To Serve Man (2/9/07)

If there's one taboo common to all human cultures, it's cannibalism. Yet, since the dawn of recorded time (and before), anthropophagy has been both practiced discreetly and used openly to smear one's enemies. There just seems to be something in the idea that whets people's appetites. From Shakespeare to Monty Python, we can't get our fill of cannibalism. There are even two musicals about it. What student hasn't made a restaurant reservation for "Donner: party of five" or joked about a distasteful side-dish being composed of Soylent Green? And who could forget America's favorite cannibal, that gruesome gourmet Hannibal Lecter? There's enough curiosity about "long pig" that not only did an enterprising reporter roast some up (it tastes like veal, apparently), but also a hoaxster tried to market tofu-based "hufu." One thing's for sure. If you receive a book called "To Serve Man," run for the hills.