false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173407009m/284345.jpg 284345 5 Judith Moore's breathtakingly frank memoir, <I>Fat Girl</I>, is not for the faint of heart. It packs more emotional punch in its slight 196 pages than any doorstopper confessional. But the author warns us in her introduction of what's to come, and she consistently delivers. "Narrators of first-person claptrap like this often greet the reader at the door with moist hugs and complaisant kisses," Moore advises us bluntly. "I won't. I will not endear myself. I won't put on airs. I am not that pleasant. The older I get the less pleasant I am. I mistrust real-life stories that conclude on a triumphant note.... This is a story about an unhappy fat girl who became a fat woman who was happy and unhappy." With that, Moore unflinchingly leads us backward into a heartbreaking childhood marked by obesity, parental abuse, sexual assault, and the expected schoolyard bullying. What makes <I>Fat Girl</I> especially harrowing, though, is Moore's obvious self-loathing and her eagerness to share it with us. "I have been taking a hard look at myself in the dressing room's three-way mirror. Who am I kidding? My curly hair forms a corona around my round scarlet face, from the chin of which fat has begun to droop. My swollen feet in their black Mary Janes show from beneath the bottom hem of the ridiculous swaying skirt. The dressing room smells of my beefy stench. I should cry but I don't. I am used to this. I am inured." Moore's audaciousness in describing her apparently awful self ensures that her reader is never hardened to the horrors of food obsession and obesity. And while it is at times excruciatingly difficult bearing witness to Moore's merciless self-portraits, the reader cannot help but be floored by her candor. With <I>Fat Girl</I>, Moore has raised the stakes for autobiography while reminding us that our often thoughtless appraisals of others based on appearances can inflict genuine harm. It's a painful lesson well worth remembering. <I>--Kim Hughes</I> 275864 2005 Fat Girl: A True Story total:926|5:96|4:232|3:293|2:231|1:74| 926 2823 1431 223 4 4 false false Mon Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 09:57:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 23 12:36:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Wed Sep 17 18:03:38 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 29 07:02:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Feb 22 18:48:49 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 18:56:24 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 07:17:51 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 19 05:43:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 4 false false Sat Dec 01 08:10:39 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 01 08:10:44 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 2 true false Fri May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 15:30:36 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 15:49:43 -0700 2008 She gave us many details about growing up. Occasionally throwing in vulger language to see if you were paying attention. But then suddenly, around th...more...]]> 1 2 false true Sun Jun 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 04 06:56:26 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 05:52:54 -0700 2008
Moore's descriptions of food and her feelings while eating it literally made me sick to my stomach. She certainly has a gift for describing things in a way to make you feel as if you are ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Nov 12 12:36:47 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 12 12:39:04 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Dec 07 13:37:24 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 04 22:50:47 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 07 13:36:42 -0800 2007 more...]]> 2 1 true false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 20 17:12:32 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 20 21:40:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 2 false true Tue Dec 27 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Dec 13 22:00:30 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 22:01:18 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 05 16:41:29 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 05 16:44:58 -0800 2008
Also, there were...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Jan 05 15:39:41 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 05 15:46:09 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 17:46:53 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 17:46:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 13:58:08 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 06:56:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 20:58:06 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 20:44:54 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 15:08:38 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 16:55:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 04 12:47:08 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 09 20:38:21 -0700 2009 Authentic

Always honest, often hilarious and never whiny, through reading Fat Girl we are taught the true essence of Judith Moore’s endless struggle. What appears to be just about fat and its customary quandaries, at its core is about loneliness, emptiness and abandonment, which does ef...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Mar 01 00:16:18 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 00:22:50 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 20:15:48 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 20:15:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=284345