Candyfreak

CANDYFREAK: Steve Almond: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: Nonfiction: 266 pages

The appropriately named Almond goes beyond candy obsession to enter the realm of "freakdom." Right up front, he divulges that he has eaten a piece of candy "every single day of his entire life," "thinks about candy at least once an hour" and "has between three and seven pounds of candy in his house at all times." Indeed, Almond's fascination is no mere hobby—it's taken over his life. And what's a Boston College creative writing teacher to do when he can't get M&Ms, Clark Bars and Bottle Caps off his mind? Write a book on candy, of course. Almond isn't interested in "The Big Three" (Nestle, Hershey's and Mars). Instead, he checks out "the little guys."

This was a fascinating book about the candy industry. I craved chocolate the entire time I was reading it! I really enjoyed reading about the vintage candy bars, some of which are no longer being made and many of these candy bars were only made in certain regions of the country. Some of Almond’s anecdotes are not squeaky clean because of language and content, but overall I enjoyed this book!

AMM