SOLVED. A fat man inherits a restaurant, goes on journey; has lap band surgery [s]

[Amber]

I think I read this in the late '90s and was New York Times notable book. A man inherits a restaurant from his parent's friend. For reasons I can't remember, goes on a road trip--running away basically, and gets so fat that he can't get out of his motel room. He has surgery, loses a ton of weight. More description gets into spoiler territory. I would love to read more by this author and maybe even read this one again.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Amber--this is the one group on GR where spoilers are not only liked, but usually encouraged since those spoilers are sometimes the only thing that allows someone to say, "Hey, I remember that book, it's XXX." There is a way to put a spoiler in and have it "hidden".

Type <*spoiler>then the body of your spoiler<*/spoiler> and (view spoiler)[ remove the *. And then you get this. (hide spoiler)]

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Fiction or nonfiction?

[Amber]

fiction

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Amber, you did the spoiler tags correctly EXCEPT you have to remove the asterisks. Then it should work.

[Amber]

Thanks! (view spoiler)[the fat man had been conceived in an affair with the restauranteur and that's why the older man had left fat man the restaurant unexpectedly. The fat man, once he was thin, started to court a woman he had know from when he was fat, but she didn't recognize him (hide spoiler)]

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Had it just become a NYT Notable Book at the time you read it, or was it a Notable Book more than 3-4 years prior?

[Amber]

I don't actually know. It had the Notable Book sticker on the spine of the library book, but I don't remember the year. For sure I read it before 2002--that was when the library moved and I'm pretty sure I read it before 1999.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

I don't think it's this but I'll throw it out just in case: Me and the Fat Man

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

How about: St. Burl's Obituary

Burl Bennett is an overweight obituary writer for a New York paper who stumbles into the aftermath of a mob killing in the restaurant he co-owns with an uncle. Eventually, intimidated by threats against his life, Burl leaves New York and heads out West on a bizarre odyssey. He winds up in Salt Lake City, where his weight continues to increase, until he literally gets stuck in the door of his hotel room. Burl has various adventures as his girth expands and contracts along with his economic status, and he explores every nuance of his own identity and what it means to be fat in contemporary America. The story comes full circle when Burl, having assumed someone else's identity, returns to New York, where he finally faces the issue of who he really is.

[Amber]

Oh my gosh! That's it! Thank you so much

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

You're welcome.