Candyfreak: A Journey
Almond, Steve. Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America. Harcourt, 2005. $13.00. ISBN 978-0156032933 (pap.); Algonquin Books, 2004. $21.95. ISBN 978-1565124219.
Genre: creative nonfiction
Themes: obsessions, chocolate, candy industry, capitalism, marketing, globalism/ regionalism
Author information: Steve Almond was raised in Palo Alto, California. He worked as a newspaper reporter for seven years, in El Paso and Miami, before he began writing fiction. He taught creative writing part-time at Boston College, until he resigned (via an op-ed piece in the Boston Globe), in protest of the college's decision to invite Condeleeza Rice as commencement speaker in 2006.
Fun fact: He detests coconut, especially in candy bars.
Plot summary: An investigation of regional candy companies from coast to coast, beginning with Necco in Boston, near where he now lives, and finishing with the Annabelle Candy Company in his hometown of San Francisco. One of his first stops is Lake Champlain Chocolates, in Burlington, VT. Along the way he shares information about the production process and the challenges facing small candy companies in an age dominated by a few mega-corporations.
Booktalk: You think you like candy? You think you crave chocolate? Not like Steve Almond. This is a man who tells you, right up front, “The author has eaten a piece of candy every single day of his entire life.” This is a man who admits to laying in his pile of Halloween candy like a dragon in his hoard. This is a man who schedules a four-day trip covering 4,000 miles, all in order to visit candy factories in such hubs of culture as Merriam, Kansas, or Boise, Idaho. That's right, Steve Almond is obsessed. He's also witty and entertaining and an astute observer whose chosen subject can be used as a metaphor for larger social issues. After reading this book, you'll never look at the checkout candy display in the same way again. But you'll also savor that chocolate bar—even if it does include coconut—in a whole new way.
Curriculum tie-ins:
English/Creative writing
What are you obsessed with? Why do you think you're obsessed? Find out some facts about the object of your obsession and write a personal essay integrating your research with your feelings, attitudes, and personal history.
Economics
What are some of the economic issues facing the small regional candy makers Almond visits?
Write a paper discussing the various strategies the candy makers have chosen in order to stay in business. What are the strengths of these strategies? What are their weaknesses?
Using the candy industry as your focus, discuss the possibility of sustaining a local/regional business in an era of globalization.
Can you think of other types of small businesses that face similar challenges to regional candy makers?
Family and Consumer Science
Using a local store, research product placement. What is at eye level on the shelves? What is placed near or on the checkout counters? Why do you suppose it is there? If possible, interview the owner/manager and ask about “slotting fees” and how he or she decides where to put certain types of products.
If you loved this, you'll like:
- Brenner, Joel Glenn. The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars. Joel. Broadway, 2000.
- Brookes, Tim. Guitar: An American Life. Grove, 2005.
- Brookes, Tim. A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow: An American Hitchhiking Odyssey. Adventure/National Geographic, 2000.
- O'Rourke, P.J. On the Wealth of Nations. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007
Rosenblum, Mort. Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Light and Dark. North Point, 2004. - Stewart, Jon. America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction. Warner, 2004.
Other books by this author:
- Which Brings Me to You: A Novel in Confessions, co-written with Julianna Baggott. Algonquin Books, 2006.
- The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories. Algonquin Books, 2005. (story collection)
- My Life in Heavy Metal. Grove Press, 2002. (story collection)
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