[nofreelunch]

I'd agree with your general point on the overabundance of mediocre quality recipes, but the availability of quality literature isn't really in question to me. There are plenty of reliable sources that publish good cooking manuals that are widely available (even in used book stores). This is more a problem with consumers not using their own discretion or doing proper research, but also with people publishing shoddy excuses for recipes that do not appear to have been tested.