Friday night we went to see an author give a reading at a local bookstore. The author was Steve Almond, and the reading was from his book Candyfreak.

There was a promise of free candy, so how could I resist? The candy given away turned out to be gourmet chocolates from Cocoa Pete, he of Pete's Wicked Ale fame. Well, now he's in the chocolate business.

In addition, Steve handed out chocolate marshmallow cups. I can't remember the name, but they were from a small factory and cost about $7 for two. I had one and I was plenty full. It was tasty, but I don't think I'll be spending $7 for another one.

The reading was very interesting, and focused on Steve's fascination with candy--mostly chocolate candy bars--and a visit to the 5-star candy bar factory in Vermont. There, he met a chocolate engineer and learned a bit about the process of coming up with new flavors.

Nice to see someone who's not ashamed to talk about his love for candy. He seemed pretty fit though--didn't look like he eats a lot of candy. Maybe he runs marathons in his spare time.