Sarah Perry's first book, AFTER THE ECLIPSE, was a harrowing memoir about her mother's murder when Perry was 12. Although it might seem like she has chosen a topic (candy) in complete opposition to her debut for her sophomore effort, there's still more than a little sour and salt mixed into the sweet. And this wonderful essay collection is all the better for it.

Perry sets the tone with "On Root Beer Barrels," which is the longest essay in the book. Not only does it discuss the titular candy, it offers a brief history of her home state of Maine's favorite soda (Moxie), which then gets wrapped up in a hilariously detailed account of her largely failed attempts to treat the raging yeast infection she picked up while on tour for AFTER THE ECLIPSE. At the time, she was contending with resurgent grief dredged up by writing and publishing a book about her late mom. You get the idea right from the beginning; this might be a sweet book about candy, but it's not just about candy, and it's not always that sweet.

"Here's hoping that this thoroughly delectable essay collection prompts many readers to (re)discover their own sweet tooth --- and cherish their wild, precious memories."

Candy gives SWEET NOTHINGS its structure, though. Well, candy and color, since after that introductory piece, the 100 essays making up this slim but surprisingly dense (surely there's a candy metaphor here?) volume are grouped by color and arranged like a rainbow --- from the "chewy reds" of Twizzlers, Pop Rocks and Swedish Fish all the way through to the pink of Starburst and cotton candy. And not to worry, chocolate fans (whom Perry certainly would count herself among), she also includes lengthy collections of candies that fall under "dark chocolate brown" (including York Peppermint Patties, her mom's favorite), "pale brown" (Payday, Werther's Original), and "milk chocolate brown" (Twix and Toblerone, among others).

Some essays are as brief as a short paragraph; others expand over pages. In some, the candy is the essay. Perry, a true aficionado, is remarkably adept at chronicling the most minute details of candy, from its appearance to the way it melts (or doesn't) in your mouth, to which candy wrappers are well designed and which are just annoying (yes, we're looking at you, Snickers!). In some cases, she offers scientific or historical context, or bits of trivia.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, even though she is an unapologetic adult candy lover, many of the candies prompt Perry to cast her mind back to her childhood. She thinks about her mom, her mom's boyfriend and other relatives --- both before and after her mom's death --- as well as candies that, inevitably like childhood itself, have been discontinued. Sometimes the juxtapositions are funny, sad, sexy or wild --- as when she writes about "unnamed Scandinavian candy eaten in San Pedro, Guatemala," comparing it unfavorably (and hilariously) to the orgy she had on that same trip.

I remember years ago, when my parents had just finished reading Steve Almond's CANDY FREAK, they became obsessed with tracking down a couple of the candies that he wrote about. SWEET NOTHINGS is a very different book, but I’ve had a similar reaction. I now have a short (ok, long) list of candies to find, ones that Perry describes so lovingly and either I've never tried or I’d forgotten entirely until she jogged my memory. Here's hoping that this thoroughly delectable essay collection prompts many readers to (re)discover their own sweet tooth --- and cherish their wild, precious memories.