I'm willing to believe that this book came to life out of a cocktail party conversation, that no Googling was done by Jessica herself, and that her agent was well aware of the other book but figured the Seinfeld machine would make any problems go away.

All this about a cook book that teaches you how to make you kids hate you by lying to them about why their favorite foods taste so awful.

Deceptively Plagiarized...

It Takes A Trophy Wife To Hide Carrots In The Meatloaf.

What I don't get is this: did Jessica Seinfeld not have enough money? Why did she feel the need to put her name on a cookbook? Does she want fame as well as fortune? If she's bored, how about doing a ton of charity work. Sheeesssh.

The fact is, if Jessica Seinfeld donated the profits to a charity that helps single mothers, or provides breakfast programs for kids, etc, etc, then I don't think it would be as unseemly as already disgustingly wealthy woman getting alot of publicity for something someone as done already, and only lining her own pockets even further.

@Mediahohoho: Totally agree. Shouldn't people teach their kids to like vegetables, rather than that they need to be disguised in browinies to be tolerable?

Do the Seinfeld's need more money? More publicity? None of these books were necessary. Every parent knows you puree veggies to hide in the kid's spaghetti sauce & meatloaf. Brownies--not so much. If your kids are eating enough of the brownies to get a whole serving of vegetables, you need more help than books can offer.

@brendastarlet: Agreed. I am willing to bet this conversation lead to somebody calling somebody calling somebody, and then a team of dickwads collected recipes from all over, and slapped her name on it, and voila! Her "really inspired" idea for a cookbook at a cocktail party lands her here.

@samiamiamsam: I see I'm posting the same ideas at the same time as Trixie and Bridesmaid. Sorry guys--I'll try to be more original next time.

@brendastarlet: Maybe. I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt on two counts: (1) she's a real homemaker; and (2) she didn't write the book or create the recipes herself; she wrote maybe one or two recipes and passed the project off to a pro, who plagiarized.

"oft-photographed socialite"? for reals? I mean, yeah she's wealthy, but does the socialite label really fit?

My sister is a professional chef, and she always told me that you have to change three ingredients to make a recipe your own.

Also: this is the worst book idea ever. Promoting balanced eating by having to hide vegetables is about as healthy as buying your daughter a pair of too-tight pants for "motivational purposes".

@Trixie from Toronto: She actually has done charity work, she started an organization that that donates clothing to infants and toddlers.

Maybe she realized how unfunny her husband is, and will do anything to get out of that house.

@brendastarlet: I have to agree. I doubt she did any research and most likely her agent knew Seinfeld connections would push the book to the bestseller list.

I am, however, still horrified by the whole 20 pair of shoes debacle. How did she not think to dontate that money to Oprah's school in Africa or something? Smacks of a total lack of awareness to anything.

She sucks.

When contacted for comment Mrs Seinfeld started laughing and said "Shit, there's spinach in those brownies?" I suggest trying every recipe with a different green, uh, vegetable.

@tudobem: I was equally horrified at how gushy Oprah was to receive the shoes. Doesn't she have enough money by now to buy every shoe ever made?

@Leiakat: I'm with you on that. Have you caught those horrendously unfunny "Bee Movie Shorts" they're splaying all over NBC Thursday nights? They make me feel stabby.

Please let this story die! Have we all had enough? Can we bury this dried up cat turd now?

Perhaps it's time for Oprah to drop the whole book thing.

I don't believe Jessica Seinfeld cooks. Ever.

@tudobem: Oprah would have done well to auction those shoes off or such.

Actually, Ms. Lapine's book was pureed and spread on the pages throughout multiple Danielle Steele books. Mrs. Seinfeld actually digested the recipes while reading the pulp and had no idea she was doing so.

Jessica Seinfeld is good people, in fact, she's great people. Oh yeah, when Jessica was on Oprah she didn't talk about having root canal without Novocaine did she?

@hamburgerhotdog: And that's the absurdity of this whole thing! Shit, most New Yorkers don't cook for themselves to begin with, let alone the filthy rich ones.

I like my fame-seeking socialites the way I like to sleep at night: without underpants.

@brendastarlet: "the Seinfeld machine," you mean like having Jerry on the call with his wife and the NY Times reporter?

I'm not usually in favor of litigation, but if Lapine got a settlement (in a medium of exchange other than shoes), I'd feel pretty gleeful. It's not the right thing, which would be withdrawal of the book and a public admission of guilt and apology, but it's something. The NYT, in another story, reported over the weekend that Jerry makes $60 mil a year. So the only thing Jessica can want is fame of her own. That, she can have. She's about a quarter of an inch deep if she thought this was the best way to get it. There are museums, libraries, colleges, and charities everywhere that need her philanthropy. With any luck, she's now ruined those chances too.

