Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie Is Not the Answer

by Jen Lancaster

"To whom the fat rolls…I'm tired of books where a self-loathing heroine is teased to the point where she starves herself skinny in hopes of a fabulous new life. And I hate the message that women can't possibly be happy until we all fit into our skinny jeans. I don't find these stories uplifting; they make me want to hug these women and take them out for fizzy champagne drinks and cheesecake and explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don't matter. Unfortunately, being overweight isn't simply a societal issue that can be fixed with a dose healthy of positive self-esteem. It’s a health matter, and here on the eve of my fortieth year, I've learned I have to make changes so I don't, you know, die. Because what good is finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult onset diabetes?"

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Humor, Chick Lit, Biography, Biography Memoir, Comedy

400 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

Jen Lancaster is the author of her own memoirs including: as Bitter is the New Black, Bright Lights, Big Ass, Such A Pretty Fat, Pretty in Plaid, My Fair Lazy, and the newest: Jeneration X.

She has also dabbled with fiction in her first book, If You Were Here.

Reviews

[Robin Rountree · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book better, really I did.

But the author's writing style grates on me after a while and I really feel so much of this book was filler. She proposed a book about her experiences with weight loss, and then spends too much of the book talking about her book proposal. For most of the book she's failing miserably at her goals. Then in the last third of the book she finally kicks into gear. I appreciate how she makes fun of the weight loss experience, but sometimes I wanted to shout "stop eating the mac & cheese"!

I will say her personality definitely comes through on the pages, and she did make me laugh a time or two.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memoirs By Nature Are Narcissistic
Think about it. You are the writer. The subject is you. The story is of your experiences based on the ideas generated by you. You have to spend a lot of time with yourself and like yourself enough to put it out there for the world to judge. And they DO judge!

This first person account starts out with the in-your-face notion that she's a fat beyotch, a hearty eater (bring on the butter) and a mean girl to boot. Look out soccer moms and Stepford wives, this is the polar opposite of . . . you.

Between "magically porktastic!" bites of food, Jen decides to try to lose 50 pounds, believing she'll be rewarded with facials and trips to Vegas or Italy to mark her progress. Regardless of her quest, her personality or yes, her narcissism, Jen Lancaster can WRITE. I went through so many pages before I realized I was almost completely finished with the book. It's a writing style I enjoy and admire, as it's conversational, FUNNY, and she doesn't hold back. She makes you feel like you're right in the room with her. Even though I can't say we have a whole lot in common, (I DO, however, like the shows on Bravo), more than anything else, I love a self-actualized, brave woman who writes well and entertains me with a good book.

Time to order the rest of her books and continue laughing in this woman's world.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dining is one of my greatest pleasures. But right now I feel like I've been denied every flavor that makes life worth living, and I'm cranky and unsatisfied . . .

Though this one didn't provide all the laughs I was hoping for, I did find it interesting.

Lancaster wants to lose weight not for cosmetic reasons - she's fine with the way she looks - but due to health concerns: her blood pressure and cholesterol are both high. This is her, sometimes hilarious, chronicle of her attempted weight loss schemes - both the successes and the failures.

What didn't work? Atkins and Jenny Craig. What did? Massive amounts of exercise led by a personal trainer, and, surprisingly, Weight Watchers, though our Jen was not a fan of attending the meetings.

I most enjoyed the accounts of how her efforts affected her marriage. Jen's husband, Fletch, was frequently left baffled by her behavior.

"Up until recently, you were the most confident person I knew. You're the one who says everyone else is too thin and you're just right. Now that you're actually losing weight, you're completely fixated on body image, and you never were before. Doesn't make any sense."

Problems also arose due to the fact that she was dieting, but he wasn't.

. . . he's also having a side of multigrain French toast. I watch as he puts a neat little pat of the extra rich European butter on each slice, and then covers the stack with pure maple syrup. He heated the syrup first, so the butter melts instantly and the heady combination begins to ooze down the side of the toast. I feel myself salivate as he slices into his first bite, and my eyes follow the trajectory of his fork from plate to mouth and back again. I would kick kittens for one small taste right about now.

