Customer Reviews

The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe: And Other Stories of Women and Fatness (The Women's Stories Project)

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This extraordinary book of short stories, The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe, had me thinking about all the ways people are perceived to be different, and think of themselves as different, from their peers. The women in these stories are fat, some hugely and obviously, others only in their own minds. Their stories are funny, smart, infuriating, and courageous. Editor Susan Koppelman selected these 25 stories from 167 written over the last century by women on the subject of fatness. Her encylopedic afterward is an additional bonus, giving readers both a view of fatness in our culture and a condensed history of women's short stories in the U.S. An extensive bibliography provides written and online resources for anyone interested in further research.

There were a few stories in this book that I didn't like. Many of the stories presented the heroines as not just *feeling* badly about themselves, but also as somehow *objectively* bad. In one, "The Hershey Bar Queen," I still remember that in the main character's worst, most rock-bottom moment, the description we get of her eating her candy bars is of shoving them into her "cavernous" mouth. Ugh. I would have preferred to see more stories in which we understand the struggles and difficulties one faces as a large person in the world, but one which didn't present those of us who are as being objectively revolting.

With that said, context is everything, and many of these stories require a little more history around them to properly understand just how subversive they really are. Susan Koppelman provides this context in the Afterward, which changed the way I saw several of the stories by providing the cultural context for the times in which several of them were written. "Juanita," for example, which was written in the late 19th century, struck me at first as being a story that simply reinforces the notion that fat women are drab and dowdy, and can only get the sorts of men that no one else would want. After reading the portion of the Afterward dedicated to providing context for "Juanita," however, I see it now as a deeply feminist story dedicated to the ideas of choice and freedom and independence.

There are also several stories in this collection which made me laugh out loud, such as "A Mammoth Undertaking," which is filled with moments of delicate and delightful humor, and relieve the often deadly seriousness of the subject of weight. "This Was Meant To Be," was hands-down my favorite story, in which the reader is witness to the fickle and capricious nature of society's aesthetic values. Our heroine need do nothing but be herself to be a smashing success, and all the world changes around her. I wanted to cheer when I finished it.

In stark contrast is "Goodbye, Old Laura," which is by far the most compelling piece in the collection. The writing is brilliant, and immediately I was drawn into the world and the achy inner landscape of Laura, the 200 pound teenage protagonist. Just how far I was drawn in made the ending that much more horrible. (I won't say why, to avoid spoiling it.) The worst part is that I can't tell whether the author approves of what her characters do at the end or not. Is she endorsing the gruesome ending or condemning it? I just don't know, and that is much of where the power in the story lies. I read it almost a week ago, and I am still thinking about it, and the choices we make as fat women to please those around us, and am still left wondering how many of those choices really make us happy.

There are still some stories that I don't think do justice to the fat woman's experience, and could have done without reading. However, those are more than outweighed by the rest. The very fact that so many women's voices were reclaimed from obscurity makes this book worth reading. Susan Koppelman is a brilliant author in her own right, and I strongly recommend reading the Introduction and Afterward (which I often skip). All in all, this is a book filled with excruciating pain, incredible wit, fantastic writing, and a depth and breadth of women's experiences that is both heartbreaking and wonderful.

Susan Koppelman's books preserve short stories that could otherwise be lost, and provide them with new settings that make them even more moving, and interesting than they are alone. This new collection, stories about women's body awareness in our fat-phobic culture, is so discouraging, encouraging, entertaining, and provocative that it should please any woman, fat or thin, satisfied, dissatisfied, or (probably) ambivalent about her body. Organized by theme, the stories build on each other and leave the reader thinking and rethinking each story in light of the ones that came before and after. Some of the stories are very sad; some are very funny. Every one is good fiction, "true to life," suggesting new possibilities and reevaluating old ones. The afterword enriches our understanding of each story and of the cultural pressures on women to hate and to change our bodies. Happily, it also gives us hope and makes us laugh.

I came away from reading these stories vowing to be more sensitively aware of the preciousness of life I see before me as I consider the appearances of myself and of each person I encounter. I vow to simply allow myself to be as I am, and to appreciate us all as we are. This attitude of open appreciation is an authentic acceptance of reality without a presumption that I know, or that you know--what "should be". In my view, living in true acceptance of what actually is, means living in grace. These stories can teach us how to live this way, if we allow them to speak to us as deeply as they are written.

