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6th out of 28 books
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46 voters
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I'm Not the New Me
by
Wendy McClure (Goodreads Author)
A hilarious and sometimes poignant look at the absurdities of weight-loss culture from an appealing and original new voice.
From the creator of the immensely popular websites Pound and Candyboots, this is the memoir of Wendy McClure's odyssey-on-line and off-through the Valley of The Shadow of Her Really Big Ass. It's about the universe she created for herself when she co...more
From the creator of the immensely popular websites Pound and Candyboots, this is the memoir of Wendy McClure's odyssey-on-line and off-through the Valley of The Shadow of Her Really Big Ass. It's about the universe she created for herself when she co...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 26th 2005
by Riverhead Trade
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Barky
rated it
Wendy’s book is a story of her battle against the bulge – the fat, that is. She started a website when she joined Weight Watchers a few years ago, and called it Pound (after a brief stint as Wendy’s site!). You can still find her ranting at http://www.poundy.com/. The best thing is that it’s more than just an “I lost 98 pounds!” story, in that A.) you don’t have to feel jealous because she didn’t lose that many pounds B.) you don’t have to feel jealous because she’s never all that definite ab...more
This is a very curious book. I pride myself in casting a very wide net in my reading habits, but this falls well outside. Or maybe just marks a new boundary. I read it because I liked McClure’s The Wilder Life so much. I am still not sure if I could describe really what this book is about. Diet/weight loss, yes, but so much more than that. Being single in your 30’s in the internet era? Life?
I can recall being fresh out of college and working in an office that was predominately ...more
I can recall being fresh out of college and working in an office that was predominately ...more
This books get an ENTIRE EXTRA STAR just for referencing the 1970s television show "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" which my sister and I used to "play" in our suburban Pennsylvania backyard. I still remember the fight we had over who should be "Electra Woman" and who should be "Dyna Girl". As my sister is four years older than I, OBVIOUSLY she should be "Electra Woman" all the time, no? I still think I was right.
Back to the book. Where ...more
Back to the book. Where ...more
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This is a book about writing a blog. It doesn't contain the writing that makes up the blog. It's just about the process of writing the blog. Well, that's not quite right. It's about more than just the process of writing a blog.
It's about body image and self esteem and what it means if a woman's fat and she decides she wants to lose some weight. It's about deciding about how much weight to lose. How much weight is enough? It's about dating. It's about meeting a guy and getting dumped b...more
It's about body image and self esteem and what it means if a woman's fat and she decides she wants to lose some weight. It's about deciding about how much weight to lose. How much weight is enough? It's about dating. It's about meeting a guy and getting dumped b...more
This was really good: honest and funny and real. I liked the conversational tone of the whole book. Some parts were just so funny. It wasn't fake or trying too hard. I would definatley grab a seat next to Wendy McClure at a party. I know I am in the minority of over-weight women in that I am truely unphased by the extra weight, I mean really and truely quite unphased, I'm not sure if that's a blessing or a curse. I actually surprise myself by how unphased I actually am. I think for now I'll g...more
Merredith
rated it
Recommends it for:
people who read the poundy blog
Shelves:
1-or-2-stars,
memoirs-biographies
This is a memoir by the woman who writes poundy.com which is a blog that I've never read, but is apparently popular. It's very disjointed, and normally I like disjointed memoirs, with little stories from the author's lives, like blogs, but this was disjointed in a not so great way. The ending had no closure or sense of ending. The main character didn't grow on me. I wanted to like this book because it's the type of book i would like, but somehow i just didn't. In the book, the author decides to ...more
I found it thoughtful, moving and insighftul. And occasionally funny. About 50 pages in I started to wonder why the writing was so good... And then I read the author bio, saw that she got an MFA in poetry from Iowa, and thought "oh, maybe it's that." As body issues books go, this one is tops. Wrenching insight paired with stories about trivial ex-boyfriends, blogging meetups, and the rise and fall of the scale. Daily life with an extra layer of introspective texture.
