Alternate Beauty [Paperback]

Andrea Rains Waggener (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2005

She couldn’t change the way the world looked at her, so she changed the world.…

Ronnie Tremayne is a big girl with big dreams: she wants to be a fashion designer. But as her model-thin mother never fails to remind her, in fashion, image is everything—and Ronnie is a size 28. When she learns that her job managing a plus-size boutique is in jeopardy because her weight is “disturbing” to the clientele, Ronnie loses control. After a late-night binge, she dozes off wishing for a world where fat is beautiful. When she awakens the next morning…it is.

Now the ideal woman, Ronnie is thrust into the spotlight. She attends the best parties. She has her mother’s approval. Her boss invests in her clothing line. And the men! But as her appetite for life grows, Ronnie’s appetite for food shrinks. She soon becomes unrecognizable—inside and out. And while navigating the giddy highs and miserable lows of this so-called perfect world, Ronnie discovers what she should have known all along: it’s not the size of your body that matters, but the size of your heart.

Wise, witty, and compassionate, this stunning debut novel speaks to anyone who has ever engaged in the battle of the bulge—or the exasperatingly elusive pursuit of perfection.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A warm, wise, bittersweet book, brimming with powerful insight and understanding—a must for any woman who has ever dieted or obsessed about her body image—which is basically every woman in the Western world.” —Sue Margolis, author of Breakfast at Stephanie’s

About the Author

Andrea Rains Waggener left a career in law to pursue a career in writing. She is now a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her book Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise--52 Life-Changing Lessons for the 21st Century comes out in February 2005 from Hazeldon. Her weekly newspaper column, "The Up Beat"--which appears in The Daily World in Aberdeen, Washington--has inspired people for over five years to live an upbeat life. She has also struggled with the weight issue herself, ranging in her adult life from a size 8 to a size 26. (She is currently a size 12.) She lives with her husband and dog near the coast in Washington State.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (July 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553382985
• ISBN-13: 978-0553382983
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,698,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Greatly disappointed, June 23, 2006

By 

Norma A. Cody "Mrs.DCody" (CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alternate Beauty (Paperback)

When you look at the cover it gives you the impression that it is about a woman who is a creative and proud bbw. I dont think one time in this whole book was the main character proud of herself. I have never read a character who was as depressing as Ronnie. The author constantly uses derrogetory descriptions of the big characters in the book. The whold point of this is the character Ronnie enters an alternate reality, and everyone strives to be big, where as she is fighting it. The other character seem to be proud of how they look, but in Ronnies' eyes, they are disgusting obese creatures. Not once does she find anything attractive in any character unless they are thin.

Don't waste your time with this book. There is no love no romance and definately isnt any positive role models in here!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Alternate yes, but does the author really think it's beauty?, May 9, 2006

By 

K. Baker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alternate Beauty (Paperback)

Being a big girl myself, I was actually looking forward to this book the first time I picked it up. Then I started reading..

The story itself is basic and that isn't exactly disappointing. The wording is. It is clear from the way the book is written that the author certainly doesn't find fat even remotely beautiful. From themes on how fat women are, clearly, only fat because they're pressured so hard to be thin that they overeat..to the overused emphasis on "rolls and bumps" and how even the main character sees these things as horrid and negative. I was truly disgusted when I finished this book.

If you are going to write a book and market it under the idea of an "uplifting" sort of story, then please make the attempt at making the book something other than a "why am I fat?" lesson.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a review, August 3, 2005

By 

Little D (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alternate Beauty (Paperback)

This book was nothing like I expected and everything that I expected. Strange huh?
Well, I expected there to be romance, which there wasn't alot of. I expected that the main character will i the end find out that who she is as a person is what really matters. Not what she looks like. I was right. Just like so many other chick lit books targeting the 'bigger' girls, so it didn't amke it all that interesting. I've read so many books like this, that this book NEEDED something to make it stand out better than the others, and it didn't.

If you want to read 'bigger' girl chick lit, pass this up and go for something better. A few WAY better suggestions are 'Good in Bed' by Jennifer Weiner, 'Jemima J' by Jane Green, 'Waking Beauty' by Elyse Friedman, 'Losing It' by Lindsay Faith Rech and 'The Next Big Thing' by Johanna Edwards. All those are 4 and 5 star wonderful books, in my opinion.