Book Review: On A Candy High by Steve Almond

Obsessions can be found in just about every aspect of life and so with the book that I just finished reading called Candy Freak, author Steve Almond is the epitome of a candy fanatic. He knows each individual name, all of the ingredients and explores just about every well-known and obscure candy bar out there. The way an artist could describe a painting in precise detail with emotion is pretty accurate on the way Steve can express his gluttonous love for anything sweet and contained within a wrapper.

The author is very opinionated, maybe bordering on arrogance at times, but clearly he knows his candy. Like a mother or father who would cradle their new-born child, you may see similar traits in Steve and how he cares for his candy bars.

In the later chapters though, I got to a point where my interest faded, due to the overly-detailed discussions about every facet on this particular subject. If it wasn't for Steve’s quirky sense of humour and story telling abilities, I believe this book would have been extremely dull.

I thought the book had some good insight into the history and on-going production of the candy and chocolate bar industry from the family owned businesses, to the big corporations. I also gained a deeper understanding of the psychological reasoning behind Steve’s need for copious amounts of chocolate goodness in his home.

I’ll say that I just had one simple question after reading this book: “What wouldn't Steve do for a Klondike bar?”