Twinkie, Deconstructed

The theory behind this book was sound; sadly, the execution was much less so. Despite a clear, organized plan for exploring what goes into a Twinkie and where those ingredients originate the writing is scattered and hard to follow. Historical notes, plant visits, useless descriptions of unimportant details, related thoughts and other miscellanies jostle each other in chaotic paragraphs with no clear train of thought or progression. Chapter transitions are blatant and elementary, tacked on like afterthoughts in a freshman lit paper.

Two other aspects of this book were perpetually frustrating.

First was the incessant cheerfulness the author expressed about each ingredient's role in making Twinkies the wonderful product that he considers them, regardless of how terrible that given product may be for human consumption. The fact that hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup are highly damaging to human health was generally irrelevant compared to their miraculous ability to give Twinkies their unique texture.

Second was the severe redaction of information. To be fair, Ettlinger opens his book with a disclaimer: recipe changes, company mergers and ingredient production processes change so frequently and without notice that what he writes may well have become inaccurate or obsolete by the time it reaches readers. Unfortunately, the specifics one might expect to find so carefully covered by such a clause are nowhere to be found. We learn more pointless details about the non-descript buildings and innumerable trucks involved in the industrial processes than we do about the actual ingredients or their creation.

All in all, I was thoroughly disappointed in this book and recommend skipping it in favor of any number of better alternatives.