Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781565124219ISBN:1565124219
Description: New in new dust jacket. Pristine condition unused and unmarked book. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 266 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781565124219ISBN:1565124219
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781565124219ISBN:1565124219
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this DVD supports the North Central Regional Library. Thriftbooks and NCRL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Library ID found on DVD and case. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"I, too, had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the storytelling—it’s like a Dave Barry story with a purpose (and some factual—and interesting—information therein). Almond’s definitely a creative writer; he weaves his life into a story about candy in a very compelling way. What I wish he’d done, though, is to describe the components of some of the esoteric (and no-longer-produced) candy bars he mentioned, especially those with meat or vegetables in their names: Club Sandwich, Cold Turkey, Chicken Spanish, Vegetable Sandwich (see p. 94). What in the world might have been in those 'candy' bars? Also, I'm not too keen on the way the author refers to his marijuana use, however--especially since he makes it quite clear that marijuana was smoked during the time he was preparing this very book. (To me, although he may be an artist [pronounced as if it were French], recreational marijuana use at his age [upper 30s at the time of writing] seems immature and irresponsible.)"
"So here is the thing about this book--I liked it--however--comma--I really only liked it when the author was talking about candy. Steve Almond's candy addiction makes my love affair with chocolate seem like a mere dalliance. He can wax poetic about candy bars that were discontinued when he was seven. (He is now in his forties.) His quest to find those regional candies from days of yore--also called nostalgia candies--is interesting and fun. (Truth told, his story about the Valomilk actually compelled me to go to Dylan's Candy Bar to search one out. For the record, it is perhaps the stickiest mallow cup on the planet. According to Almond, it apparently also explodes at high altitudes. But I digress . . .) The book falters, though, when he tries to tie in his own emotional disfunction, mainly because it seems to come from left field. In the middle of a chapter on his candy travels--yes, he does traverse the US to find such goodies as The Idaho Spud candy bar--he throws in random comments about his inability to commit to women and his use of candy as a substitute for love during his childhood. Um, OK. Bit of a downer when I was on a literary chocolate high. It also doesn't really make him seem like much of a prize. Still, it is a fun book and a quick read."
"My first research report in high school English was on the Hershey Corporation, and thus began my ability to inundate my friends with my useless chocolate paraphernalia: Hershey's t-shirts, bars, signs, license plates, and novelty items (my favorite of which would have to be the Hershey's Kiss dispenser that juggled kisses over its head before depositing them into my hand). My first car had the Hershey's bar wrapper as a license plate affixed to the front, and I loved it. It was with great joy that I sped through Candy Freak, and I wish this book had existed when I was a wee freshman in high school. So many candy bars I've never heard of, such untapped wealth in America, and the book actually serves as an expose of the tragic situation of the independent candy-makers who are being swallowed, one by one, by big companies like (gulp) Hershey's. This book was fantastic--an easy read, an enjoyable, thorough survey of candyfreaks and the people who support them."
Every now and then, I'll run into someone who claims not to like chocolate or other sweets, and while we live in a country where everyone has the right to eat what they want, I want to say for the record that I don't trust these people, that I think something is wrong with them, and that they're probably-this must be said-total duds in bed.
Candyfreak provides way too much candy-metaphor fodder for the weak-hearted reviewer. I don't know I can resist saying things like "the writing pulses as if Almond (of course, Almond...) were a five year old on a sugar high" or "the vivid descriptions of the nuances of biting into different candy bars sent me running to the candy store" (entirely true, by the way). So I will not resist. I'll surrender to the flow like a log of caramel on the conveyer belt through the chocolate enrobing machine.
This book functions both as tribute to the small businessman and candyfetish pornography. Almond's travels lead him through the factories of one-building companies struggling to survive in the shadow of the candy world's "big three" (Nestle, Hershey, Mars). He chronicles a fading world of beautiful machines churning out regional candy bars that maybe, just maybe, you'll find on the less desirable candy rack real estate (if you're lucky) but not in mainstream locations or near eye-level because the company owners can't shell out the tens of thousands of dollars necessary to place their products in the big stores. The spirit of invention lives in these factory owners as well; when they talk about product development they sound insane, honestly, in the best way possible, as if they can taste the new candy before they produce the first sample.
Almond stumbles a little when he stereotypes small town living (sir, I defy you to get on a Greyhound bus anywhere, even in your precious Boston, and find anything different than you describe. It's not like the Bostonians on Greyhound are wearing cardigans and reading Kant.) and he slips into "I'm a successful author but pity my pathetic personal life" territory more often than he should. Still, reading Candyfreak is flat-out fun, the kind of experience that raises your pulse a little when you pick up the book, like you're about to do something you want to do after a long day of the opposite. Almond's descriptive powers and childlike passion carry the day. And candy bars that look like potatoes sound cool. I want one right now.
Epilogue: I would say I'd read more Almond, but I realized after I read Candyfreak that I had once picked up his Not That You Asked at the library and put it back after reading the first few pages. So, in full disclosure, the jury's still out on Almond the author, but Candyfreak (pop) rocks."
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