This is not meant to be a weight loss guide. I doubt many of us have as much time or money to devote to getting in shape as Jen did. Lancaster is also an acquired taste. If you don't like her personality, you're not going to like her books. BUT, if you're looking for something fairly amusing to read instead of working out, grab a bag of chips, and dive right into these pages.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library because I enjoy funny memoirs, and who can't relate to weight loss tribulations? It was OK at first, but I soon became bored with the author's interminable, rambling anecdotes. One chapter about driving around the freeway when she's afraid to merge, while one of her friends wants to stop at every Starbucks, was particularly dull. And it went on forever. Well, humor is very hit or miss, so I don't hold it against her that I only had a couple laugh out loud moments.

The biggest problem with the book is that she presents herself in a very unlikeable way. She comes across as vain, lazy, trivial (eating, watching reality TV and getting her hair and nails done seem to be her main hobbies), and although she can laugh at herself, she is just too mean to random people. When she meets a Jenny Craig employee with a birthmark, she doesn't just make one joke about it, but brings it up multiple times. It wasn't funny to begin with. That, more than anything, is why I disliked this book. If she'd directed her snark a bit better, I'm sure I would have had a better reaction.

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm on page 200 of this story...it's almost 400 pages long and it's a memoir. She's STILL debating whether or not to go on a diet (she's a size 24). This book makes me hungry because she CONSTANTLY talks about food. It's an easy read and she's funny (loving the footnotes) but she's puts being a procrastinator to a whole new level. Let you know if the next 200 pages are worth the read. Right now I feel like exercising and taking a cooking class all at the same time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK OK OK OK...finally finished the book.
It was an easy read (but felt like it took me forever).
I want to be friends with the author. I love her sense of humor. I think we could be great friends. But hello...she didn't really start losing any weight until like page 500000!! And admits to gaining 12 pounds back while writing this book because she couldn't hit the gym as often. And there is no way that her actual trainer's name is Barbie. And although she discloses so many personal things in this book, she never really does tell us how much she weighed...only that she dropped thrity something pounds (then gaines 12 back) and at one point was a size 24. I liked the fact that I now know more about Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers (still no desire to try either). She mocks herself (often) which had she not - she would have totally pissed me off. But in the end...she seems really nice, honest, opinionated, funny, smart and stubborn (reminds me of someone I know....hmmmmm). Anyway, was it an awe inspiring book...nope. But it was interesting. Would have like to have known if her husband had/has a weight problem since every meal he ate made me drool. And she kind of throws in there somewhere that he is a smoker which was random. But anyway...it could have been about 200 pages shorter. But I don't think it was a wasted read...and for anyone who has ever been told (including myself) "you have such a pretty face" (back handed compliment because what they really want to say is "if you weren't so fat and didn't have so many chins we would be able to see your pretty face", I enjoyed several moments throughout the book. Now I'm going to go try to Facebook friend Jen Lancaster.
HOWEVER, I would have have given it 2.5 stars if I could...hello GoodReads (get the freakin hint already).

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this book didn't really rate a 5, but it is certainly in 4.5 territory. I loved this book. It's for all of the women who have struggled to lose weight and have been subjected to comments like "You have such a pretty face." I don't get that particular remark. I more often hear, "You in the white skirt, would you mind bending over so that I can show my Right to Life filmstrip on your butt." No, that's not true. Sometimes it's a video about how the surge has made us more protected and how the rest of the world stands in awe of GWBush. This book is for all women who have struggled with weight (and even those men who, while shopping for a suit, are told by the salesperson, "Let's try this in a "banker's cut", while making a sound that might be a sympathic chuckle or may be a sneer.) The author is approaching 40 and is told by her doctor that she needs to lose weight, a lot of weight, to avoid serious health issues. She finally decides "what good is finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult-onset diabetes?" Knowing that she needs pressure to perform, she pitches a proposal for a book detailing her attempt to lose 50 pounds. Jen Lancaster is my new hero for this hilarious book. If I ever meet her, I'm going to run up, wrap my pudgy arms around her size 24 body (less now), tell her I loved her book, and then ask for her recipe for mashed potatoes (she swears that if she could figure out how to sell them on a stick, she would make a fortune). I read this book while lounging on the beach and frequently laughed to the point of tears. Attracting the attention of people sitting nearby, I quickly put down the book and pretended that I was having a seizure. Be honest, people want to get into your business if you are having fun, but if they think that it's an actual medical emergency, you become invisible. Read this book. You will be glad that you did.

