Chocolate: The Consuming Passion [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Sandra Boynton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 1982

A New York Times bestseller with over a half-million copies in print, CHOCOLATE continues to delight chocoholics everywhere. Packed with Boynton's famous hippos, bunnies, pigs, and other animals, this gift-perfect book is a whimsical commentary on the individual's relationship to chocolate, its varieties, and its sources.

From the several sorts of chocolate connoisseur-including the gourmoo, who eats only milk chocolate-to the several shapes of chocolate itself (bunny, kiss, glove compartment bar), Boynton's apologia for chocolate misses nothing. Myths are debunked: chocolate is not fattening, she argues, especially when the caloric expenditure of carrying it home from the store and hiding it from company is factored in. Directions are supplied: to remove stains, lick them. Plus, how to grow chocolate at home, a foolproof method for determining if chocolate is in season (does the name of the month contain the letter A, E, or U?), and a recipe for Hippo Pot de Mousse.

"Fourteen out of ten people like chocolate," says the artist. This is the only guide for people who like chocolate the way they like to breathe. Vanilla people, keep out. Selection of the Literary Guild.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sandra Boynton has been a bestselling Workman author for 25 years. She's written the New York Times bestseller Chocolate: The Consuming Passion, the national (and New York Times) bestselling musical for the whole family, Philadelphia Chickens, the phenomenally successful Boynton on Board series (led by Barnyard Dance!), and the one-of-a-kind Grunt, the sublime collection of Pigoroian chant. All told, her books have over 15.3 million copies in print, a number that will already be out-of-date when you read this. She lives with her family in western Connecticut.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Myth No. 2 "Chocolate is fattening."

A crucial factor has been overlooked in this widespread condemnation of chocolate: Most chocolate eaters tend to supplement their chocolate intake with other foods. By what right, what logic can chocolate be singled out as the cause of plumpness? How can we be certain that, say, carrots are not a catalyst of weight-gain when chocolate is present?

And there is empirical evidence that also raises serious doubts about chocolate's fatteningness: Few chocolate lovers can simply lie back and wait for chocolate to come to them. For most, getting and keeping chocolate often requires strenuous physical work.

Myth No. 5 "Chocolate is nothing more than a substitute for affection."

Much has been made lately of the recent scientific finding that there is a chemical in chocolate-phenylethylamine-that is virtually identical to the substance manufactured by the brain of the infatuated individual. In various studies of the phenomenon,

the conclusion drawn is that chocolate obsession is in fact self-medication for the spurned lover. He or she is trying to synthesize the "high" of being in love.

As is too often the case with these social scientists, they are taking sound, highly suggestive data and drawing empirically absurd conclusions. What reasonable soul prefers romance to truffles?

Clearly it is not the lovelorn sufferer who seeks solace in chocolate, but rather the chocolate-deprived individual who, desperate, seeks in mere love a pale approximation of bittersweet euphoria.

Drs. Donald F. Klein and Michael R. Liebowitz, "Hysteroid Dysphoria," Psychiatric Clinics of North America. Vol. II, No.3. Dec. 1979; Dr. John Money, Love and Love-Sickness: The Science of Sex, Gender Difference, and Pair-Bonding, John Hopkins University Press, 1980.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (January 5, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894801996
• ISBN-13: 978-0894801990
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #461,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still a treat twenty years after it was published!, June 3, 2002

By 

Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chocolate: The Consuming Passion (Paperback)

I have always had a soft spot for anything Sandra Boynton does, but "Chocolate: The Consuming Passion" is probably my favorite of her books. I have bought it for more chocolate-loving friends than I can count and they have all been thrilled with it.

Boynton deftly blends together her signature cartoon animals (who for the most part try to look dignified in less than dignified circumstances--the key to their hilarity), actual chocolate facts (on the front of the book, it says, "Written, Illustrated, and Overresearched by Sandra Boynton"), and a heaping helping of utter silliness. Boynton tosses her own opinion in wherever possible:

"Those who favor dark chocolate have little patience with cute candy."

"Whoever said, 'The best things in life are free' was, of course, just kidding. The best things in life go for $6.50 a pound and up."

"Chocolate is not a privilege; it is a right."

