"Hi, my name is Jeff, and I'm a Coke addict. (a Diet Coke addict to be specific) It has taken me 46, 47, 48, (good God will I ever finish this darn book?) 49 years to get here and it hasn't been a picnic. Mark Twain said "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." I can honestly say that giving up Coke is just as easy. This is the opening line to an entertaining look at my lifelong addiction to Diet Coke. The stories are entirely fictitious, written in the style of a memoir. I bring the reader on an enjoyable and humorous journey from my humble roots as the seventh of eight children, through my twenty year military career, my entrepreneurial phase, all the way to my mid-life crisis career change from junior executive to park ranger and the role Diet Coke played at every stage. The books concept is ridiculous and absurd, creating an undeniable curiosity for the reader. Right out of the gate the reader is caught off guard by the seriousness of the title, "My Life as a Coke Addict," yet it is in the humor section. Throughout the book, I treat my love of the carbonated concoction of pure pleasure as a true addiction, only occasionally alluding to the ridiculousness of my passion.