Eat Fat

Rating:
Summary: Eat Fat...Yes!!!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: C+
Review: From an academic I was expecting something a little more disciplined than this insubstantial and ultimately pointless screed. Okay, he studied with Roland Barthes but postmodern doesn't necessarily mean vacant. Laura Fraser's very well-researched and on-point "Losing It" is a genuine postmodern study of American fat anxiety and a first-class anti-diet weight loss book. This one's just faking it.

Rating:
Summary: The ultimate heads-in-the-sand argument
Review: Richard Klein has written a book that must rank up with Ayn Rand's neurotic screeches as one of the most misguided of all time.

Klein's point can be summed up like this: We are neurotic for being obsessed with thinness, so let's celebrate being fat instead. As evidence in his favor, he cites other cultures who used a bodytype with greater girth as their ideal. But the fact that other cultures considered fatness desireable does not mean that they were wiser than us. It simply means they valued fatness, period. Said cultures also were wholly unaware of the medically-confirmed links between obesity and early death -- or lingering medical conditions which reduce the *quality* of whatever life you have (heart disease, circulatory problems, etc.)

Richard Klein's worldview is strangely reminiscent of the b.s. philosophy espoused by Tyler Durden in FIGHT CLUB: "Self-improvement is masturbation. Self-destruction might be the answer." The difference between Durden and Klien was that Durden was a prop of author Chuck Palahniuk, who was using Durden's fall-off-a-cliff-and-no-bottom-to-hit point of view as a mockery of nihilistic chic. Klein isn't kidding -- in fact, he takes his uninformed ideas seriously, which is all the more disturbing. Klein doesn't seem particularly interested in the hard facts about being overweight; he's in love with his romantic worldview in which everyone is just rounded enough to be sensuous, but not enough to be grotesque.

There are people who have legitimate medical problems with obesity. But they do not make up the vast majority of people who are overweight. Most who are overweight do not exercise regularly, and do not modify their eating habits to promote long-term weight loss. The best weight loss is gradual weight loss combined with judicious changes in lifestyle and activity, which is why all the fad diets in the world won't help you lose the pounds and keep them off. I'm no fan of anorexia, either, but books like this are not the answer to negative body images.

Bear in mind that this repulsive screed was written by a man who has also glamourized cigarette smoking as some kind of rebellious, life-affirming act -- when all it does is line the pockets of people who get rich by killing you with hundreds of inhaled poisons. Smoking isn't cool; neither is being obese.

Rating:
Summary: A repulsive testament to man's capacity to rationalize
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Fat from a Historical Perspective
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: antidote to Cosmo
Review: 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.