"If the remotest possibility exists that you could become snowbound, take this simple precaution: Remove and discard all insulation from ski jacket. Replace with seven lbs. (approx.) of shaved chocolate. Resew seams. Warning: Never warm up in front of a fire without first removing jacket."

See especially Boynton's sections on white chocolate and carob (as you might expect, she's a dark chocolate snob, as are so many chocolate aficionados) and her hilarious explanation of the "myth of chocolate's fattingness." Boynton gives helpful information on opening up your own cacao plantation--on which you will need "4,000 or so cacao seedlings and time" and an international section on how to ask for chocolate in half a dozen languages.

There are even recipes, including one for "Chocolate Chip Cookie (Theoretical yield: 48 cookies, 2 inches each) and "Hippo Pôt de Mousse." This book has pleasures that keep on giving even after the first, second, or fourteenth reading.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tasty, Addictive Fun!, December 20, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Chocolate: The Consuming Passion (Paperback)

I cannot imagine a better combination of information, humor, and fun concerning the great pleasure we all get from chocolate.
The only thing missing from this book were instructions about which chocolates to have ready to fortify yourself as you read and ponder Chocolate -- The Consuming Passion. Since the book describes every possible kind of chocolate (from baking chocolate to white chocolate . . . and of ever possible shape and quality), I suggest that you stock up every variety you can think of. Naturally, you will then get more benefit from the book if you eat a sample of what is being described as you proceed. I estimate that at least five pounds of each type mentioned is about the right quantity. Then, you can savor the experience . . . no matter how fast you eat chocolate!

Ms. Boynton notes that "this book was written for the Chocolate Elite -- the select millions who like chocolate in all its infinite variety, using `like' as in `I like to breathe.'"

Before going on, let me mention that I had the great honor of providing strategic consulting services for a chocolate business in 1973. It was heaven. I can still remember the wonderful aroma of the plant! In the process, I was thrilled to find out how chocolate is grown, processed, and turned into finished products like chocolate chips. Since that time, I had never seen a book that shared the same kind of information that I learned from working with my client . . . until Chocolate -- The Consuming Passion. So at an information level, the book is terrific.

You should know that the humor is even better than the information though. Just when you've really gotten the scoop on what semisweet chocolate is, Ms. Boynton will drop in an unexpected joke. For example, she describes in great detail what happens with chocolate when it is too hot or too cold. Then you turn the page and find that above Dow 4000 chocolate also conglomerates, and you see a list of all the companies that have acquired chocolate businesses.

Ms. Boynton's trademark hippos seem especially appropriate in the context of being a serious chocolate aficionado.

The subjects covered are truly broad. You begin with a little history of chocolate, including how it was pronounced in different languages. Later, you return to that theme . . . and find out how to ask for chocolate in many more languages. The details on the definitions and ingredients of various chocolates are thorough without being boring. The humor keeps lifting your spirits while refreshing your taste for more information. The humorous "recipes" for making items out of chocolate are pretty funny. I especially enjoyed the suggestions for what to use the results of cooking flops for instead.

Now, I was most impressed to find that Ms. Boynton took on the really big issues. Why is 55 percent of all ice cream consumed in the vanilla flavor while only 9 percent is chocolate? Why are delightful chocolate truffles given that cautionary name suggesting moldy forest floors? Is white chocolate (which lacks chocolate liquor) really chocolate at all?

I recommend that you buy a copy for yourself . . . and everyone you know who really likes chocolate!

What could be more fun than learning and laughing about something you love while you directly enjoy some? What other subjects offer this opportunity?

Develop your tastes and your interests at the same time by being prepared to experiment!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For chocolate lovers of all ages, November 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Chocolate: The Consuming Passion (Paperback)

This is a lovely book! Beautiful and funny illustrations, delicious recipes, interesting facts ... "Chocolate The Consuming Passion" covers basically everything any chocolate lover would want to know. It includes chocolate profiles, information about different kinds of chocolate, chocolate myths and funny observations. One example is this: "The greatest tragedies were written by the Greeks and by Shakespeare. Neither knew chocolate." Of course, there is no causality, but still!

Although this book is written for children, any chocolate lover will adore it, regardless of age. Actually, one does never really grow out of picture books, at least not the good ones.

The first time I saw this book was in the window of the best chocolate store in my town, The Belgian House of Chocolate. I knew I must get it! I have not been disappointed.