[Bruce Henderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my normal cuppa joe, but it might prove to be worthwhile. Thus far, the book's main character, the author herself, proves to be narcissistic to the point of bombasticism. Not a good combination. On top of that, she's in a constant state of denial about herself and rationalizes differing opinions until she's focused all of her attentions back on herself. She reminds me of a character in Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius J. Reilly.

...Okay, I finished this book a few weeks ago. I'm not the better for it. The author's sense of humor is biting. This book does not provide much more than a trip down the sidewalk of her existence. Not necessarily a fun trip. She is condescending to a fault and she wears thin too soon. The book is in serious need of a strict editor to provide something else. But that really isn't the point of this book, and I suspect the same can be said of her other books. She also overindulges in a wrong-headed stylistic quirk that should have been killed by the editor after the first use: she used 175 "footnotes" that would have been perfectly served as parentheticated phrases within the main body text. As footnotes they became tedious and dreaded. But like a train wreck, you read them anyway and feel irked at every one.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't take it any longer. This women is crazy. All she does is think about food and herself. As her boyfriend is talking she's freaking thinking about mac & cheese. Never once did I find her funny, just annoying.
I got about 6 chapters in and then decided enough was enough.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim: I'm a fat woman who lost a lot of weight and then gained it back, but I wasn't looking for motivation or miserable company. I just wanted a good story. PRETTY FAT did not deliver. I've never read any of the author's other books, and now I have no desire to. Jen Lancaster, despite the blurbs on the book cover, is not wickedly funny; she is trite, condescending, small-minded, and very, very smug. The writing is dated and unimaginative, and the "humor" self-serving. This is not a person I want to spend time with or patronize.

But more than that, if I was looking for an inspirational book about weight loss, or even a story I could relate to about how difficult it is, this book would fail. Ms. Lancaster spends a lot of time talking about her food cravings and her struggles on the Atkins diet, how she gained so much weight without knowing it, and how her health has deteriorated enough to concern her doctor. All of these are relatable. Yet how does she solve it? By having money and time to spare. The take-home message of the book is that if you are lucky and wealthy enough not to work full time (not to mention to get a job in which you are paid to lose weight), to pay for pre-packaged diet meals (Jenny Craig), to join a gym and go as often as you want, to find and afford a personal trainer who is lovely and brilliant at motivation, to afford a housekeeper to clean so you can recover from working out, and to have a husband who supports your every mood swing, You Too can lose a few pounds. Simple, right? No. It's insulting. Ms. Lancaster portrays herself as an Every Woman (albeit one who is much, much better than you), but her weight loss journey is extremely different from most people's, because most people don't have anywhere near the resources she has. It doesn't work: she can't be one of the masses while being so above them. She can't have her cake and eat it too, so to speak.

Occasionally, Ms. Lancaster does stop quipping and criticizing long enough to talk about some of the real problems of weight loss. These few parts of the book do work: she touches on some of the hardest elements, such as complete fixation on food and the erosion of self-esteem even as you try to better yourself. But the bad taste of her privileged solution erases any goodwill or message this could impart. While it's nice to see Ms. Lancaster regain her self esteem and reach some of her goals at the end of the book, it's hardly gratifying or inspiring. This is not a friend you're watching succeed. This is someone who had a lot and managed to do something with it. It's still an accomplishment, but not very meaningful.

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay but I wish I got more?

