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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
After Eddie's father is killed, his mother sinks into depression and self-destruction. She's gone a lot, but always returns home eventually...until one day she doesn't. Talking with some locals Eddie learns she was picked up by a van known to hire addicts off the street to work as farm laborers. Although Delicious Foods seems on paper to be a legitimate company, the contract its desperate employees sign commits them to a life of virtual slavery. Determined to locate his mother regardless, Eddie hops aboard the van.
This was so unlike anything else I've read recently. It was a true page-turner — both gripping and horrifying. And it doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to envision shady businesses functioning similarly today, even in our own country.
This was so unlike anything else I've read recently. It was a true page-turner — both gripping and horrifying. And it doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to envision shady businesses functioning similarly today, even in our own country.
This excellent novels focuses on very current themes: corporate agriculture, drug addiction, illegal and immoral labor practices, racism, grief, modern slavery, and single parenting.
Eddie's mother Darlene gives in to drug addiction in her extreme grief after her husband's murder. As she struggles to raise and support her son--and ten support her addiction--she grows desperate. An offer of an amazing agricultural job leaves her virtually enslaved and in debt to the company. As young Eddie tries to find his mom, she continues to struggle with grief, addiction, and her own feelings of worthlessness.
Eddie's mother Darlene gives in to drug addiction in her extreme grief after her husband's murder. As she struggles to raise and support her son--and ten support her addiction--she grows desperate. An offer of an amazing agricultural job leaves her virtually enslaved and in debt to the company. As young Eddie tries to find his mom, she continues to struggle with grief, addiction, and her own feelings of worthlessness.
I'm not sure how I'd feel if I read this book on paper, but I listened to it on audio during Thanksgiving travels, and......whoa. So good, so disturbing, so compelling. James Hannaham as the narrator was amazeballs.
If I could have recorded my emotions while reading this they would be:
interested
charmed
enthralled
horrified
angry
sickened
gut punched
empathetic
heart broken
suspicious
bored
horrified again
angry
very, very angry
hopeful
I made two mistakes with this book. First, I thought it was a modern day fairy tale and I went into it expecting to be horrified and charmed and saddened with loss. Then, I made mistake number two and read the reviews and found out this is based on real events. The horrified level went up, up, up.
It also elevated the importance of this story in my mind by ten-fold. This is a difficult read, this is a moving read, this is a good read.
The writing is excellent and I will admit there were some parts in which there was some poetic waxing and my reader brain screamed, "Who cares! Get back to the story at the farm!"
Delicious Foods is not a fairy tale, no matter what Scotty might have you think.
interested
charmed
enthralled
horrified
angry
sickened
gut punched
empathetic
heart broken
suspicious
bored
horrified again
angry
very, very angry
hopeful
I made two mistakes with this book. First, I thought it was a modern day fairy tale and I went into it expecting to be horrified and charmed and saddened with loss. Then, I made mistake number two and read the reviews and found out this is based on real events. The horrified level went up, up, up.
It also elevated the importance of this story in my mind by ten-fold. This is a difficult read, this is a moving read, this is a good read.
The writing is excellent and I will admit there were some parts in which there was some poetic waxing and my reader brain screamed, "Who cares! Get back to the story at the farm!"
Delicious Foods is not a fairy tale, no matter what Scotty might have you think.
The tone is such a unique combination of deepest personal tragedy and sometimes light, almost funny narration (i.e., the chapters narrated by crack cocaine). It’s not a beloved book but it’s an experience to read.
I got to page 166, and I decided I didn't want to waste my time with this one anymore. The story is so slow and it is taking to long to grab my interest. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to dnf this one.
I thought this book was fantastic. Its dark--sometimes I wasn't sure if Hannaham was going for dark humor or sorrow, but that didn't bother me. It did jump around a bit, but it was really unique in both story and style (crack cocaine is its own character, for example) and beautifully written. Highly recommended.
This is a dark and disturbing novel about poverty, grief, exploitation, and drug abuse. Hannaham’s characters are heartbreaking and memorable.
Very dark, but overall a good story. I had a hard time getting used to the voice of Scotty (Cocaine/Crack), but I loved the sections in the voices of mother and son.
I'm kind of a dunce when it comes to seeing the deeper meanings that authors place in their story and this one took me some time. Delicious Foods is about the wife of a civil rights activist whose life becomes derailed and ends up working for an agricultural farm where the workers are enslaved. She's cocaine addicted and makes one bad mistake after another before the story resolves.
I think this story is about the civil rights movement and its tortuous route to find equality. Interesting commentary on race and civil rights' issues. 3 stars only because the story dragged some in the middle.
I think this story is about the civil rights movement and its tortuous route to find equality. Interesting commentary on race and civil rights' issues. 3 stars only because the story dragged some in the middle.