@depardoo: Couldn't agree more. Hasn't she learned her lesson yet? Go back to stories about depressed homemakers who bathe in Lysol. You can't fake that shit.

@Sally Tomato: Yeah, they're pretty painful. Initially, I was all 'Seinfeild on 30 Rock! Could be funny' and now I just see it as the stupidest way to get those shorts on the air while masquerading them as some sort of intellectual self-reference. Do not want.

I'm trying to tie three sentences together, but I'm a little tired from playing pool last night.

Sentence 1: Plagiarism is beyond the pale.
Sentence 2: Celebrities (and their spouses) often employ ghost writers.
Sentence 3: Jessica Seinfeld needs to spend more time outside. She's as pale as a ghost.

Your assistance is appreciated.

Dotorg Greg: exactly. And no, I'm not saying she stole and idea or recipes, not deliberately. I'm leaning toward the agent and publisher saying, "Jessica, what a brilliant idea! You're so marketable! Let us handle this."

@jasonelias: Yeah. Good people pilfer ideas. Great people straight-up plagiarize books.
What does having a root canal sans pain-relief have to do with being an Oprah-bribing hack?

@dotorg greg: Right? Or having Jess in the audience to RE-PUBLICIZE her book in tandem with an entire hour of Oprah kissing Jerry ass over Bee Movie (which Oprah is IN!). I am so over Oprah and her God complex.

James Frey could've saved himself a world of hurt had he just bought Oprah some shoes.

@brendastarlet: That doesn't matter! If you're so ignorant and easily manipulated that you're duped into plagiarizing, you're still a plagiarist! NOT A DEFENSE!

Oh yea, the 'I'm too rich to read' defense. I can believe that

@tudobem: I tuned into Oprah for literally two minutes in the past three years, and it was last week, when she had her lesbian fisting partner Gayle on the phone, trying to play like she was pawning her off on a gay dude in the audience named "Dean". It was honestly the television equivalent of eating a huge handful of sewer fungus.

@BiscuitDoughJones:
Yeah! Guys, let's go back to talking about Ellen and that dog.

@Wrath of Farrakhan: Good one. Gold star.

sometimes i try to fool myself by freezing pureed yams and pretending their mango sorbet. it never works.

guys, any author accused of plagiarism is going to give one of two lines:

1, the Doris Kearns Goodwin: "Goodness, what a coincidence! I've never seen/heard of/read the book."

2, the Kaavya: "I read it years ago and loved it; passages must have subconsciously seeped into my brain."

it's for legal reasons, face-saving reasons, and goodwill-preserving reasons. no one's actually going to admit that they weren't entirely original with their content unless faced with irrefutable evidence. even then, a PR juggernaut can deflect the fallout.

James Frey, on the other hand, is a whole 'nother animal. He didn't plagiarize, he lied. Now granted, plagiarism is a form of lying, but Frey's work was entirely his own. Still despicable, but I can see where Oprah would be horribly affronted and feel misled by Frey's false memoir of suffering and redemption way more than she'd take personally an expose of J-Sein's bullshitty "I'm a mom just like you" schtick.

@whoneedslight: Indeed!

All I know is that after the James Frey incident, and now this fiasco, there's a researcher on the Oprah show who's due for a pink slip sometime soon.

Seriously, when you're the richest woman in media, you pay people to research your guests before they get on the show. Yes, Jessica Seinfeld is a complete hack, and she stole someone's idea. But what irks me the most here is that Oprah's people didn't bother to follow this up themselves. If anyone here looks stupid, it's Oprah and her show.

MOMO writes: Sentence 3: Jessica Seinfeld needs to spend more time outside. She's as pale as a ghost

Spoken like a person whose face, at 50, will be mistaken for an Hermes handbag.

For the rest of you, I recommend Anthelios #50+ pour la visage, if you can get it. Or whatever Canadian sunblocks contain Mexoryl. And hats. And an umbrella. In broad, non-rainy daylight.

French kids don't have eating issues Americans do. Why not? Because they either eat what everyone else is eating...or starve. Americans need to be less indulgent and start acting like parents.

When little Designer Seinfeld develops severe eating issues, who will Mrs. S sue?

@pinkbunnyslippers: but the unfortch truth is that the millions of non-jezebel-reading Oprahbots don't actually care if this book is unoriginal crap.

Like I said in my previous comment, Oprah's credibility is harmed when she presents fiction as fact, as with James Frey. but she doesn't lose cred because a socialite came up with an unoriginal idea and then she helped shill it. sad. but true.