Request for info on hot dogs in literature

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

Ms. Aviv,
    I'm forwarding your request to the American Dialect Society. Maybe someone there will be able to help you. Offhand I don't know of any works of literature in which hot dogs figure prominently, although independent scholar Barry Popik has unearthed a wealth of "hot dog" stories/anecdotes/etc. in various humor magazines. If you're interested in that, we've just written a book (the late David Shulman is also listed as author) entitled _Origin of the Term "Hot Dog_"---
limited edition; currently at the print shop.  If you're interested in that sort of material just let me know. (I'll be out of the office and away from my computer for a few days.)

Sincerely,
Gerald Cohen

> ----------
> From:         Rachel Aviv
> Reply To:     Rachel Aviv
> Sent:         Sunday, November 21, 2004 10:04 PM
> To:   Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> Subject:      hot dogs in literature
>
> Dear Professor Cohen,
>
> Bruce Kraig suggested I write you.  I am writing an article for the Believer (a San Francisco book review journal) about fat heroes in literature.  I'm interested in talking about the role the hot dog has played in novels and poems -- I was wondering if you knew any early or current works in which hot dogs figure prominently.  So far the only ones I can think of are Confederacy of Dunces and The Afterlife Diet.
> I read online that a hot dog like substance appeared in the Iliad ("As when a man besides a great fire has filled a sausage with fat and blood and turns it this way and that and is very eager to get it
> quickly roasted") -- would you say that's true?  And, if so - you don't know what the exact translation of the sausage word would be, do you?
>
> At this point, my research has been pretty limited to google searches, so if you have any suggestions, or if you could point me to a text or two, it would be a
> great help --
>
> Thanks very much!
>
> Best
>
> Rachel
>
>
>