The Washington Post has a piece today on a problem with the long-awaited Gourmet cookbook produced by Ruth Reichl, who was the L.A. Times food editor before heading off to be restaurant critic of the New York Times and Gourmet magazine editor. After several years of work, the 1,040-page book came out last month. Says the Post:

Like a carefully planned feast marred by a single hair in the soup, the pages had recipe titles printed in hard-to-read, pale yellow type.

Considering that this is a book dedicated to presenting the best, most usable recipe possible, this glitch makes it frustratingly difficult to read or find recipe names as you flip through the pages.

Reichl called it "a horrible surprise" and blamed it on a mistake during printing.

A bookstore manager says "practically everyone" complains about it. Houghton Mifflin vows it will be fixed for the next printing.