Martha Stewart on solitary confinement, rebuilt billion-dollar empire

Entertaining was a huge hit – and 43 years after its release, the book has been reissued amid renewed popularity following a slew of recent documentaries chronicling the lifestyle guru’s rise, fall and reinvention after he was jailed for insider trading in 2004.

Fans scoured sites like eBay and RareBooks.com in search of the out-of-print tome, some of which cost as much as $1,700.

“Many of them had seen the cookbook in their mothers’ collections and asked their mothers for the book,” Martha said. “But mothers don’t like to give it up.”

When asked why TikTokers and twenty-somethings would want to get their hands on it, Martha replied, “Because I’m cool. Not only can I cook, I hang out with Snoop Dogg, and I’ve gone to jail. I’ve been through the wringer and come out alive.”

Entertaining‘s success led to her own magazine, TV show and product line.

When her company went public in 1999, Martha, divorced since 1990, became the first self-made female billionaire in the US.

“I was lucky and I was smart,” she said Fortune. “I built a great company and I was rewarded. And that’s the American way.”