A.D. Livingston talks to you like a buddy who's into sausage making and wants you to give it a try. "Good sausage starts with good meat. Right now, let's put together a simple sausage and cook some recipes just to show how easy it is," he opens, providing the necessary information for dealing with the ground pork and fat and basic seasonings required. Once you mix them together, just refrigerate or freeze this sausage; no casings are required. The five recipes given for using your first batch of sausage meat range from a quick casserole to a mouthwatering Stuffed Crown Roast. Once he's got you hooked, Livingston presents more detailed information on kinds of meat to use, the grinding process, and seasonings. Then comes the information on casings, plus instructions for curing sausages. There are recipes for sausages, familiar and obscure, from Cajun Boudin Blanc and German Knockwurst to Finnish Perunamakkra made with potatoes and milk and South African Boerwors. You'll even find one for bologna and another for haggis. Recipes for dishes like Bavarian Salad with Bockwurst; Louisiana Red Beans, Rice and Sausage; the intensely meaty Eastern European stew, Bigos, made with sauerkraut; and Hacked Chicken with Chinese Sausage make this book worth having even if you just want to cook prepared sausages--but your pal Livingston may just convince you to try it the old-fashioned way. --Dana Jacobi