JUNK is the name of a novel by Christopher Largen, a saga on the War on Junk Food. The novel is available as an online download.

In response to rampant obesity, the U.S. government declares a war on junk food. Agents are dispatched to investigate salt addicts. Candy wrappers are confiscated as paraphernalia. Insulin is outlawed for concerns that it would send mixed messages about sugar abuse. This is the world of JUNK.

Described as a "riotious exploration of prohibition", JUNK hauntingly follows the same lines as the Prohibition Era in America, and the more recent war on drugs, but focusing on our love/hate relationship with junk food.

What's scary about JUNK is that it could be easily be a self-fulfilling prophecy, considering recent attempts to sue fast-food restaurants for contributing to heart disease, and new legislation in California to ban the sales of soda-pop in schools. The kind of Orwellian society chronicled in JUNK may not be too distant.

Largen provides a sampling of JUNK, in which he cleverly draws parallels between biblical teachings of right versus wrong, and the movie "Charlie and Chocolate Factory"...

Before he could catch himself, Moe rose, shouting, "I've had it
up to here with this blasphemy, you've gone too far! Were you high on sugar when you cooked up this rubbish? You're giving me one serious case of indigestion!"

Now Pastor Smith stood, yelling, "God's forgiving nature is manifested and revealed through the character of Wonka! Don't you see? Every kid who abuses food gets destroyed, a natural consequence of sin. But Charlie inherits Wonka's kingdom precisely because he can resist the urge to eat the gobstopper. The film is anti-junk! It would be tragic and senseless to keep children from getting the Christian message of this sanctified tale."

Moe pointed his finger at Pastor Smith. "That's manipulative,
and you know it! Sure, Charlie returns the gobstopper, but he winds up with the factory itself! This young boy goes from experimental use to full-scale production and distribution in the bat of an eye!"

When writing JUNK, Largen found inspiration using materials from our current war on drugs, including court records, news articles, and letters from prison.

JUNK can be purchased online for $15.00