Alton Brown - Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen

Pros: Funny, not too serious book on stuff and tools.
Cons: Alas, no pithiness from W here.

Cooking is an activity that I enjoy, especially since it tends to help you keep an eye on what you're eating. And if you cook, you need stuff to do it in. Knives, pots, pans, and gadgets all do things, otherwise, you're more or less limited to frozen ...

Pros: Alton's excellent research and knowledge combined with his wit.
Cons: Not that useful unless you're just building a kitchen or are a gadget freak

Alton Brown is the geek-tastic host of FoodTV's Good Eats. While most of the focus in this show is on the way that food behaves when cooked he does spend time discussing the many gadgets that he uses when preparing the food, and why he uses that ...

Pros: It will help you make wise buying decisions.
Cons: Some people may not like Mr. Brown's informal style.

I found this book to be a good guide to clearing out your kitchen and finding the right tools for the job. While there may be some small inconsistencies and inaccurate information, he does an excellent job of explaining what tools you should use and how. He espouses the virtues of "multi-tasking" tools and encourages you to resist buying junk and or the high priced gear at many stores.

Some of what he says can of course be found in other places, but since the purpose of the book is "gear," he does a good job of consolidating information for many sources and his own experience.

One area he didn't cover is kitchen food stock. Granted, it isn't exactly gear, but when you are talking about items you need in the kitchen, I would like to know what "essential" foods I should always have on hand. Spices, herbs, grains, fruits and veggies, and canned goods for example.

Pros: Well written, informative, good read!
Cons: Alton Brown himself is not included in the package.

I am a big fan of Alton Brown's show GoodEats, I watch it almost every day that it's on. My brother got me his "Gear" book for Christmas, I have to say it wasn't quite what I expected, but I was plesently surprised!
In this book Alton talks about how to streamline your kitchen by clearing out tools you don't use or need and collecting multi-taskers instead.
He also covers many different kitchen tools such as pans, food processors, utensils. He uses some product names as examples, but also gives you general advice for what to look for in a product and why.
I really apprieciate that instead of just saying that I should go out and buy a copper pot, he explains that they are some of the best because of their high heat conductivity.
I found everything I read informative as well as entertaining, he carries over the wit he uses on his show to a certain extent in his book.