Customer Reviews

Eat Fat

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The author of this book provides us with an impartial analysis of the history of how we have regarded fat. Public opinion can last for decades, so it is only with the perspective of history that we can more accurately assess the nature of something.

Richard Klein draws our attention to the fact that for most of human history being fat is a positive thing. When one looks at famous art, one sees voluptuous curves and full forms. Works of art that depict thin body forms frequently are associated with plague, war, and other forms of human misery.

He also helps us to recapture the essential sensuality of fat. One needn't fear intimacy with a robust person as one might with a thin, frail-looking shell of a person.

All of this plays very well with a recent PBS program that showcased "Fit and Fat." We're instructed that being fat doesn't mean you have to be unfit. And this undercuts the criticism of those who demean fat people. Historically, fat and thin alike had to work hard to remain alive. Today, this isn't true. So, part of the return to enjoying being fat is to adapt to the times by adding exercise and healthful living to the mix.

As a fat person myself (6', 250#), I work out to be fit and have earned the respect of my doctor who not only cannot fault my health, but says I'm a lot healthier than his thin/average clients!

This book provides substance and support to my belief that we fat persons are fine just as we are and have much to be proud of. Be informed. Enjoy your wonderful body--and Eat Fat!

Klein is a man in the process of waking up from our wacky culture's notions of food-as-drugs and this-is-beautiful. This post-modern diet book retrieves the older, more positive valuations of fat, and attempts to "transvalue" fat in anticipation of a possible return to a fat idea of beauty. He supplies some in-depth analysis of some of the more flawed recent attempts to re-instate the outrageously low ideal weight charts of the fifties, and discusses some of the less publicized risks associated with the latest in diet drug cocktails. It's a book worth reading, even if it self-describes as an attempt to charm you into changing the way you view fat. I recommend supplementing it with Levenstein's excellent histories of wacko food fads in America: _Paradox of Plenty_ and _A Revolution at the Table_. You might also try Shapiro's _Perfection Salad_.

The people who have reviewed this book negatively take it too seriously! It is meant to be entertaining and humerous, and the author far from advocates eating everything in sight. Instead, he traces the history of body image, back to the eighteenth century when fat symbolized wealth and plenty. He also goes into the etymology of the word "fat," in its positive and negative connotations, and its cognates "phat." Reading this book got me to rethink my relationship to flesh, and there's nothing wrong with flesh, despite what all the magazine covers say. All in all, it's a refreshing read that will improve your body-image, relation to food, and overall mindset.

Dieting has met its match. A tongue in cheek review of the futilities of the dieting craze in America, Richard Klein pokes fun at that four letter word...FAT.

I loved this book. I am a BBW and very active in the fat acceptace movement. I liked the way this book went beyond acceptance to love. Klein makes the point that we should embrace our fat. This is a definate must read for fat people everywhere! And for skinny people too! This book may change their minds about fat. Eat Fat shows that fat is a good thing to have and to love!

Perhaps it's not fair to review a book before i've finished it. Then again, I doubt if I _will_ finish it. 20 pages into the lengthy (it takes up over a 1/3 of the book) and turgid introduction, I skipped ahead to the first chapter. I can sum up the first 20 pages of that as:

"'fat' is old English for 'vat', and Shakespeare used the word 'fat' a lot".

There may be the bare bones of an interesting anthropology pamplet here, but it's so wrapped up in dead repetitive prose I found it indigestible.

Sick of being fat and unattractive? Rather than developing the self discipline to become a strong, healthy person, why not console yourself with R. Klein's masterfully constructed, pseudo-academic rationalizations for continued fatness? It's all here- how other, grander cultures considered fatness desirable, how today's health conscious society is run by those who are both cruel and skinny, and how REALLY enjoying life requires relentless gourmandizing because me... want... eat... food! Bravo, Mr. Klein. I look forward to your books on alcoholism, crack addiction, and self-mutilation.