I cannot recommend this book enough. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was not this absolute rollercoaster.

Alia Volz weaves a masterful story here that really defies classification; Home Baked is simultaneously a family memoir, a gleeful 'true crime' tale, a gay history, a modern marijuana chronicle, and an ode to San Francisco.

I read most of the last half of Home Baked aloud to my wife and there were moments where I was so emotional, I couldn't continue, my voice cracking over the heartbreaking reality of AIDS.

This line punched me in the gut right at the end "Cannabusiness crossed a bridge of human bones". ( )

Home Baked is well written, meticulously researched, verified with interviews, but not at all academic or stuffy. Alia Volz paints beautiful portraits of the times, the city she loves, and of her mother, Meridy--the Brownie Lady, who has never conformed or “gone straight”. Meridy is a fascinating character: Although she baked and peddled magic brownies for years, she can barely cook. An artist with a strong personality, yet she yielded to her husband’s certain (wrong-headed) vision that she would bear him a son. And she throws the I Ching before making any decision.
Memoir readers will enjoy this book, although it is not exactly a memoir: the author wasn’t even alive for more than half of its pages. History buffs may also like it and, in today’s environment of edibles, de-criminalization, and medical marijuana clinics, many readers will be astonished at how many years of imprisonment one could face for even small amounts of pot. Volz also details the political decisions behind the “War on Drugs” in which marijuana was – and still is – classified as a Schedule I drug—more heavily controlled than opioids.
No history of San Francisco in the 60s, 70s, and 80s can be told without including gay liberation, Harvey Milk, Dan White, Jim Jones…They’re all here along with vivid descriptions of the city in the days before Fisherman’s Wharf became a tourist mecca, before AIDS ravaged the Castro, and long before tech bros made every coffeeshop their satellite office.
Illustrated with family photos and samples of the artful designs on the bags in which Sticky Fingers Brownies were sold. Warning: you may become hungry as you gobble up this book!
[this review originally posted on San Francisco Book Review] ( )

What a fun read! The author takes us on a ride of a life time. She introduces us to her Mom and Dad in the heyday of rock and roll and illicit drugs. Seems Mom was broke and the only way to get out of the slump was to spend some money on a little baking biz. And fudge took over San Francisco! Yep.

Mom met Dad, and there was a marriage. Following the birth of the author.

Mom and company continue the biz. They get caught.

That's really it in a nutshell. But you've got to read this book! For the comic relief. For the untold story, I haven't told you. For the love, sharing, caring and the whole schmeil!

I highly recommend this book! It will take you on a wonderful ride. Don't miss out! I loved this book, and hated that there was a "The End" involved. I wanted it to continue!

I give this book...

...Five Stars
and a BIG...

...Thumbs Up! ( )