Candy and Me: 10/09/09

I have to admit to being a sucker for a quirky memoir. A previous favorite of mine is Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the author of Little Pea. Where she wrote her life story as a series of encyclopedia entries (in alphabetical order, of course), Hilary Liftin has looked at her life according to all the different types (and vast quantities) of candy she has eaten in her memoir Candy and Me.

Liftin begins her book by describing how she would sneak cups of powdered sugar which she would mix with butter to make little powdery lumps to eat. She'd keep eating even beyond the point of her mouth feeling like chalk. She later pays her brother to buy her stashes of candy which she eats in bed. She hides the wrappers behind her bed.

As she grows up she has money and greater access to candy. She prefers the sugary ones. I personally can't imagine being this addicted to sugar. My weakness if chocolate my consumption is no where near as high as the 12.1 pounds per year for an average American and I can't fathom eating 12.6 pounds or more of "non-chocolate" candy per year. I just can't. (For numbers see Allbusiness.com)

So part of reading Candy and Me was the freak show aspect. I gawked at what and how much she was eating at any given point in her life. My husband can attest to me reading some of the descriptions out loud to him. The book fascinated me and horrified me at the same time.

Despite her addiction to sugar, Liftin comes off as an otherwise normal, happy and well adjusted individual. Her writing style is charming and I'd probably love talking to her if we were to meet in person.

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