Candyfreak
A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America
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Narrated by:
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Oliver Wyman
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By:
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Steve Almond
About this listen
Almond, who claims to have between three and seven pounds of candy in his house at all times, set out to uncover the inexplicable disappearance of the Bit-O-Choc, the Caravelle bar, and other delights. As he documents his visits to candy factories across America, he reveals the true nature of the industry, with hilarious asides examining the role candy plays in our lives, and often confessing his own near-obsessive cravings. Almond's wry writing style is undeniably addictive and impossible to put down until every last bit has been devoured; listeners should be warned to keep a ready supply of sweets on hand.
Hear Steve Almond on the May 28, 2004, edition of Splendid Table, the weekly radio show that explores food, cooking, culture, and more.©2004 Steve Almond (P)2004 Highbridge CompanyListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Like Charlie on his first visit to the Chocolate Factory, Almond is a wide-eyed narrator who truly appreciates the magic of candy. He wants to know how it's made and how he can get his hands on it. And like the Willy Wonka in us all, he dreams up extraordinary, imaginary candy concoctions that'll make your mouth water.
Oliver Wyman portrays Almond's freakdom to pitch-perfection - comic when recounting an embarrassing Halloween episode, nostalgic when reminiscing on his favorite candies of the past. The combination is heartfelt, quirky, and absolutely delicious.
Critic reviews
- Alex Award Winner, 2005
"Strangely endearing." (Publishers Weekly)
"I devoured Candyfreak. Steve Almond writes about chocolate with the passion of a man in love and the wonder of a wide-eyed kid in a candy store." (Tom Perotta, author of Election)
"An entertaining book full of repeatable tidbits about the candy industry." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Wry, self-deprecating, and darkly funny." (The Village Voice)
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Stories I'd Tell in Bars
- By: Jen Lancaster
- Narrated by: Jen Lancaster, John Fletcher
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Older, but not wiser, Lancaster goes back to basics in this hilarious essay collection about everything from taking community policing classes to accidentally getting high with her waiter after a fancy dinner. These are the tales she'd tell if she met you in a bar... if she weren't too lazy to put on pants and go to a bar. Offering advice ranging from how to remain happily married to a man who refuses to blow his damn nose already to not creating An Incident at the cheese counter during an attempt at Whole30, she's you, only louder.
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self absorbed
- By D D H on 06-15-19
By: Jen Lancaster
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Out of Line
- A Life of Playing with Fire
- By: Barbara Lynch
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Out of Line describes Lynch's remarkable process of self-invention, including her encounters with colorful characters of the food world, and vividly evokes the magic of creation in the kitchen. It is also a love letter to South Boston and its vanishing culture, governed by Irish Catholic mothers and its own code of honor. Through her story, Lynch explores how the past - both what we strive to escape from and what we remain true to - can strengthen and expand who we are.
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Hardheaded, arrogant, profane.
- By Minneapolis listener on 10-26-22
By: Barbara Lynch
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LEGO
- A Love Story
- By: Jonathan Bender
- Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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There are 62 LEGO bricks for every person in the world, and at age 30, Jonathan Bender realized that he didn't have a single one of them. While reconsidering his childhood dream of becoming a master model builder for The LEGO Group, he discovers the men and women who are skewing the averages with collections of hundreds of thousands of LEGO bricks. What is it about the ubiquitous, brightly colored toys that makes them so hard for everyone to put down?
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Be careful if you already like Lego
- By Matthew Center on 03-14-11
By: Jonathan Bender
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The Bride Wore Chocolate
- Sweet and Savory, Book 1
- By: Shirley Jump
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Life couldn't be more perfect for Candace Woodrow. Her gourmet gift basket company is thriving, and she's set to marry steady, dependable Barry. There's just one wrench in the fairytale. Two weeks before her wedding she wakes up in the wrong man's bed. Candace thinks she'll be able to run out the door and forget all about Michael Vogler, but the Boston millionaire has other plans for the jittery bride.
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The Author Wore Prejudice
- By Terri on 12-19-19
By: Shirley Jump
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There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say
- By: Paula Poundstone
- Narrated by: Paula Poundstone
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Abridged
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What do the lives of Lincoln, Helen Keller, Joan of Arc, and other historical figures have in common with Paula Poundstone? In the hands of this wryly observant and self-deprecating comedian, the answer is outrageously funny and unexpectedly touching. Poundstone compares her crazy life to theirs, as she holds forth on her children, her career, and the time in her life when it appeared she would lose them both.
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More!
