More authors meet in the Secret Book and Record Store on Dublin's Wicklow Street to hear about the humble spud. Journalist Elgy Gillespie - who has gathered the finest potato recipes from around the world in You Say Potato! - is present to spread her message. She must, she must. "I must stay on message," she tells us, and she does.
The potato "is a friend to all, it's a universal vegetable . . . You need not be ashamed to give this book to your maiden aunt. There's no sex in it, no violence." There are Gillespie's seduction recipes, which include sections on the spud as marital aid, morning-after spuds for breakfast and "all shook up" spuds (mashed potatoes for a broken heart).
Present at the mouth-watering affair are poet Brendan Kennelly, a one-time footballer who played for Kerry in 1954 on the minor, junior and senior teams (alas, they lost), and novelist Rose Doyle, whose new book, Friends Indeed, is due out soon. Everyone is impressed by the selection of hidden treasures to be found on the shelves.
The poet Derek Mahon is also present, as is James Morris, chairman of Windmill Lane and TV3, who is a former flat-mate and fellow-student of potato woman Gillespie. "I gave her first garlic crusher," he recalls. Senator David Norris is the special guest here to send the potato book on its way. "It's quite sexy," he says, packed with plenty of "slightly risque suggestions."