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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 21 customer reviews )
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4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 An awesome read. Sep 09, 2009
By Joshua E. Weston
When it comes to ice cream I have always been a vanilla type of guy. I'm not a big fan of any racy combination of flavors and I certainly have no respect for anything that costs more than $2.50 a quart. While I admit that I have been known to splurge on occasion and opt for brownie bits in my ice cream, I typically stick with the staple-favors; chocolate and vanilla. That's my theory when it comes to ice cream and it's rather, well, vanilla.
Steff Deschenes, on the other hand, has written a heart-felt memoir of her life's experiences utilizing her own theories about life, love, friendships and bitter animosities...that just happens to revolve around ice cream. According to the author, every person she has known throughout her life can be likened to a flavor of ice cream. Some she loves for their unique blend of seemingly contradictory flavors, while others are appetizing only in short bursts, and leave you feeling sick to your stomach before everything is said and done.
Is a person plain, dull and ordinary like vanilla, or are they as memorable as her own first homemade batch of ice cream, warts and all? Was a friendship as great as it seemed on the surface, or was it built up in her head the same way she idolized Spanish gelato, only to be disappointed when confronted by the real thing?
Sincere in its poignancy, The Ice Cream Theory cuts to the core of the author's life's experiences in an entirely engrossing manner. While the author's own voice is clearly audible and narrates the body of the work, her trials and jubilations are so recognizable they eventually become your own. You read a story about a certain flavor and know for a fact you met a guy exactly like that once, while another flavor will remind you of a friend you used to have years ago.
Steff Deschenes' style seems similar in nature to Joan Didion's utilization of long bloviations that lead to insightful conclusions; while a story may seem to meander, it always concludes with a clever "Aha!" moment. The Ice Cream Theory is a page-turning narrative that presents a promising beginning to a young author's career.
Steff Deshenes' first book helps an individual understand that while you may enjoy vanilla, there are so many other flavors out there that simply need to be experienced. Your travels through life will cause you to meet some flavors you love, and flavors that are destined to disappoint and should have been left in your imagination. The Ice Cream Theory provides the reader with a glimpse into a strikingly unique examination of life using an absolutely charming and wonderfully addictive metaphorical approach.
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Insightful Fun Sep 08, 2009
By Joel Heyman
Love this book, fun read with some good insights. Would recommend this to anyone I know!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Ice Cream, the Universe, and Everything Sep 08, 2009
By J. G. Edathil
"podcast host"
When the iconic cover to the book inevitably grabs the attention of those around me, they ask me what it's about. I say it's about ice cream and relationships, but really, it's about the way we come to terms with the random crazy happenstances. Steff Deschenes has a quirky but strong voice that comes through loud and clear in the text. She's courageously abolished the boundaries between herself and us, and the result is a very honest but heartwarming series about the people we run into and the way we make sense of those interactions.
I would highly recommend this book to the romantic, the skeptic, the dreamer, the hypocrite, lovers, children, parents, grandparents---just about anyone who tried to make sense of the world over a dessert.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Surprisingly Moving Sep 02, 2009
By Cory John Stoker
The Ice Cream theory is summed up nicely in the product description. That's the surface that you need to know. What you don't know is that the voice of the author is so clear that it doesn't feel so much like reading as it does listening to a good (and unaccountably wise) friend talk about life. I've seldom read a book that hovered 'round the two hundred page mark that offered so much good advice.
This is one of those reviews where I have a problem summing up how much the material meant to me. It's like watching a movie that moves you like nothing before, like listening to a piece of music that touches your soul. You don't easily put those feelings into words. This book did that. In it you've got... well... life. It's at turns unbearably heartbreaking, remarkably funny, ridiculously witty, and terribly fun. And sometimes all of those at once.
I don't really see this as a self-help book I must say. It's more a memoir. Just so happens that in the learning experiences contained in the book the author has gained the kind of perspective that helps others in their lives just by reading it. In that sense I suppose it could be considered self-help.
I'm steering clear of saying too much about the content because frankly you need to read it yourself. You'll take away different lessons than I did. And there are lessons aplenty. It's easy to read, it's moving, it's thought provoking, and it's truly unique in it's voice. What more do you need?
 A fast and engaging read! Mar 30, 2011
By John Otte
Even though this book is billed as a "self-help book," it really isn't, not really. Instead, it's more of a quirky memoir. Deschenes dissects many of her own relationships and compares the people she meets to different ice cream flavors. There is an over-arching point that she makes at the end of the book that can be applied to anyone, but by and large, the book is mostly about her own relationships.
And that's just fine, don't get me wrong. Deschenes has an engaging and quirky style to her prose. The people-to-flavor connection never felt forced and most of them made me chuckle at how clever they were. The book engaged me the most when it was the most heart-rending. The chapters on Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin and Soy "Ice Cream" Sandwiches captivated me (especially the former).
In terms of craft, the book suffered only a little from what can best be described as "wandering apostrophes" (some words needed them, others didn't). But all in all, this was a very satisfying and quick read. Definitely one that I would recommend.
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