The shops Naked Chef (1971) An Aphrodisiac Cook Book by Billie Young ("Naked Came The Stranger" faux Author) First edition HC/DJ collectible

The Naked Chef: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook by Billie Young

Ashley Books, Port Washington, New shops York, 1971. First Edition (stated.) Hardcover. 6 1/4 X 9 1/2 Inches. 278 pp. Stated "First Edition" on the copyright page. Original price of $8.95 intact on front flap. The jacket is in excellent condition. The book is slightly cocked, unmarked and very good.

Billie Young was also recruited to "play" Penelope Ashe the supposed Author of Naked Came the Stranger - a hoax best-seller written by twenty-four journalists led by Newsday columnist Mike McGrady. McGrady's intention was to write a book that was both deliberately terrible and contained a lot of descriptions of sex, to illustrate the point that popular American literary culture had become mindlessly vulgar. The book fulfilled the authors' expectations and became a bestseller in 1969; they revealed the hoax later that year, further spurring the book's popularity. Young was McGrady's sister-in-law and he recruited her to "play" the Author under the pseudonym Penelope Ashe.