Kate's review
Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Steve Almond
I learned a lot from this book about the candy industry and how the Big Three (Mars, Hershey and Nestle) are pushing smaller, regional companies out of business -- and may succeed entirely if they start a price war. I also learned about some candy bars I really want to try.
My beef with Steve Almond, which applies to this book and to (Not That You Asked), is that he will suddenly switch from an interesting and funny, sometimes serious journalistic style to ranting about his miserable childhood and/or how depressed he feels. This is jarring and does not, at least for me, add to the point. The other thing he does is throw out weird, again jarring, references to sex or just obscenities that dont' fit in the context of what should be a solid essay. It's like he can't refrain from showing the perverted side of his humor, but he really really ought to.
My beef with Steve Almond, which applies to this book and to (Not That You Asked), is that he will suddenly switch from an interesting and funny, sometimes serious journalistic style to ranting about his miserable childhood and/or how depressed he feels. This is jarring and does not, at least for me, add to the point. The other thing he does is throw out weird, again jarring, references to sex or just obscenities that dont' fit in the context of what should be a solid essay. It's like he can't refrain from showing the perverted side of his humor, but he really really ought to.