I liked getting to know Jen because she's completely human. She has set a goal to lose some weight but along the journey.. she fails, a lot. I love how she always thought of food.. it's like me with food, puppies, wine, books, etc. I laughed so hard when she was thinking about mac and cheese while her boyfriend was talking to her.. BECAUSE WHO DOESN'T DAYDREAM ABOUT MAC AND CHEESE? Murderers don't.

I feel like maybe she's the queen of procrastination because it takes her foooorever to finally kick her ass into gear. Then again, I've been procrastinating to work out as well. Eating healthy is easy peasy lemon squeezy for me because I can't eat a lot of fatty foods. So I totally feel her pains about working out and trying to get motivated.

Overall, it was an okay book. It had it's funny moments but that doesn't mean I loved Jen the entire time. Definitely had it's pros and cons and I also feel like I've read funnier memoirs.

[Antof9 · Rating 5 out of 5]

So if I didn't love Jen Lancaster from her first two books, I certainly do from this. I bought this last year (and went to my first book signing!), but as the year got later and later, I somehow got it into my head that I would wait to read it until this year started. Some of that subliminal New Year's Revolutionism, I suppose.

With the advent of 2009, I'm not only at my very biggest weight ever; I'm fully ready to do something about it. The funny thing for me about January and the gym? I hate going to the gym in January. All the New Year's Revolutioners are there, taking the parking spaces, crowding the machines, taking all the lockers, and not knowing good gym etiquette. I'm serious. I hate them. And they harsh my enjoyment (such as it is) of my workout.

So it's the 15th, and I've been sick, and I've been to the gym about a total of 3 times this year. But I'm not feeling sorry for myself. Instead I'm working on my plan of attack, not eating too much, and reading this book!

So here's what I've been thinking: As I read this book, I kept thinking of Julie & Julia, and that makes me either very clever, because I can go through my weight loss journey with the fabulous Jen Lancaster, or I'm a cyber-stalker and she should be afraid (which she probably should be anyway, because I already emailed her after I read her 2nd book to say we should be BFFs).

So not only is my copy of this book signed, but I even marked some things in it I wanted to remember. I do that in other books, too, but they don't usually look like chick lit :)

The frontispiece has the most silly quote ever from Weight Watchers, followed by exactly how I feel, in Jen's words:

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.
--A Weight Watchers Axiom

Weight Watchers can kiss the fattest part of my ass
--A Jen Lancaster Axiom

Here's the first thing I underlined (although certainly not the first thing I laughed at -- that was somewhere around the midpoint of page 1): I suspect if I were living a life where I truly felt good, the possibility of a heart attack wouldn't have crossed my mind yesterday. When I read that, I had a flashback to Thanksgiving evening three years ago, when I really did think I was having a heart attack. With no aspirin in the house, I took an Excedrin (it's aspirin, right?) ... which contains caffeine. Yeah, that helped my racing heart rate. I was so sure I was having a heart attack, I finally told my husband what I had taken in case the paramedics asked. Turns out it was just some ate-too-much-heartburn.

I had to stop my reading to email the author about gmail's Mail Goggles when I got to page 82. Really.

And then the penultimate quote of a dieting wife to her husband (he is eating what he wants and she is eating a salad): You might not want to be so quick to forgive me, because somehow I'm still mad at you even though you didn't do anything.

I won't quote it all here, but Jen's insight into the size of NYC people is both hilarious and spot-on, and I myself have felt it more than once. First of all, everyone there is tiny. Not so much as in 'not fat' but more like they're all built on a two-thirds scale. If you pick up this book in a bookstore or the library, read pages 180 - 183, and you'll get the rest.

I never thought I would say it, but this chick-litty-memoir is going to be a re-read. It's a great book. Funny, snarky, genuine, and inspiring, this book has it all. I should know. I'm told I, too, have "such a pretty face".

[Kathie H · Rating 1 out of 5]

The WORST book I have ever read, without exception. What a slog. It was like being tortured. The only reason I continued to read to the end is because I was completely incredulous that the book could actually get continually worse (& it did, OH how it did).

