Amazon.com (ISBN 060980099X, Paperback)

While this book is very much in the style of Martha Stewart, the parties that it depicts were planned and executed by other folks. There's a Louisiana lunch at a stately home outside Baton Rouge, complete with maquechoux oysters and pecan-crusted catfish; a garden harvest party, with mountains of vegetarian delights served in an East Hampton garden; a Vietnamese-Thai feast in a garden by the Sacramento River, with the signature flavors of Southeast Asian cooking--lime, ginger, lemongrass, chile paste--gracing spring rolls, chicken, and fish; a soul-food brunch given by an interior designer in Harlem that includes collard greens, gumbo, and sweet potato tarts. Details such as how to make lovely, lotus-like napkin folds are illustrated in "Good Things" sidebars. From the down-home barbecue in a horse arena in Marfa, Texas, to the Polynesian fantasy picnic on the beach in Maui, the key to a great party, says Martha, is caring--"about people, originality, the most attractive settings, and lovely, finely honed, time-honored traditions." And let's not forget food.