BOOK REVIEW
HUNGER; A MEMOIR OF (MY) BODY Review by Ursula Arens Writer; Nutrition & Dietetics Ursula has a degree in dietetics, and currently works as a freelance nutrition writer. She has been a columnist on nutrition for more than 30 years.
AUTHOR: ROXANE GAY PUBLISHER: CORSAIR (LITTLE BROWN BOOK GROUP), 2017 ISBN-13: 978-1472151117 (PAPERBACK) PRICE: £13.99
“No matter where I am, I wonder about where I stand and how I look. I think, I am the fattest person in this apartment building. I am the fattest person at this university. I am the fattest person in this airport. I am the fattest person in this city . . . This is a constant, destructive refrain and I cannot escape it.” Yes, Roxane Gay is fat (her choice of descriptor). Her heaviest weight was 577 pounds (262kg) and, at over six feet tall, she is a very big woman in every way. She does not reveal her current weight, but she is still fat, and this memoir of her life and her fatness is not a before-andafter description of changed weight. Yet so much in this book is about change. It is about the how and why a slim girl from a family and slim and healthy parents and siblings, became so obese. And how living with obesity changes you as a result of the constant reaction of others. And how as you become older and wiser, you come to understand that your very fat body reflects many things about your life, other than just being the visible marker of many years of excess food consumption. Roxane Gay’s book is stunning, written with astonishingly intimate revelation of what it is like to be so obese. There are many obese people who have described their lives, but perhaps few can match the brilliance of this very articulate and intelligent woman. As a writer, professor, columnist, author, speaker etc, she is someone who is paid to think about things and write about them. Having written many fiction and non-fiction articles and books, it was time to face this biggest issue in her life; her weight.
The trigger of trying to escape from her vulnerable body, was brutal gangrape at the age of 12. Committed by fellow school pupils from nice homes and from nice families. Becoming large and fat was the escape from having been abused as someone who was small and vulnerable. The top veneer of text is a description of her life. She did well in school and college, but escaped normality with a few years of reckless life including painful noncontact with her family. But she returned to education, qualified and became an academic and writer. Including many years as a mentor to engineering students on how to most clearly and correctly communicate highly technical engineering concepts to decision-makers and funders. This is where she is now: someone with a PhD who guides college students on creative writing and is a successful author and regular contributor of opinion to many national US publications. But the body of the book is about her body. It may be lumpen, but her descriptions about obesity are delicate, finely-woven text that share deep insights on her condition, and the reactions of the world to fatness. Of course, she knows all about diets and dieting and she has tried the A to Z of methods to eat less. Perhaps some of the
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BOOK REVIEW weight-loss methods are less dietitian-approved than others and all of them work for a while. But then deeper and stronger currents driving behaviour lead her to overeat (again)‌ and again she has to face her own disappointments and those of friends and family. Although there is no direct mention of any dietitian she has encountered, she does appear to have received much well-intended support from an amazingly kind and patient family and many friends. Her parents in particular seem to have been rock-steady in their attempts to help her to lose weight, with no end of willingness to fund weight-loss camps, or purchase particular food items and accommodate every attempt to eat less and exercise more. While putting dietitianspectacles over my actual ones, I could not really identify a time and a way to have supported Roxane further (beyond the many interventions she describes). Because ultimately, no one can be un-raped.
This book is a very beautiful description of the many daily challenges of being obese. The discomfort of sitting in too-small chairs. Trying to find clothes that fit. Trying to not hear catty comments, or how to respond to well-intentioned bad advice from others. Balancing being both the most visible and invisible person in the room. Edits to food consumption in public versus private occasion. All these are familiar issues to obese people, but Roxane has the unique skills of observation and description, that will allow others some insights to being obese. This is the most perfect book for dietitians to read, to balance out the tomes on epidemiology and satiety hormones and macro-nutrient ratios and many other aspects of obesity treatment. You cannot help but adore every inch and pound of Roxane Gay as the most articulate and thoughtful champion of being obese. It is not a condition she has chosen, or is proud of, or is happy with. But it is her reality, and dietitians have much to learn from her wise thoughts.
We have three copies of Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay to give away in our FREE NHD prize draw. For your chance to win a copy, email us at info@networkhealthgroup.co.uk stating that you want to be included in the NHD Dec/Jan book giveaway. Closing date for entries is Friday 9th February 2018.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Events and courses coming up soon . . .
Next steps for policy on high fat, sugar and salt foods - regulation, innovation and marketing Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum, London 12th December www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/conference/ HFSS-policy-2018/29228 Gastroenterology (D24GE1) University of Nottingham: School of Biosciences 12th to 13th December Email: Katherine.lawson@nottingham.ac.uk www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences
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Nutrition and cancer: what patients want to know The Royal Marsden, London 22nd January 2018 www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk/Nutritionjan Eating Disorders Awareness Week 26th February 2018 to 4th March 2018 www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk Allergy and Free From Show Scotland SEC Glasgow 3rd to 4th March 2018 www.allergyshow.co.uk/scotland
www.NHDmag.com December 2017/January 2018 - Issue 130