All of Me: A Voluptuous Tale [Hardcover]

Venise Berry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2000

"Wise and funny. Venise Berry is a welcome addition to the literature of African-American women."-Charlotte Watson Sherman, author of Touch (on So Good)

So Good, Venise Berry's first novel, spent six months on Essence magazine's Blackboard bestseller list and was an Alternate Selection of the Literary Guild(r). With All of Me, Berry again delivers a compelling, humorous, and poignant story on a subject that plagues half the women in America-weight. Serpentine Williamson has a good life: an exciting career as a television reporter in Chicago, a sexy boyfriend, membership in a popular gospel choir, and a family who loves her. But in the midst of her positives lies a powerful negative-her lifelong struggle with weight.

After years of buying into fads and labels, Serpentine finds her world crumbling. And, finally losing the battle to uphold her plummeting self-esteem, she breaks down and needs to be hospitalized. All of Me is a heartwarming, inspiring, and often funny chronicle of Serpentine's fight for recovery. As she learns to meet her challenges with dignity and strength she also learns to love herself, for the first time, just the way she is. All of Me will resonate with women of all shapes and sizes and will once again affirm Venise Berry as a fresh voice in African-American women's fiction, whose snappy characters, according to Rosalyn McMillan, "double-dare you to put the book down."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At the opening of Venise Berry's absorbing second novel, TV reporter Serpentine Williamson is jotting a few dispirited lines into a journal that her psychiatrist has insisted she keep. She has tried to kill herself. Yes, she tells Dr. Greeley, a man was involved, "but a lot more was going on in my head." What really drove her to attempt suicide was her own damaged self-image as a full-figured black woman and her constant, discouraging attempts to drop the pounds, find a good man, and make her mark in television. Since childhood, Serpentine has embraced every fad diet and weight-loss technique as it emerged, even submitting herself to a humiliating seaweed wrap that required her to stand for two hours in an empty bathtub draped in strips of wet plastic, looking, as her sister pointed out, "like a piece of Mama's day-old fried chicken when it's wrapped in the 'frigerator." Nothing made much of a difference. As it turns out, her recovery focuses not on her weight--or any single issue--but on Serpentine's expanded view of herself and her own possibilities. Near the end of the novel, Dr. Greeley tells her that it's clear, finally, that she loves herself. The question is how much. Leaving her doctor's office, Serpentine sees a shop sign advertising spa getaways, an indulgence she has never permitted herself.

In that moment, Serpentine knew her guiding fire was at work. Sometimes it was a vivid blaze lighting her way. Other times it was a smoldering ember that allowed her to choose her own path. She followed the fire inside the double glass doors.

Eventually, as her newfound assurance leads her out of her depression, she can describe her much-loved aunt in terms that might apply to herself, as well: "Her wide shoulders over ample hips are attached to big, pretty legs. It's a body that serves as an appropriate container for her exuberant spirit." --Regina Marler

From Publishers Weekly

Berry's second novel (after her well-received debut So Good) explores the complexities of body-image, weight and self-esteem in the life of African-American TV news reporter Serpentine Williams. Forty years old, with a successful career and loving family, Serpentine is smart, sassy and ambitious, but as the story opens, she's in a hospital after a suicide attempt. The narrative then follows the heroine through her sessions with a psychiatrist, her memories of childhood and adolescence and her history of tormented love relationshipsArevealing that her negative body image has poisoned many aspects of her life. Fat jokes as a child, fear of men's rejection, the media's constant touting of an unattainable physical ideal have all contributed to her despair. Unjust and painful episodes abound: a fan of her news program approaches her to tell her she's too fat, and television executives argue whether her zaftig appearance is appropriate for her TV image. While the trajectory of Serpentine's depression, as well as her eventual triumph, is poignant and realistic, Berry's style is sometimes erratic. Weaving in platitudes about the evils of advertising between anecdotes from Serpentine's past, Berry brings the protagonist to life as a smart, good-humored and resilient woman, but never convincingly portrays why such a strong person succumbs to disapproval of her appearance. As Serpentine recovers from depression, she finds love, validation in her job, a healthy cure for her self-loathing and renewed faith in herself. The conclusion is tidy but resonant, and the novel addresses the important and generally overlooked issue of body image for African-American women in a winning and absorbing manner. By turns serious and funny, Berry's tale is, in the end, a hopeful one, with a lovable and soul-searching heroine readers will sympathize with, and root for. Agent, Denise Stinson. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1ST edition (January 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052594463X
• ISBN-13: 978-0525944638
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars all of me a voluptuous tale, May 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: All of Me: A Voluptuous Tale (Hardcover)

as a male who dates voluptuous women, i found this book to be an eye opener. ms. berry spin a tale of a woman struggling to come to grips with her weight. while reading the story i fell in love with serpentine's character.....her only weakness was falling prey to society's norm of what a "woman" should look like. ms. berry stay true to her sytle of wit and catchy sayings. after reading this book i immediately e-mailed ms. berry in search of my serpentine......i strongly recommend thi book to all those men who are dating, attracted to, are married to a BBBW. it would help you understand their plight. i have nothing but love for venise...... yours , cumtakernodoubt

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hurrah, for the Full-Figured Sistahs!, August 11, 2000

By 

Pamela Osbey - See all my reviews

This review is from: All of Me: A Voluptuous Tale (Hardcover)

I've been reading since i was a little girl (about 3) and throughout my adult years I have never read a story about a full-figured woman. I like this story because it touches on several issues: weight, depression, self-love, and insecurity. Serpentine is a beautiful sistah, who hasn't accepted her weight, and is under pressure at her job. She is not really assertive about things in her life - her job, or men. She makes some interesting choices in her quest or search for self-love, and Ms. Berry writes with an honesty that makes this a difficult book to put down. I found this reading to be refreshing, interesting, and very entertaining. I liked to see more of this type of writing - or more of these types of characters. I do like the way Ms. Berry ties up the different issues of Serpentine's depression, and her learning how to love herself. The ability of Serpentine to accept herself AS IS, was powerful.

Wonderful writing Ms. Berry. Keep up the good work.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, this is a must read, February 6, 2000

By 

J.C. Wallington "jnettefrommi" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: All of Me: A Voluptuous Tale (Hardcover)

I would be willing to bet some of everyone who reads this book would find a little of Serpertine in themselves. I know I saw a lot of my thoughts and traits in Serpertine. THis book really hit home about how society, family and the full figured woman percieves being full figured woman. There are so many misconceptions. Reading about Serpertine will make you laugh, cry, get angry and motiviate you. This book I would highly recommend.