I think,...more
I think,...more
This book was interesting, but had kind of an odd structure and pacing. There was no real plot or themes, and it read like a personal journal or blog. I enjoyed the authors' sharp wit and related to her struggles with her weight, but the fact that there was no real point to this book might drive some people crazy. This isn't a "fat then I got skinny" story or a "fat then realized I could be happy without being skinny" story. It's more of a "fat then lost some weight ...more
This book was ok. The best thing about it was it's cover.
The writing itself is good once you adjust to McClure's conversational style. The big flaw for me was the lack of purpose or direction for the book. It's not about weight-loss so it is understandable that it doesn't end with a triumphal trip to the scales or Wendy looking at her reflection in the mirror. It is about people and how we relate to one another, at least that's what it was for me. It just didn't seem to have an endi...more
The writing itself is good once you adjust to McClure's conversational style. The big flaw for me was the lack of purpose or direction for the book. It's not about weight-loss so it is understandable that it doesn't end with a triumphal trip to the scales or Wendy looking at her reflection in the mirror. It is about people and how we relate to one another, at least that's what it was for me. It just didn't seem to have an endi...more
This book was a quick, fun read but it lacked depth. It's called a memoir, but to me a memoir has to have more self-reflection than this book had. It reads more like many blog entries that were edited to read nicely and smoothly. Any woman can relate to some of her stories, like being approached by a man she doesn't want to interact with at a bar and having him make unflattering comments, as if his (a stranger's) opinion should mean anything, and her struggle with weight and lame boyfriends. So,...more
I really enjoyed McClure's voice in The Wilder Life and was excited to see my library system has this memoir. It was just serendipity that led me to start reading it the same week I started Weight Watchers. The reasons that led us to start the program were very different, but I really appreciated her views and the discussions of the environment she grew up in.
I liked reading about her participation in the first wave of blogs, where having a website was somewhere in the same grey field ...more
I liked reading about her participation in the first wave of blogs, where having a website was somewhere in the same grey field ...more
I picked up this book after Jen Lancaster suggested her in "Such a Pretty Fat."
I guess I just don't get it. Ms McClure seems to relate everything in her life to her weight in a way that seems wholly unhealthy. I've honestly known people with serious eating disorders who thought less about their weight and eating.
Also, the book seemed to have no rhythm. The chapters seem to be random observations from her life with little to string them together, but not d...more
I guess I just don't get it. Ms McClure seems to relate everything in her life to her weight in a way that seems wholly unhealthy. I've honestly known people with serious eating disorders who thought less about their weight and eating.
Also, the book seemed to have no rhythm. The chapters seem to be random observations from her life with little to string them together, but not d...more
A few years ago my friend Selena sent me a website that was a collection of Weight Watchers recipe cards from the 70s that someone had annotated. It was unfortunate that I opened her email at work, because as I sat there shrieking and crying from laughing too hard, several people stuck their heads in my office to ask, "are you ok?" Not professional.
Anyway, I'm Not the New Me is a memoir by Wendy McClure, who was responsible for compiling and annotating those cards. While tr...more
Anyway, I'm Not the New Me is a memoir by Wendy McClure, who was responsible for compiling and annotating those cards. While tr...more
This book annoyed me. The author is not nearly as funny as everyone makes her out to be. She reminds me of some girls I've known who are funny in that dumb humor sort of way, but it's a way that others seem to relish and I don't get that. It annoys me, again. She tries to be witty and only partially succeeds. I also don't get her relationships. I know, I know, why judge? But saying "I love you" after a few weeks? And CONSTANTLY talking about weight watchers but only SOMEWHAT pa...more
Inspirational without trying to be, one woman's journey to rid herself of the old herself began as an online journal blog, but soon became a phenomenon at connecting people. In the process, it gave the author yet another identity to deal with.
Read the back of the book to get an idea of her snarky humor, or look at her other hilariously ridiculous book "The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan", a commentary on found diet recipe cards from days gone by. Thankfully.
Read the back of the book to get an idea of her snarky humor, or look at her other hilariously ridiculous book "The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan", a commentary on found diet recipe cards from days gone by. Thankfully.
