Product Description

This is the heart-wrenching true story of a girl named Cupcake and it begins when, aged eleven, she is orphaned and placed in the 'care' of sadistic foster parents. But there comes a point in her preteen years - maybe it's the night she first tries to run away and is exposed to drugs, alcohol, and sex all at once - when Cupcake's story shifts from a tear-jerking tragedy to a dark, deeply disturbing journey through hell. Cupcake learned to survive by turning tricks, downing hard liquor and ingesting every drug she could find while hitchhiking up and down the California coast. At just sixteen, she stumbled into the terrifying world of the gangsta, dealing drugs, hustling and only just surviving a drive-by shooting. But, ironically, it was Cupcake's rapid descent into the nightmare of crack cocaine addiction that finally saved her. After one four-day crack binge she woke up behind a dumpster. Half-dressed and half-dead, she finally realized she had to change her life or die on the streets - another trash-can addict, another sad statistic. Astonishingly, Cupcake turned her life around and this is her brutally frank, startlingly funny story. Unlike any memoir you will ever read, "A Piece of Cake" is a redemptive, gripping tale of a resilient spirit who took on the worst of contemporary urban life and survived it. It is also the most genuinely affecting rollercoaster ride through hell and back that you will ever take.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7059 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

From the Back Cover
The New York Times bestseller

From beloved daughter to abused foster child to crack addict, this is the heart-wrenching true story of a girl named Cupcake Brown.

Following her mother’s death, Cupcake was just eleven years old when she entered the child welfare system. Moved from one disastrous placement to the next, like so many, she was neglected and sexually abused. She developed a massive appetite for drugs and alcohol – an appetite fed by hustling and turning tricks – and before long, stumbled headlong into the wild, notoriously dangerous world of the gangsta.

But ironically, it was Cupcake’s rapid descent into the nightmare of crack cocaine addiction that finally saved her. After one crack binge she woke up behind a dumpster. Half dressed and more than half-dead, she finally knew she had to change her life or die.

Brutally frank, startlingly funny, A Piece of Cake is the remarkable true story of a resilient spirit who took on the worst of contemporary urban life and survived it. It is also the most genuinely affecting rollercoaster ride through hell and back that you will ever take.

About the Author
Cupcake Brown was born in San Diego, in the heart of the ghetto. After years of hard work and dedicated study, she achieved her ambition, graduating from law school in the spring of 2001. She now practices law at one of America's largest law firms and is a motivational speaker. She lives in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Makes Frey look like he needs something to do.
I was floored by this book! Most of us have read "A Million Little Pieces", and like other reviewers, I must admit that I am also addicted to these kinds of stories. However, this book is a strong departure from many of the other books I have read in this genre. First, Cupcake has an amazing voice throughout the novel. The dialogue, however "street" it may be, is accurate and on point! I can tell you coming from the streets of NYC/America, that the speech and dialects are nothing less than flawless. Secondly, this author has much less of a tendency to victimize herself than other authors in the memoir game. Perhaps one would say that this is simply the effect of her AA meetings, etc., but I continually felt the genuity and humility of her story. She admits her anger at she was treated, but impressively continues to muster resolve to get through it. Fantastic read, impossible to put down--and equally impossible to forget!

Excellent!
This review isn't to tell people about this book but to simply tell people that it is a MUST READ. When I first looked at it I thought that it was way too dense and that I probably wouldn't get through the whole thing; to look at it it's quite intimidating. However, once I got over the size of the book I just got lost in it. I often missed my stop on the tube or bus as I was so into it that I forgot where I was. I enjoy these kinds of books and I often find myself welling up with tears as I read one, from the horrendous ordeals people go through. But with this book Cupcake Brown added so much humour that I felt for her but I couldn't help myself from laughing at the things she'd written. She has a unique writing style that just captured me. For anyone that enjoys this genre then I would definitely recommend this book!

It's a cracker
I'll come clean... I've got a bit of an addiction to this genre of book. Which means that I tend to buy anything which looks remotely like it might fit the bill, and unfortunately spend immense amounts of time wading through self-obsessed, whining, my-cousin-shoved-me-when-i-was-nine-so-now-i'm-a-heroin-addict ramblings.
However, gladly this was not one of that ilk.
Cupcake Brown is a remarkable woman with an obvious flair for the written word, who has had a monstrous, touching, funny, heart-breaking life. She has been around the block a time or two, given herself over completely to a variety of nefarious substances, partaken of some hugely dysfunctional relationships and robbed a few houses along the way.
But wait... when we read these books aren't we always waiting for the bit at the end which goes: "after all of this hardship, I found a way out through my own vast and endless courage and resolve, I am now a wonderful human being..."? Well, with this book that part simply doesn't came. Sure, she's turned her life around and it's nice to know that it can happen. But you'll find no evangelical anti-drugs message or self-congratulary tone here.
This book is happy and breathtakingly sad, anrgy and serene. It takes the reader on a ride through places we'd never want to stay, and a combination of great descriptive story and Brown's no-nonsense approach and great sense of humour kept me hooked.
Very highly recommended.