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T A B L E++T A L K

Are women more violent than men? Defy or defend stereotypes in Table Talk

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R E C E N T L Y

Bitter Fame
By Jay Parini
"Birthday Letters" is a huge gift to readers that has cost Ted Hughes dearly
(02/06/98)

The good father
By Kate Moses
Now it's clear why Ted Hughes has been silent all these years: To protect his children
(02/06/98)

Second Thoughts
By Sallie Tisdale
Our children bring people in and out of our lives, just as they come and go
(02/05/98)

Hot Flash
By Tracy Quan
Anthropologist Helen Fisher on why Monica should have never trusted Linda Tripp
(02/04/98)

Drama Queen
Betrayed by your girlfriend? Send us your story! Plus: This month's winner
(02/04/98)

City of Light (and laundry)
By Debra Ollivier
Giving a new meaning to French laundry
(02/03/98)

Time for One Thing
By Inda Schaenen
A cat
(02/02/98)

ARCHIVES

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Mamafesto
By Camille Peri
Why it's time
for Mothers Who Think

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"Making the Case for Yourself: A Diet Book for Smart Women"
By Susan Estrich
Riverhead Books, 196 pages

"Dining with the Duchess: Making Everyday Meals a Special Occasion"
By Sarah, the Duchess of York and Weight Watchers
Simon and Schuster, 221 pages

CHEWING FAT WITH THE GIRLS | PAGE 2 OF 2

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At the other end of the dieting spectrum is the more traditional slimming tome, "Dining With the Duchess," by Sarah, Duchess of York, and Weight Watchers -- l25 recipes with the usual tips, fat gram tallies, etc. This book's got a double-barrelled hook -- endorsement by the downsized former "Duchess of Pork" and the marketing heft and credibility of Weight Watchers. Discerning readers of the book's flap copy will be gratified to find that "each recipe features the company's revolutionary new l*2*3 Success (TM), the weight-loss plan designed for busy people who want to cook and eat delicious meals without guilt." This plan, we're told, is "easy to use, there's no complicated counting, and there are no forbidden foods." Oddly, this revolutionary plan is never explained in the cookbook itself, nor are we told what to do with the mysterious points accorded to each recipe. (Do we add them up until we get to 3? Are prime numbers involved?) I presume this code is cracked once one ponies up the dough for a Weight Watchers membership.

But the duchess is there in spades. Refreshingly, Fergie admits that she very rarely graces a kitchen and employs a full-time cook among her fleet of helpmeets to cater to her tastes. Determined nonetheless to put her stamp on the cookbook bearing her name, she punctuates each of the menus with light-hearted divertissements, inviting us into a life of schussing down the slopes, enjoying high tea with her daughters, table-hopping at charity balls, cavorting at Ascot, traversing the lush landscape at Balmoral in happier times.

"Dining With the Duchess" offers tantalizing glimpses of life among the royals (climbing the steps for exercise when she's traveling "drives my security men mad!"). Fergie serves up armchair psychology ("I now realize overeating is only a symptom of suppressed feelings" and "the road to happiness is not paved with a thin body, and no one need struggle alone when it comes to weight"). She thrills us with moments of high drama ("I remember once [Herbert, a pony] stood stock-still when my foot caught in the stirrup. Most little ponies would have run away, but not Herbert") and incisive, you-are-there travelogue ("I do find it difficult to compare and contrast the [United] states because each one is so individual and distinctive in its own way"). It's possible she missed a career as a movie critic ("I love watching videos and all kinds of films ... 'Dances With Wolves' holds a special place in my heart"), but not as a social critic ("That particularly American trait of always seeing people for who they really are -- and not being swayed by the judgment of the press and its opinion -- is truly refreshing").

But, hey, if the book isn't exactly deep thinking (I suppose she saved the real soul-searching for her autobiography, which "forced me to collect the emotions and thoughts I had amassed over my lifetime and try to put them into words"), it does reveal Fergie to be a consummate Girl, someone we could easily spoon Häagen-Dazs with, straight out of the container. And "her" recipes look absolutely delicious. We loved her when she was the Duchess of Pork, we stood by her through the unfortunate Toe Tasting Period and we love her thin and trim. We're all secretly hoping she'll make another go of it with Andrew, who for all I know can decode that 1*2*3/Point thing.

So, do you diet with the Girlfriend or the Girl? Personally, I'm lunching with the Girlfriend. Estrich is so smart and convincing, I bet she could even persuade me that I like cabbage soup.
SALON | Feb. 9, 1998

Elizabeth Rapoport is executive editor at Times Books/Random House.