We All Scream
The Fall of the Gifford's Ice Cream Empire
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
For more than 70 years, Gifford's Ice Cream and Candy Company was associated with nothing but pleasure for native Washingtonians and visitors to the nation's capital. Few knew the dark truth... Behind the iconic business's happy facade lay elaborate schemes, a crushing bankruptcy, two million dollars of missing cash, and a tragic suicide. As the last Gifford heir unfolds his story with remarkable immediacy and candor, he reveals the byzantine betrayals and intrigue rooted in the company from its modest beginnings—dark influences that would ultimately destroy the legendary Gifford business and its troubled founding family.
Customer Reviews
We All Scream
I decided to read this book because I wanted to know the author better and also because when I moved to Maryland in 1992 within the first few days of living here I heard about Gifford’s Ice Cream and how people went crazy over it. It has been a few years since I was actively reading. I used to read 25-30 books a year but lately nothing I picked up engaged my interest or was well written. This book made me want to start reading again like I used to. Not only is it very well written but it is also hard to put down. I was able to empathize with the author but also found great solace in the fact that many of us grow up with mentally ill parents. The author excellently manages to remove his personal emotions and biases during the telling of the story making it much more credible and interesting. The reader is able to determine their own feelings about the characters actions.
The author not only breaks down the happy facade of the business, he also strips the reader of their precious yet false memories. It is somewhat sickly comical as well and I found myself either laughing with both disgust and glee throughout. This is a story of perseverance and it is very inspiring. The author suffers great emotional and physical pain in his life and it seems that only through the writing of the book does he heal his psyche.
Corruption, lies, manipulation, mystery disappearances, missing money, rotting barrels of ice cream, and so much more make this one of the best memoirs I have read.