A Piece Of Cake: A Memoir

Names are a significant motif in the memoir, representing the different sides to Cupcake’s life and personality, as well as her past, her relationship with her family, and the person she eventually turns out to be. As a child, Cupcake had three names: Cupcake, La’Vette, and Punkin (a nickname from Daddy). Cupcake was her birth name, given to her by her mother, who craved cupcakes while she was pregnant and even asked for one after giving birth. The request was mistaken for a name, and it stuck. Mr. Burns, Cupcake’s biological father, hated the name and had it legally changed to La’Vette, but it was never a name Cupcake liked or identified with, and once she found out that it was Mr. Burns, not Daddy, who gave her that name, she used it only when doing things she considered wrong. Thus, “La’Vette” came to represent the negative side of Cupcake, and Cupcake, her true name, was the name that friends and family called her. It was also the name she used when she started work in the law field. In the book, Cupcake says that that is now the name she uses and chooses.