I stand in awe that Jen Lancaster could actually have gotten published. I have lost faith in American publishing if this manure could be published by any respectable publishing house.

I usually don't buy books, but I'd been recommended this one on amazon & later saw it on the bookshelf at Barnes & Noble & snagged it on impulse. Oh my goodness! I gave this woman my money! I am sick to my stomach.

The writer (book is written in the first person) is completely unlikeable with no redeemable qualities. Just goes to show you, ladies, ANYONE can get a guy, no matter how odious her personality. For that matter, ANYONE can have a bestseller if this drivel can get published. So get out there & WRITE!

I should have known I would have a problem with this author's opinions when she said she wears Crocs. ALL THE TIME. Hold my head somebody.

She curses all the time. I believe that people who curse are too ignorant to know the proper words to use, so they just spew obscenities. Jen Lancaster is a perfect example of my theory.

She writes about being in shock that she actually sold a book. SHE SHOULD BE! Here's an excerpt:

"I know I've done this a couple of times before, but each time a book sells, it feels like a miracle."

Yeah! Because it is! A horrible, nightmarish miracle!

"I want to call my publisher and ask, 'Are you sure? You're really interested in what I have to say? And you're willing to write me a check to do so? And then you'll put these thoughts - asinine as they may be - and put them in a format that will live on in the Library of Congress forever?' Unbelievable."

Yes, Jen! Truly unbelievable! Because this book is garbage. As my dear mother would say, its only use is to line the birdcage. Thank goodness those birds don't know how to read.

At one point, the author says she didn't like a personal trainer because she had no sense of humor, which Jen Lancaster defines as someone who doesn't find her funny. All I can say is, she must run into people with no sense of humor A LOT.

She also uses words that are not words. My kingdom for an editor! She actually used the non-word "orientated." Oh my goodness! This woman is getting paid for being illiterate.

Also, at one point she referred to being on a Caribbean vacation & hearing a "tin drum." She meant a STEEL drum. So not only is the author getting paid for manure, the publisher & editor are, too!

I have so much more to say. Just please: Don't read this book. Life is too short to waste on this rubbish.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The usual from Jen Lancaster. It had it moments but when I am done with her books, I am mad at myself for having bought them.

[Roxanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, so I spent most of this book absolutely hating Jen Lancaster. Here is a chick who doesn't have to go to work--she stays home and writes full-time--yet she can't get her ass to the gym. If I had the opportunity to stay home and write full-time, I wouldn't be wasting all my time looking at videos of sneezing pandas on the internet--I'd be working out or doing yoga every damn morning and writing all damn afternoon. (Just in case, you know, anyone wants to fund that or anything.) So, I hated Jen Lancaster, because she has the time and opportunity to write that I would absolutely kill for and she's wasting it. Her dieting is also totally half-assed and idiotic. And, unrelated to the dieting, a lot of this book reads like an email to her buddies about what she did last weekend (actual email messages are even included in the book), and, uh, I don't need to buy a book to read that kind of thing, so that was a little annoying too.

But then, maybe 2/3 of the way through the book, Jen starts to get it. She realizes that she doesn't need to eat a mountain of food at every meal to be full, and that butter is not a food group all its own. She starts taking her health seriously and working out with a personal trainer, and she's much less damn annoying to read about after that. Good for you, Jen Lancaster. She actually gets her brain into a really healthy place about food, and I enjoyed seeing that in this kind of book. Jen realizes that she hates the "food is evil" mindset and she develops some mindfulness about her eating habits, which I think is full of win.

The book gets two stars. For the first 250 pages I was only giving it one star, but then Jen's turnaround towards the end of the book was worth three stars, so I'm averaging.

[Anastasia Kallah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is NOT a feminist memoir.

Or is it?

I'm a fan of reading books on women's issues and feminism, and I generally shy away from books that attack less-empowered women, but I have to say; Jen Lancaster's bitching definitely works in her favor.

I've just finished re-reading Such a Pretty Fat, and, just like the virgin read, by the time I closed this book's cover, I felt both a vicarious giddy, ridiculous self-acceptance, and a also little smug.

