Books

I co-authored “Badditives!” in 2016 with my sister Linda after we were asked by Skyhorse Publishing to do a book on the subject of food additives based on our previous work on the “Food Identity Theft” blog for the nonprofit Citizens for Health.

Buy Badditives! at Amazon.com!

We have recently updated Badditives!, a revised rendition of which is due out in the spring of 2020 under the title A Consumer’s Guide to Toxic Food Additives, complete with developments that have occurred in the intervening years.

“Repeat Offenders” is a collection of 50 essays compiled from hundreds of op-eds and commentaries of mine, both serious and humorous (or a combination of the two), that were originally published in various newspapers over a span of a quarter century, and which cover a variety of topics from politics to culture. It was published at the end of 2014 by Divertir Publishing, a small New Hampshire book publisher (not a vanity press) that was the first one to whom I submitted it.  At bottom is the blurb from the back cover, along with one of the reader reviews that appears at Amazon.com.  

BACK COVER: Warning: Many of this book’s contents previously offended certain people when they were first published on the op-ed and commentary pages of various newspapers, and may still pose a threat to cherished credos and deeply entrenched beliefs. Those who come into contact with them may thus risk having their assumptions assaulted, opinions upended, and prejudices pummeled. Many readers, however, may be both entertained and enlightened by the challenge to conventional wisdom and platitude-plagued attitudes that this collection of essays offers. Who knew, for example, that the FDA is championed by the very industries it regulates, that a certain “Mr. Quaker” once was going around delivering a militaristic message to high-school assemblies, or that committing small, random acts of benevolence could land you in jail? But just keep in mind that these dissertations are still every bit as dangerous to various dogmas and delusions as they were when they first appeared in print – and are fully capable of offending again.

REPEAT OFFENDERS; Like opening a bag of pistachios – Once you start reading these gems, it’s hard to quit.
James Caccavo
REPEAT OFFENDERS is a collection of 50 commentaries & opinion pieces written by veteran journalist Bill Bonvie that are as informative as they are entertaining. A very accurate & detailed observer of our recent & current times, Bonvie takes note of the silly as well as the most sobering aspects of our society. Such as an obituary where the deceased claimed authorship of the late Fifties R&R hit, “Itsy-Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” He was not and in fact the real author was still very much alive. Like many of the pieces in this collection, it leads to more serious matter of media credibility & responsibility. I enjoyed reading all of the commentaries, but the final piece on a US postage stamp depicting the statue of Liberty at first sounded like a good idea until you read further to learn that it is not the actual Statue of Liberty in New York that has greeted generations of immigrates seeking liberty, but rather the half size replica in Las Vegas, the gambling capitol of America. It becomes a symbol of winners & losers , but mostly losers motivated by – not liberty – but greed.

REPEAT OFFENDERS is packed with little gems that all ring of truth like the bell on the old Good Humor ice cream truck that used to roll into American urban neighborhoods until they became a target for snipers. it is great travel book, because of the brief chapters, but once you start reading, it’s like opening a bag of pistachios, you can’t quit and will find yourself reaching for just one more to nibble on.