Book Review: "Chomp, Press, Pull"
- marthaengber
- Nov 16, 2025
- 2 min read
Elaina Battista-Parsons’ CHOMP, PRESS, PULL fully immersed me into the life of someone whose senses go off like fireworks!
The author talks about growing up in New Jersey with sensory dysfunction before anyone had a name for experiencing life in a hyper-vibrant sensory way. Though often not idyllic in a world where most people’s senses are calibrated toward the middle, her rich, often very funny descriptions left me wishing I could experience her dynamism of touch, smell, sound, sight and taste.
Even the organization of the memoir reflects the rapid response of someone whose senses react far beyond normal, at times to the point of making them vomit or have panic attacks. Rather than chronological, the stories revolve around objects or places that fired up the author. One chapter titled “Nectarines,” for example, describes the joy with which her body and brain consumed the fruit. “I was a fruit-loving kid who couldn’t wait to stab my teeth into a vitamin-heavy piece of earth… In the process of slurping up the nectarine it was my goal to remove every strand and thread of fruit flesh from the erotic brown pit to be left with the most perfectly dried remnant of my textural joy.”
When talking about the city of Newark where her grandmother lived, she does so not in terms of architecture, people, or places, but as where “my nose, my fingertips, my tongue, and my eyes were happy. I smelled Grandma’s scrambled eggs, the oregano in her Sunday sauce, and the old wood in the kitchen.”
I really appreciated learning more about sensory affective processing disorder and products that help people cope better, like weighted blankets and cooling pillowcases. The author mentions the tools she used, such as therapy, Reiki and low doses of an antidepressant, to keep from getting overstimulated or deal with insufficient stimulation.
The book left me with a deeper appreciation for a condition I didn’t know existed, and as a result, I hope to be more sensitive to people who react so strongly, rather than thinking of them as high-maintenance or overly picky. While not wishing to have the issue, I now know they experience levels of sensory ecstasy I never will.
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SCATTERED LIGHT, a novel, sequel to WINTER LIGHT, (Nov. 2025)
THE FALCON, THE WOLF AND THE HUMMINGBIRD a historical novel
BLISS ROAD, a memoir
WINTER LIGHT, a novel, in paperback and audiobook
THE WIND THIEF, a novel
GROWING GREAT CHARACTERS, a resource for writers
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