Tim Anderson, author of Sweet Tooth, on tour June 2014

About Sweet Tooth

Paperback: 334 pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (March 11, 2014)

“To a boy whose ideal snack was Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, the existence of a disease like diabetes seemed like the dark work of a mean God.”

So begins Sweet Tooth (March 2014 | Lake Union Publishing), the much-anticipated new memoir by Tim Anderson, author of the bestselling Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries. An impishly witty tale of growing up a Southern, gay, type-1 diabetic in the ’80s and ’90s, Sweet Tooth is perfect for fans of David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell.

What’s a sweets-loving young boy growing up gay in North Carolina in the eighties supposed to think when he’s diagnosed with type 1 diabetes? That God is punishing him, naturally.

This was, after all, when Jesse Helms was his senator, AIDS was still the boogeyman, and no one was saying, “It gets better.” And if stealing a copy of an x-rated magazine from the newsagent was a sin, then surely what the guys inside were doing to one another was much worse.

Sweet Tooth is Tim Anderson’s uproarious memoir of life after his hormones and blood sugar both went berserk at the age of fifteen. With Morrissey and The Smiths as the soundtrack, Anderson self-deprecatingly recalls love affairs with vests and donuts, first crushes, coming out, and inaugural trips to gay bars. What emerges is the story of a young man trying to build a future that won’t involve crippling loneliness or losing a foot to his disease—and maybe even one that, no matter how unpredictable, can still be pretty sweet.

Praise for Anderson’s TUNE IN TOKYO

“A gifted writer, Anderson is sensitive to cultural differences, delightful in his irreverence, and astutely aware of himself and his particular perspective. His observations are often laugh-out-loud funny and will leave readers with the desire to travel and to keep turning the pages, wondering, by the end, where Anderson will travel to next.” – Publishers Weekly

“Aside from such classroom encounters and problems of his own with the Japanese language that vaguely recall David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Anderson regales his readers with tales of Japanese popular culture and his own social life…” –Booklist

“…most impressive is the author’s ability to sustain his hyperactive comedic voice throughout most of the book without losing his edge. A laugh-out-loud look at the East/West culture clash.” -Kirkus Reviews

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Tim Anderson

In addition to Sweet Tooth, Tim Anderson is the author of the best-selling Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries, which Publishers Weekly called “laugh-out-loud funny,” Shelf Awareness called “so much fun,” and Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times completely ignored. He is an editor and lives in Brooklyn with his husband, Jimmy; his cat, Stella; and his yoga balance ball, Sheila. Tim also writes young adult historical fiction under the name T. Neill Anderson and blogs at See Tim Blog. His favorite Little Debbie snack cake is the Fudge Round.

For more information on Tim, visit his website, timandersonauthor.com.