This book of short stories is in the best tradition of the feminist movement. It raises consciousness. Few women manage to grow up in our culture oblivious to issues of weight. Most have struggled one way or another with it, some all their lives. Susan Koppelman's collection honors all these women and tells them they are okay. They are not lacking in willpower, or morally corrupt, or selfish, or greedy, or any of the other negative judgments society has visited upon them. They just are who they are and what they are. The net effect of the range of stories is to raise our awareness of the presence in our lives of women who are too often absent in our art and culture. But The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe isn't simply a political statement and it certainly isn't just for fat women! It's a wonderful collection that spans decades, giving us a cultural history cooked up in many different literary flavors to savor. And it stays with you. When you read it, you are both satisfied and hungry again -- for more anthologies edited by Susan Koppelman.

Great choice of stories, never before gathered in one place. I used this for a women's lit class I teach, and it was the most popular book. Students related to it as a fascinating group of stories, not just as a textbook. I'll share just one of many student comments: from one who starts med school in August, "I know I'll be a better doctor because I read this book."

I suppose we all have days when it seems hopeless--days when the so-called "War on Obesity" is so overwhelming, so pervasive, and so apparently effective that it seems impossible that we will ever get our point of view across. I was having one of those days when Susan Koppelman's book of short stories arrived.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this book lifted my spirits and gave me hope again. Koppelman asks in her introduction "What could women accomplish, how powerful might we become, if all the energy we turn toward our own bodies were released onto the world?" The introduction is a reaffirmation of the truth that the personal is the political, and a concise statement of the connection between feminism and fat liberation.

The book itself is arranged chronologically. "Juanita" and "The Stout Miss Hopkins's Bicycle" are both wonderful nineteenth-century stories. These women's voices from the past gave me historical perspective and made me feel a part of an inexorable tide, rather than a drop in the bucket. I especially enjoyed Lesl'a Newman's "Perfectly Normal," and the story by Hollis Seamon that gives the anthology its name, partly because they create memorable characters, but also because both of these stories deal with the strong connection between fat oppression, the dieting mentality, and eating disorders.

This is not Koppelman's first anthology of women's stories, each of which is grouped by theme. The scholar in me appreciated the extensive backmatter, explaining how each story fits into the history of weight obsession and women's self-empowerment. The activist in me loved the classic size acceptance quotes that accompany each story--many from books I have read, but not for a long time. We all need to hear those pithy statements over and over.

This book reminded me that the fight against fat oppression is part of the fight for women's liberation and self-empowerment. Of course the powers that be are arrayed against us. Of course it seems like an impossible battle at times. One of our most powerful weapons is surrounding ourselves with words that outrage, inspire, and uplift us--expressions of our beauty and worthiness. The stories in this anthology serve exactly that purpose.

In my opinion, good literature moves me emotionally, delights me intellectually, and changes me forever. Such is The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe: And Other Stories of Women and Fatness. Susan Koppelman has surely compiled this book of short stories with my three high standards in mind. I am a Psychologist who specializes in eating disorders; during my 25 year healthcare career, I have worked with 10,000 women suffering from anorexia, bulimia, and obesity. I have listened to their life stories, read their journals when they have wanted to share, and meditated on their reflections and memoirs. Yet there is in The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe still more to excite, compel, distress, unhinge, and expand my soul. Good literature. Very good literature. It reached me across the levels of my being, challenging my eyes to see with joy what I have been trained by our society to scorn, causing me to become more human and less mechanical in relationship with my body, changing me forever. I invite you in...

Susan Koppelman has collected a series of short stories about women and fatness that provides thought provoking insights into body size in different eras and different geographical regions. This is a book about diversity - a group with many similarities to those we call "minorities". It is a group that is gaining visibility and political force. The book is filled with characters who display all the human emotions we know, but through the common bond of the fatness of a lead character. My favorite story in this wonderful collection is the Hershy Bar Queen. It seems to capture the perfect likeness of an individual with Prader Willi Syndrome. Aside from the stories themselves, Dr. Koppelman provides useful (and necessary) commentary to help the reader understand the characters and their settings. But...it would be helpful for her to provide additional commentary and talking points before and after each story.

The Strange History of Suzanne LeFleshe belongs in the library of every woman in the world who cares about empowering women physically and spiritually. We need to understand the history and uses of controlling women's bodies and this book shows, through short fiction from the 1870s to the present, just how efforts to minimize and trivialize women's bodies damage each and every one of us.

The stories in this book are all beautifully written. The commentary is lively and crystal clear.

Susan Koppelman illuminates the theme and issues of each story with quotes (some from fat activists) that put the content in context.

The Afterword alone is worth the price of admission. It traces the different views taken in fiction about fat women through the decades. It provides an insightful education in how American culture has viewed fat women from the 1800s to the present, never losing track of the real oppression behind past and present efforts to make women "smaller" or to diminish women's potential by focusing on cramming all women into unreal molds, even when the process destroys us body and soul.