Kale has invaded our culture as the go-to food for healthy living, appearing everywhere on restaurant menus, in grocery stores and in beauty products like soaps and scrubs. It's in salads and sandwiches, on pizzas, in soups and stews, and even salted as chips. For many, it shouts, "Eat me. I'm good for you." For others, the vitamin load and beneficial fiber cannot outweigh the bitterness and texture of this member of the cabbage family. For those people, kale has ignited a passionate response, often reflected in internet memes and T-shirt slogans. This collection of short stories shows kale in a new light. Some stories present the perspective of those who introduce kale to their spouses and the reaction of those who are so targeted. A couple of tales are horror stories about kale's effect on a life; another one describes a speculative history of kale; one is a murder mystery where kale plays an unusual role; and one is a fantasy about kale's rivalry with another popular, competing vegetable, cauliflower. This book also has delicious recipes which feature kale as the primary ingredient. A word of caution, though. One recipe was written by someone with a novel approach to cooking kale.

The Corrales Writing Group has published five anthologies, all of which have won awards. Members of the group have won additional awards for their chapters and editing for these anthologies as well as short stories and essays published elsewhere. CWG members Chris Allen, Maureen Cooke, Sandi Hoover, James John Tritten, and Patricia Walkow, contributed to Kale is a Four-Letter Word. The following individuals also made either written or artistic contributions: Jane Butel, Sandi Cathcart (recipe), Adrienne Evatt (recipe), Alex Knight (art), Paul Knight (art), Jette C. Tritten, and Walter Walkow (prose).