- By Evelyn on 02-11-07
By: Paula Poundstone
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Nickel and Dimed
- On (Not) Getting By in America
- By: Barbara Ehrenreich
- Narrated by: Cristine McMurdo-Wallis
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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This engrossing piece of undercover reportage has been a fixture on the New York Times best seller list since its publication. With nearly a million copies in print, Nickel and Dimed is a modern classic that deftly portrays the plight of America's working-class poor.
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Good concept, but poor execution.
- By Marco Forcone on 08-24-04
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Cooking as Fast as I Can
- A Chef’s Story of Family, Food, and Forgiveness
- By: Cat Cora
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In Cooking as Fast as I Can, Cat Cora reveals, for the first time, coming-of-age experiences from early childhood sexual abuse to the realities of life as a lesbian in the Deep South. She shares how she found her passion in the kitchen and went on to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and apprentice under Michelin-star chefs in France. After her big break as a cohost on the Food Network's Melting Pot, Cat broke barriers by becoming the first-ever female Iron Chef.
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Great listen for a chef
- By Nikki on 04-10-24
By: Cat Cora
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Hershey
- Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams
- By: Michael D'Antonio
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In this compelling biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael D'Antonio gives us the real-life rags-to-riches story of Milton S. Hershey, a largely uneducated businessman whose idealistic sense of purpose created an immense financial empire, a town, and a legacy that lasts to this day.
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The Benchmark for Chartiable, Rich Men
- By Boyd Tschaggeny on 01-30-19
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Money Secrets of the Amish
- Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving
- By: Lorilee Craker
- Narrated by: Lorilee Craker
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Take one thoroughly modern gal with a recessionary income problem, mix with the practices of a culture that has proved to be recession-proof, and what have you got? A financial planner in a straw hat. When writer Lorilee Craker learned that the Amish are not just surviving but thriving in the economic downturn, she decided to find out why.
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Pure Listening Pleasure!
- By Yaz on 08-04-11
By: Lorilee Craker
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Property
- Stories Between Two Novellas
- By: Lionel Shriver
- Narrated by: Lionel Shriver
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A striking new collection of ten short stories and two novellas that explores the idea of property in every meaning of the word, from the acclaimed New York Times best-selling author of the National Book Award finalist So Much for That and the international best seller We Need to Talk About Kevin.
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Painful and drawn out
- By JR on 06-27-18
By: Lionel Shriver
What listeners say about Candyfreak
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joel
- 06-25-04
Fun
A wonderful journey in candy and a look inside the mind of a candy freak.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- inearthsha
- 05-29-04
Pure AudioTruffle, diabetics cautioned
I've never heard anyone verbally describe candy with such lust and consideration; this guy thinks about candy more than once an <i>hour.</i>
He has considered it so much that he is credible to write a book on the matter which covers a breadth of issues; here are my favorites: globalization of candy-producing markets, why he uses candy as an emotional crutch, and what to do when your favorite confection gets pulled off the market.
The reader is easy to listen to and has better verbal inflection than your average reader. The only cautions I have for this book are that some groups of people are going to be more sensitive to the material because this guy <u>really</u> made me want to eat candy while listening to the book. If you are on a strict diet or diabetic and are trying to avoid just this type of thing, then skip this book. But, if you are a passive fan of candy or even an emotional overeater that needs to confront candy issues, this book might help you to understand how candy lures you in, time and time again.
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14 people found this helpful
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- Amanda
- 03-29-21
Fun and interesting
Reading this made me feel all of them nostalgia because it mentioned a lot of candy I liked as a child. The stories of how the different candies are made her very interesting as well.
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- Lori
- 01-06-12
Sweet fun with bitter undertones
I have to start by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book. This was like a romp down memory lane as the author reminisced about Pop Rocks, Lick-a-Sticks and discovering the joys of Goo-Goo Clusters, a southern specialty that my Mississippi-born mother-in-law used to purchase by the case. It was rather difficult to believe that a book about candy could keep me entertained for hours since, even though I do enjoy my sweets, I would definitely not classify myself anywhere in the realm of Steve Almond, Candy freak, but this one did - for the MOST part.
When he was listing the favorite candies and trinkets of his childhood, I was right there. When he was describing the black market that developed as the demand for pop rocks exploded beyond the suppliers' ability to supply them, I was engaged. When he sought out various local "boutique" candy makers and visited their production lines to see, smell and taste first-hand their creations, I wanted to call him up and BEG him to take me along on a return visit. I may not be a complete "candy freak" but I do enjoy good food and his descriptions of stepping out of the car and smelling chocolate and imagining that there could be little else better than arriving at work every day to a place that smelled like heaven had me saying, "Amen!"
