My Confection

October 26, 2015
Kotin, a director and actor living in Los Angeles, describes herself as being a sugar addict from a young age. Though this frank memoir recounts the author’s early family life, the majority of her story is devoted to the chaos that the addiction created during her 20s. Kotin chronicles her constant feeling of emptiness, discomfort with her body, troubled family relationships, casual and disappointing sexual and romantic relationships, and an inability to settle on a career path. When life becomes hard and Kotin’s self-loathing sets in, she turns to soothing herself with copious amounts of sugar-laced foods. Kotin describes devouring dozens of cookies or an entire loaf of freshly baked bread—the bread so hot that it burns and blisters her mouth. Health issues begin to plague her, and following a serious scare, Kotin seeks help. Thirty years after her initial rejection of Overeaters Anonymous, Kotin finds a haven within that group. Her narrative makes for exhausting reading, but it convincingly depicts the decades-long emotional and physical traumas she endured.

October 1, 2015
Actor and performance artist Kotin bravely reveals just how powerful sugar addiction can be. Who doesn't enjoy a scoop of ice cream? Or even a pint? That's fine for most people, but for compulsive overeaters, enjoyment isn't the point, and one pint is never enough. That's the message running through the author's meticulous memoir, which chronicles every sugar crystal that has crossed the self-proclaimed sugar addict's lips. By the time she digs the frozen cake out of her mother's freezer and begins hacking off chunks, she erases any doubt that sugar addiction is a real malady. It's hard not to get frustrated with Kotin, who, like an alcoholic or a junkie, regularly swears off her substance of choice only to find herself knee-deep in doughnuts days later. The same sort of cycle applies to her sex life, her studies, and her career; you want to shake her out of this alternatively self-indulgent and self-destructive cycle, though you know it's futile, like talking to a problem drinker after a night at the bar: there's no getting through the foggy thinking that's symptomatic of addiction. Kotin's ups and downs are so repetitive that it can be hard to detect the personal growth at the heart of this coming-of-age memoir. Her development as an artist comes through brilliantly, though, when she describes heartbreaking performance pieces in spare prose that is all the more illuminating for not overwhelming readers with details. Kotin's self-effacing, candid humor hits the mark at many junctures; elsewhere, she simply provides too much information about her bowel habits. However, the author is dedicated to showing the whole ugly process of coming to terms with addiction, and her honesty makes her plight palpable. Full of finely sifted detail but uneven.

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Starred review from June 1, 2016

Kotin takes a lighthearted approach to illustrate that overeating and compulsive eating are addictions with serious effects. There's shame, private consumption, relapses, and promises that this is the last time. The author details her decades-long struggle to master her obsession and deal with the family dynamics that may have triggered it and led to pursuing inappropriate sexual partners. Ultimately, the why doesn't matter--it's how one moves forward and through that counts. VERDICT A delicious morsel of memoir writing that will strike a chord with junk-food junkies and their clean-living counterparts. [See Memoir, 12/14/15; ow.ly/Yz5t300b8mr.]--RD

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
It was more than sugar that induced Kotin to run amok, as she recounts in her memoir of growing up in the 1980s. She bounced from college to college, apartment to apartment, coast to coast, job to job, cure to cure, and bed to bed. Fueled by a craving for donuts, candy, and sugar in any form, Kotin recalls family celebrations featuring pastries and dysfunction. Weight wasn't the issue, but she consulted therapists, acupuncturists, health food gurus, doctors, Overeaters Anonymous, and her sister (who seemed, miraculously, to have her life together) as she tried to control her obsession. Taking theater classes and working as a mime, Kotin struggled to find a foothold in the artistic world while her everyday life was imploding. Her real gift turned out to be writing, and as she penned dramas and journals based on her experiences, Kotin began to come to terms with her addictions. The narrative is by turns bawdy, hilarious, and heart-wrenching, and readers will be moved by the author's candid look at the very real addictive power of sugar.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)