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Summary: Insightful commentary, advice, and observations
Review: Bonnie Bernell is a full-figured, licensed psychologist who draws upon her more than twenty years of expertise and experience leading workshops and psychotherapy groups for women seeking to get on with their lives in Bountiful Women: Large Women's Secrets For Living The Life They Desire. Her insightful commentary, advice, observations, and recommendations are organized into four major sections: Me, Myself, and I; Friends, Foes, and Family; Bountiful Women on the Move; Romancing and Dancing. Of special note is her summary chapter "Begins and Ends with You". Bountiful Women is enthusiastically recommended for women's studies groups in general, and Rubenesque figured women in particular seeking to life their lives with a true joy and sense of self-worth.
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Summary: A Fantastic Therapy Session!
Review: Bonnie Bernell uses her own experiences as well as those of other "bountiful" women to provide readers with the ammunition to live their lives to the fullest. Her manner is gentle and caring as she addresses issues that we as women of size face on a daily basis from the "meaningful" parents who berate us for our size to the airplane seat that is too narrow to finding Mr. Right. Ms. Bernell's advice is reasonable as well as doable. After reading Bountiful Women, I felt as though I had undergone a much needed but extremely inexpensive therapy session! I recommend that all large women and the people who love them treat themselves to Ms. Bernell's "secrets." It is a book that you will pick up again and again for inspiration and encouragement.
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Summary: Nourishment for the Heart
Review: Bonnie Bernell's Bountiful Women is a delicious and nourishing volume. Organized into bite-sized chapters, the book presents stories and illustrations on a myriad of topics - from core issues, such as health care and personal relationships, to life enhancement arenas, such as travel and personal pampering. As the bountiful women tell their stories, they reveal their wisdom, courage, humor, compassion, and tenacity. Celebrating each women's individuality, Bernell does not advocate "one size fits all" in her commentary and advice. Rather she writes about choices, the choices that should be available to all women, as she advocates against self-imposed limitations that narrow our lives, demean us, or wither our spirits. Fundamentally this book is about the quality of our lives, about "deservingness." While the focus is on bountiful women, Bountiful Women speaks to all women. It provides food for thought; more importantly, it offers a deep well of sustenance for the heart.
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Summary: Hooray for Bountiful Women!
Review: Bountiful Women is an uplifing, delightful book to read. Each page is full of practical as well as spiritual advice about how to live life to its fullest today. I recommend it for all women who are sick and tired of waiting for a thinner tomorrow in order for their lives to begin. Today is the day!Compared to most self help authors who push a "lose weight now, ask me how" approach, Dr. Bernell is as refreshing as a cool glass of sparkling water on a hot desert day. She makes size acceptance not only understandable, but doable, too. Every plus-size woman should own this book.
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Summary: This book is for everyone!
Review: I am a thin man, not a bountiful woman. Not only did I think this was an excellent read, it has changed the way I think about bountiful people. I admit, I have been susceptible to prejudice in this arena. No longer. Dr. Bernell has written a book that speaks so clearly, so eloquently, that I am now unable NOT to smile when around bountiful people. It's as if I'm now part of the inner sanctum of understanding.
If enough people read this book, life will be a bit easier on everybody. We'll be able to focus on the things that truly matter and go about our lives living to the fullest. Well done.
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Summary: This book is for everyone!
Review: I am a thin man, not a bountiful woman. Not only did I think this was an excellent read, it has changed the way I think about bountiful people. I admit, I have been susceptible to prejudice in this arena. No longer. Dr. Bernell has written a book that speaks so clearly, so eloquently, that I am now unable NOT to smile when around bountiful people. It's as if I'm now part of the inner sanctum of understanding.
If enough people read this book, life will be a bit easier on everybody. We'll be able to focus on the things that truly matter and go about our lives living to the fullest. Well done.
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Summary: Has Important Info for all of us, Bountiful or Petite!
Review: I couldn't put this book down! Many of us have felt "outside" of popular culture for one reason or another. Bountiful people encounter hurdles we don't even imagine. Bonnie describes story after story of heroic women who confront the challenges head on, find love, exciting lives, and success despite society's negative image. While describing inspiring events, Bonnie manages to weave in heartbreaking examples of the discrimination and cruelty faced by bountiful people on a daily basis. It is an eye opener, and her messages about dating apply to EVERYONE.
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Summary: Exciting and Inspiring!
Review: I found "Bountiful Women" so exciting to read that I had to force myself to put it down occasionally. As a large sized woman myself, I had come to the conclusion that I couldn't keep 'weighting" to get thin before I could live my life, and so have pushed myself through many barriers, but Bonnie Bernell has carried the idea so much further than I ever dreamed of. I love the concept she puts forth in the title (Bountiful Women): living your life as fully as you possibly can, in every aspect, not just professionally, but socially, athletically, and in every way possible. The book is easy to read. Each chapter begins with inspirational quotations, then the concept for the chapter is explained with clear examples and quotations from real people who were interviewed for the book. Chapters end with "secrets"-how to cope with the problem area just described. Even thin people could benefit from reading this book, because people, in general, tend to hold themselves back because of perceived limitations-not thin enough, not good-looking enough, not smart enough, not loved enough, and on, and on, and on. This book has much to say for the large sized man also. I recently recommended it to a male friend of large dimensions who thinks that he cannot live his life until he loses weight. After finishing the book, I felt as if I wanted to go out and conquer the world!
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Summary: a must-read for women of size
Review: I just loved this book BUT where were the voices of young Bountiful women? As a 24 year old pround full figured woman I felt left out. There was no one interviewed in this book under 40.
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Summary: Cheesy and Depthless
Review: The whole full-figured women oppression issue is something that has been of interest to me for a while, but only recently have I become introduced and interested in the sociology of it. I picked up this book b/c of all the rave reviews on this website, but when I actually went to go read it, I found it to be one of the cheesiest and most eye-roll inducing self help books I've probably ever encountered. Now, I haven't even read the whole book yet, so my review might not have 100% credibility, but from what I've read, I hated.
Why you ask? Well, even though I appreciate that a heavy woman feels beautiful and wants others to feel the same (cause they all are) I'm really looking for a book w/ insight. These books really are made to build a woman's self esteem and create awareness in both men and women to the cruelties and ignorance made by people about heavy people, but a reader doesn't just want to author to continuously say "you are beautiful and you can do anything!" over and over again. A reader wants research, theories, hypocrisies of world cultures to really feel like she does have a right to happiness even though she's a heavy woman; in other words, we need facts and important info to back up a compliment. This books gives none of that. Instead, what we have here is just a collection of old folkies telling cheesy short stories on how they make themselves feel beautiful. In between these quotes all we have are bridges given to us by the author to prepare us for the next quote. Each chapter is entitled with a different subject, and the first paragraph to the chapter talks briefly about that title (making you think you're in for something good), for example "In-laws" or "They just mean well," and "dating and romance," etc. Then it once again goes into more stupid, pointless quotes by people we don't even know, all pretty much saying the exact same thing. A lot of the stuff isn't even about big women and how they make themselves feel beautiful. A whole bunch of it is simply talking about what colors can match others in clothing, make-up tips, etc. It's so shallow it's annoying.
If your over the age of 60, there's a chance you'll probably find this book interesting, other than that, you'll be bored to death. If you want REAL research and challenging insightful theories, not to mention at least a hint of laughter which this book gives nothing of, check out Wendy Shanker's "The Fat Girl's Guide to Life." I love big women, but this book is junk.
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