book 64

tim richardson's sweets: a history of candy
i bought this book a couple weeks ago, overjoyed to have 382 pages about candy to read! the first half is a fairly well-done history of candy, and reading all these ancient and not-s0-ancient comments on sugary things is pretty entertaining. the second half (which focuses on the last century, more or less) is a little less thrilling--or maybe my interest in candy waned! nah. anyway, one of the problems i had with this book was that richardson will briefly mention some grand sociological issue (deplorable working conditions on cacao plantations, or the gendering of candy marketing), which i think actually undermines his work. if he had solely focused on the history of sugary goodness, this would just be a fun and fluffy history book. by bringing up these other topics and then droppin them, he makes his work seem both incomplete and irrelevant (when really it could be a pretty useful tool for social historians as well as a fun read). also, because the man is british, i've never heard of half the candies he raves about (he mentions his favorite, something called a rhubard and custard, at least 15 times). i could conceivably use this book as a shopping list for the next time i head to southern season, though . . . and of course, he does debunk the story that the baby ruth bar was named for grover cleveland's daughter, so it's all worth it.

anyway, i'm going to stick to fiction for the next few books.