When Misery Is Company or Twinkie Deconstructed

When Misery Is Company: Ending Self-Sabotage and Misery Addiction

Author: Anne Katherin

Surprising as it may sound, many people take comfort in their own misery. Feeling too good for too long (or even feeling good at all) can be scary for people, explains Anne Katherine.

"Achievement creates anxiety. Intimacy leads to fear. Happiness produces uneasiness. Pleasure causes pain. The solution to this dilemma: what feels good has to be stopped. I call this an addiction to misery. " Katherine's fascination and perspective book provides immediate assistance to those people who think they might be making choices that keep them at a "carefully calibrated level of existence--beneath bliss and above despair. "

*Available for delivery late February 2004. Reserve yours today!

Table of Contents:

	Acknowledgments	ix
Part 1	Understanding the Problem
Chapter 1	Can This Book Really Help?	3
Chapter 2	The Paradox	11
Chapter 3	What's the Use?	19
Chapter 4	Tilt	25
Chapter 5	The Horns of the Dilemma	29
Chapter 6	Yes or No?	31
Chapter 7	Don't Push Me	39
Chapter 8	Isolation and Pseudo-Intimacy	45
Chapter 9	Sacrifice and the System	53
Chapter 10	Mom, Dad, and Anger	63
Chapter 11	Protecting Mom (or Dad)	69
Chapter 12	Body Hate	73
Chapter 13	Double Trouble	77
Chapter 14	Stopped	81
Chapter 15	The Tie That Unravels	87
Chapter 16	Evicting a Source of Good	105
Chapter 17	Self-Sabotage	109
Chapter 18	Symptoms	117
Part 2	Finding and Living the Solution
Chapter 19	A Look in the Mirror	135
Chapter 20	Recovery	139
Chapter 21	Allergic to Progress--The Misery Addict's Dilemma	149
Chapter 22	Step One	163
Chapter 23	The Next Steps	167
Chapter 24	Recovery Meetings	173
Chapter 25	Abstinence	179
Chapter 26	Now That I'm Recovering I'm Feeling Stuff	199
Chapter 27	Toolshed	215
Chapter 28	Brain Healing	231
Chapter 29	Therapy	239
Chapter 30	Making It Last or Avoiding Relapse	243
Chapter 31	Is It Really an Addiction?	249
Chapter 32	Make a Commitment to Yourself	253
	Appendixes
Appendix A	MAA Meeting Information	259
Appendix B	Author Letter to Therapists	269
Appendix C	Resources	271
Appendix D	Notes	273
Appendix E	References	277
	Index	279
	About the Author	287

New interesting book: Cocktails or Made from Scratch

Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats

Author: Steve Ettlinger

A pop-science journey into the surprising ingredients found in dozens of common packagedfoods, using the Twinkie label as a guide

Like most Americans, Steve Ettlinger eats processed foods. And, like most consumers, he often reads the ingredients label—without a clue as to what most of it means. So when his young daughter asked, "Daddy, what's polysorbate 60?" he was at a loss—and determined to find out.

From the phosphate mines in Idaho to the corn fields in Iowa, from gypsum mines in Oklahoma to the vanilla harvest in Madagascar, Twinkie, Deconstructed is a fascinating, thoroughly researched romp of a narrative that demystifies some of the most common processed food ingredients—where they come from, how they are made, how they are used—and why. Beginning at the source (hint: they're often more closely linked to rock and petroleum than any of the four food groups), we follow each Twinkie ingredient through the process of being crushed, baked, fermented, refined, and/or reacted into a totally unrecognizable goo or powder with a strange name—all for the sake of creating a simple snack cake.

An insightful exploration into the food industry, if you've ever wondered what you're eating when you consume foods containing mono- and diglycerides or calcium sulfate (the latter, a food-grade equivalent) this book is for you.

About the Author:
Steve Ettlinger, author of six books, has long been fascinated with everyday consumer products, from hardware to beer.

Library Journal

Hostess-brand TwinkiesR are an iconic American snack food. Who hasn't heard of these cream-filled snack cakes or seen them on grocery shelves? Perhaps it's because of their fame that so many rumors have grown around them. (Do TwinkiesR really have an infinite shelf life? Are they really a concoction of chemicals and not actually food?) Ettlinger (The Hardware Cyclopedia) tackles these rumors, also explaining the tongue-twisting list of ingredients on a package of TwinkiesR. Although he is not a food chemist, nutritionist, or any one of a number of people who may be interested in deconstructing TwinkiesR, Ettlinger is a concerned father embarrassed at having been unable to answer his children when they asked, "What's Polysorbate 60?" and "Where does Polysorbate 60 come from?" Here he answers their questions while providing an insightful look into the processed food industry. Ettlinger didn't intend this book to discuss the issues surrounding the nutritional value of these constructed foodstuffs, however, so readers looking for support of their particular lifestyle should turn elsewhere. Recommended for all public libraries.-Rachel M. Minkin, Graduate Theological Union Lib., Berkeley, CA Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.