It is while eating a plate of funny-looking ribs with thin vinegary sauce in North Carolina that Lolis Elie and Frank Stewart decide to investigate the nation's obsession with smoked meat. Their quest takes them from the barbecued cow heads of south Texas to the barbecued pig snouts (tasty if tough) of East St. Louis, Illinois. From the all-night barbecue binges on Chicago's South Side to barbecue competition circuit events like Memphis in May and Vienna, Georgia's Big Pig Jig, where people spend thousands of dollars to stay up all night smoking meat. They check out famous and obscure BBQ places from Kansas City, Missouri, to Hope, Arkansas, but ultimately come back to Memphis and Hawkins Grill, a barbecue oasis of Frank's youth, which he now mourns as "a dinosaur without a mate".En route, Lolis and Frank introduce us to the men and women devoted to this demanding art, and, of course, to some good eating - with recipes for meat, sauces, and side dishes. With more than eighty photographs, Smokestack Lightning is a poignant and often hilarious story of culinary adventure that will make you very hungry. Read Less