Then, he stopped short and stopped me with him when interviewing one of the owners of one of the small boutique companies, an entrepreneur, and speculated with dismay that this guy probably voted for George W. Bush, horror of horrors! In other words, up to that point, he had really liked this guy (the entrepreneur) and had become appreciative of the hard work and business sense that it took to get the independent candy maker to this point but if this entrepreneurial schlub had actually been stupid enough to vote for W, he couldn't be a human being worth much more consideration. This little rabbit trail rant unsettled and distracted me for about 15 minutes, but hey, there aren't many authors/screenwriters/reporters/newscasters these days who don't feel it their moral duty to constantly put in a jibe wherever they can no matter how inappropriate or irrelevant the comment or setting may be that basically categorizes all such creatures somewhere on the level of one-celled amoebas - and THEY call US judgmental and intolerant!
Anyway, his initial political digression made me realize that, much as I had wanted to come along with him to chocolate heaven, he had just made it very clear that if I voted for Bush, my ranking as a sentient human being had just dropped significantly, so much in fact, that he would have no desire to have me along for the ride. That is a rather unfortunate position to take when you are an author of a non-fiction FOOD book and are asking your readers to come along - UNLESS you don't happen to agree with him politically. So, because I was listening while gardening and didn't have the clean hands to stop the audiobook in progress, I continued on when, about three quarters of the way through, he did it again. That's the kind of commentary we need & want in a candy documentary, right?!!
In truth, his diatribes against the "rich" as well as anyone stupid enough to have any leanings towards conservative ideals probably lasted only a few minutes total. I don't expect authors to hide their political ideologies and I am willing to forgive a lot. I am very capable of enjoying a book or film by people I know are politically on the opposite side of the spectrum from me. However when they assume (and we all know what happens when we ass-u-me, right?) that anyone holding differing political opinions is not only less humane or intelligent, but someone not worthy of further consideration, I do tend to become personally offended at that. A book like this is an intimate adventure between the reader and the author and this author, spoke directly into my ear exactly what he thinks about people like me and, honestly it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth for what was otherwise a very sweet read.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Steve
- 11-09-04
Fun and Surprisingly Enlightening
There's no doubt that listing to this book will get you craving candy--lots and lots of it. But this book is about more than one person's love for candy; it's about passion--passion for those things that make life worth living. As author Steve Almond indicates several times in the book, we all have our own personal "freaks." And it's this "freakdom" (no matter the object) that defines who we are. Thus, Almond's book is actually an attempt to discover what's most important and valuable to him. This explains the humorous asides, political commentaries, and personal details (sometimes quite sad) sprinkled throughout. And yet, despite this somewhat "heavy" subtext, the book is loads of fun and often incredibly funny. And speaking of funny, this audiobook represents to me the most perfect matching of audiobook narrator to a book that I've ever come across. Oliver Wyman is a delight to listen to. His cheerful/comic tone couldn't be a better match for Almond's subject matter.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Doug
- 07-16-04
Not too sweet
Listening to this is like eating baker's chocolate, and if you're looking for a well researched book about sweets, this is not it. However, if you're looking for a semi-interesting, sometimes crude memoir of a life spent eating candy, you may enjoy Candyfreak. If the author hadn't thrown in the seemingly random sexual humor, I would have enjoyed it more and even likened him to an up and coming Dave Barry type.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jessica
- 09-17-04
Hysterical
Anyone who loves candy, be it fancy chocolates or dime store penny candy, will thoroughly enjoy this exceptionally witty and insightful book. The history of various candies along with intricate and humorous descriptions of their tastes and textures was beyond amusing. The wry, self-deprecating humor of Steve Almond is in the flavor of David Sedaris. I never thought anyone appreciated candy the way I do, nor did I think it possible to describe it in words so eloquently and hysterically. I can't wait to read to another of his books.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jack
- 11-25-04
Worth a listen
A bit slow and personal at times but overall interesting and well worth the time.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Ashley
- 04-06-06
Not for dieters
This book is very enjoyable, and has changed the way I look at candy. Prepare to be involved in this book, because it is more than a listen. I ended up driving an hour to find a Valomilk after listening to the chapter on them. I'm saving up to buy a case of Five Star Bars.
After listening to candyfreak, I find myself in candy aisles, letting my eyes feast in the variety, searching out any candy I haven't tried before.
I highly recommend this book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Marie Sadlo
- 06-18-12
Love, Love, Love Candy
Would you listen to Candyfreak again? Why?
Yes! It was informative and funny.
What did you like best about this story?
The history of some of the small candy companies.
Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman???s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Not a good movie book!
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