The Road to Wellsville, T. C. Boyle (Viking, 1993) ****

This novel is an irreverent comic satire of a nutrition and fitness resort for the wealthy actually operated by cereal millionaire Kellogg in Battle Creek, Michigan around the turn of the century. Some of you may have seen the 1994 book-based film, starring Anthony Hopkins, but the book is much better. Boyle is not only very funny but provides some fascinating historical insights into the cereal business, the fierce competition between Kellogg and Post, and the bizarre nutrition and fitness fads of those times.