals the recipe for Nuclia's Secret Weapon Hair Spray: Elmer's glue and water. Browne and her stable of Queens (no one with any taste would utter the word "drag" in their presence) show no signs of abdicating their hold on readers. Long live the Queens! (Jan.)Forecast:Browne's first two books have sold a collective 750,000 copies. She is headed on a 20-city tour to met fans from the more than 1,600 SPQ chapters nationwide ( sweetpotatoqueens.com ), and will make 20 radio satellite and a number of TV appearances. With a 100,000 first printing, expect a long reign.