This is a very quick read. It was laid out like a well written blog. However the whole thing isn't annoyingly online somewhere, because she did take the time to write back stories and flesh out the entries. While mostly she gives a very honest approach to her life and struggle with self acceptance, parts are just laugh out loud funny. I do wish that the book had a better resolution, but instead it just puttered out. I guess that's a good way to get more blog followers.
This book had it's hilarious moments, yet the ending made me feel like she dropped me off a cliff. I'm not saying the book had to end with her losing a ton of weight and living happily ever after, but to me it felt like she was just getting started with the story part of the story.
Having nothing to do with the writing, I do have to say that I HATED both of the guys Wendy went out with. I couldn't understand why she spent time with either of them. YUCK!
Having nothing to do with the writing, I do have to say that I HATED both of the guys Wendy went out with. I couldn't understand why she spent time with either of them. YUCK!
I read this memoir a few years ago, but I loved it and still reflect on it years later (especially the frightening and hilarious 1970s-era Weight Watchers recipes). Written with great humor and insight, the author describes her struggles to reach a healthy weight and happy balance. She also writes the excellent blog "Pound," which (contrary to its name) is not about weight at all.
I liked her attitude. I liked what she had to say. Wendy is funny and real. I really liked her because she was also very flawed/human. And those old weight watchers recipe cards were hilarious.
I would recommend this book for anyone who has ever joined weight watchers, tried to lose weight, and/or tried to overcome issues with food.
I would recommend this book for anyone who has ever joined weight watchers, tried to lose weight, and/or tried to overcome issues with food.
Picked this up cause I'd followed, and loved, her blog for ages. Wasn't my favorite memoir type book ever, but it was a quick fun read. I think I like her snarky stuff at Television Without Pity and her blog better than her book length stuff. Maybe. Or maybe I should just read another one of her books. Hmm...
There are very few authors whose work makes me laugh out loud. In fact, I can think of only two: Bill Bryson and David Sedaris. Now I'm adding Wendy McClure to the handful. Warm, honest, self-effacing, bracing and, obviously, laugh-out-loud funny, this memoir is a keeper and one I'd recommend to any woman who has either spent time under Weight Watchers' thumb or dated silly men.
I always feel this is wrong to say about memoir but I wanted it to be funnier. And it didn't have a good ending. I mean it didn't end badly, in fact it was positive. But with memoir in the back of your mind you know the person is real and usually alive. There is no end. With fiction the characters are not real so I accept they end, their story at least. So this ended but it wasn't satisfying. But it reasonated with me since I'm currently trying to lose weight.
I felt a little guilty when I started reading this book because I'm a petite person who hasn't had to struggle with her weight. But I've met Wendy, and I like Wendy (and I'm totally jealous of Wendy because she's a great writer who's Publishing Books), and I wanted to expand my horizons past her Twitter feed. And even though the book does focus on weight issues, the overlying theme, to me, was so much more: wrestling with self-worth. Who a person is and how she sees herself -- both before, durin...more
An interesting look at how one woman lost weight and blogged about it.She also wrote about her mom's struggle with weight loss. It was a little unsatisfying. I wish she had written more about how her mothers choices affected her and more about the struggle of weight loss. Warnig- swear words.
This book kind of reads like the blog it once was but it mostly hold up none the less. Wendy McClure come off like a fun person to be friends with and, you know, maybe discuss your weight issues over a beer.
The was an interesting counterpoint to Julie & Julia. It's also a blog spin-off, this time about weight loss. I would frankly rather read about eating food than not doing so.
This is an excellent, hilarious, sarcastic look at the struggle to lose weight. I laughed, I cried, and mostly I nodded my head in that been-there, done-that manner.
One of my favorite memoirs; deep and sad and funny. It's hard for a description to do it justice cause this book is much more than the sum of its parts.
Very Funny and Entertaining! A great look at weight-loss and it's happy and not so happy battles/struggles :)Definitely a good read!
Weight loss, blogging, dating, family relationships, and friendship are just some of the topics McClure covers in her memoir.
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Wendy McClure is an author, a columnist for BUST magazine, and a children’s book editor.
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“I hate the thought that I'm just some kind of Russian nesting doll with the big outside and inevitably, rattling around under all the layers, a crude little peg with a face is the truth of me.”
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