Fat Girl: A True Story
by Judith Moore
Pages: 208
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication Date: 2/28/2006
Judith has been fat all of her life. In the second grade she weighed 112 pounds. She has been laughed at, made fun of, and in one particularly embarrassing situation she was told she was "too fat to f%ck" buy a drunk guy at a bar. It all started as an overweight child and a mother who was ashamed and embarrassed of her daughter's weight. In the most abusive ways possible, Judith's mother did everything possible to get her daughter to lose weight. From extreme diets to practically starving her, Judith's mother was the stuff of nightmares. In her memoir Judith Moore gives the world a glimpse at what it is like to grow up overweight and remain that way most of your life. It is harsh, it is sad, but above all it is true.
I have shared with you all that I have an ongoing battle with the "bulge" and in the early pages of the book I found myself commiserating with the author. From the way she tried to be cognizant of her downstairs neighbor to becoming "friends" with the people on her workout video. I found myself understanding where she was coming from. Then she started to talk about her childhood and that is where my commiseration ended. I was blessed to have a mother who loved me and never abused me. Not verbally and certainly not physically. I know the author grew up in an different era, but abuse is abuse. The part of the book that left my jaw dropped was when Judith would break into the ministers house after school (this was in Oklahoma) and basically steal their food. Her mom was preoccupied with her sick grandmother, so she wasn't being forced to do some crazy diet, she just felt as life were better when she was in their house and the food was just a bonus. Sadly, when I was researching for this post, I found that the author passed away in 2006 after a battle with cancer.
Bottom line,
Fat Girl: A True Story is not one of those books that will call you to action and lose all the weight you need to lose. It is not one of those books where there is an amazing transformation and the author is at goal weight by the end of the book. But this book is a book that will help you understand some of the feelings "fat people" experience if you have never been overweight and if you have been (or are) overweight, you will find that you are not alone. Either way, it is a good book and one I would recommend to anybody.
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