Sugar-Coated Squabbles

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More About

• Rich Cohen
• Ben Eisenstadt
• Splenda Brand Sweetener
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Cancer

Long before Equal and Splenda, there was the pink stuff, Sweet’N Low. And though the saccharine powder may cause cancer in laboratory rats who are forced to ingest too much of the chemical compound, the great fortune amassed by the sweetener’s inventor, Ben Eisenstadt, scourged his family. Though he is Eisenstadt’s grandson, Rich Cohen was disinherited (by way of his mother), thus cutting him off from the honey pot. A contributing editor to Rolling Stone and author of Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams, Cohen poured over thousands of court documents and interviewed extended family members to uncover the bitter truth of his family’s battles in his new memoir, Sweet and Low. Sure, dysfunctional family books are as common as a crazy uncle, but Cohen waxes witty on subjects ranging from Jewish immigration to sugar empires, and engages the reader till the last sweet drop.
Tue., May 9, 8 p.m.