Such a Pretty Fat is a memoir chronicling the author's struggles with her own body image and weight loss. Jen makes repeated conflicting statements about her comfort with her own body weight, yet, throughout the book, she hypercritically projects her insecurities onto other women- women she encounters who more closely resemble the idealized feminine form. Whatever flaws she may have, this great memoir reads to some degree like a pissy note passed in high school.

Jen Lancaster feels like best-friend material. She's a myriad of inconsistencies; she somehow manages to come off as both dainty and foul, self-indulgent and overly-critical of herself. It was a pleasure to share her journey through weight loss, and easy to root for her, even at her worst. I feel the need to defend her, to push the point that she is NOT a hot mess, only deeply insightful and multifaceted. This book is worth reading. TWICE.

Besides, in the end, even Barbie redeems herself.

Life just doesn't get any better than that.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Jen Lancaster. She's hysterical. Before I even looked at her photo in the back of the book I had an image of her in my head from the first sentence. She's a potty mouth extraordinaire (love it!), she has insane amounts of self-esteem (jealous!), and had me laughing at least every other page. And not just snickering - guffawing. As in, Jonathan turns around and looks at me funny and I feel like I have to read him the passage that cracked me up. She's not afraid to tell you what she really thinks, and I like that. I've read so many stories where women just have zero self-esteem when it comes to body image, and it gets old and repetitive. This is a memoir out of the norm; she can be a total narcissistic beeyotch and I felt like punching her a few times because of her attitude, but I also started to love it because if you think about it, it's not narcissistic - it's just her version of "I'm awesome, so shut it." I'd like to pick her brain sometime.

[Karen]

Page before the prologue page

quote 1. that stupid weight watchers quote
Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels."

quote #2. by the author
"Weight Watchers can kiss the fattest part of my ass."

I THINK THIS IS ONE DIET BOOK I AM GOING TO LOVE.

Don't you just want to stab Kirstie Ally in the eye with a fork?
Just bitch slap too cute and cuddly Valerie Bertinelli?
DIETS DON'T WORK!!
We all know it -- we've all been on at least five in our lifetime.
While Jenny Craig gets richer and Weight Watchers makes a ton of money on us, we get poorer and FATTER.
It's portion control, healthy eating and exerscise.
This book points that out BUT doesn't make us feel bad about all of our past diet failures. The author is one of us.
I love her comic timing and her sense of humor.

[Brandi Diamond · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is awful. I'm sorry, but it is. The end.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a Pretty Fat is a memoir written by author Jen Lancaster that documents her personal weight loss journey. I thought this book was hilarious and brutally honest when it comes to societal, family, and personal factors that contribute to weight struggles for some. I just loved this book!

My favorite thing about this book: I found it refreshing to see the writer publicly laugh at herself and the whole health-changing journey she was on. Sarcasm is my favorite type of humor and this book is full of it! I was glad to see the author's confidence pre-weight loss was strong and her rationales for losing weight were health-focused versus societal pressures and poor self-image.

My least favorite thing about this book: Such a Pretty Fat is a nonfiction memoir that follows the author's attempts to lose weight. She tries various marketed diet fads and weight loss programs that at times seemed a bit like a commercial. However, I understand that the author would want the reader to know what aspects drew her attention to the various weight loss methods she considered. It was educational reading her personal insight as to why these various programs weren't effective for her. This made up for the initial "commercial" feel.

My favorite quotes:
I have way too many favorite quotes to list here but this quote is what sold me on this book...
"I'm tired of books where a self-loathing heroine is teased to the point where she starves herself skinny in hopes of a fabulous new life. And I hate the message that women can't possibly be happy until we all fit into our skinny jeans. I don't find these stories uplifting; they make me want to hug these women and take them out for fizzy champagne drinks and cheesecake and explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don't matter. Unfortunately, being overweight isn't simply a societal issue that can be fixed with a dose healthy of positive self-esteem. It’s a health matter, and here on the eve of my fortieth year, I've learned I have to make changes so I don't, you know, die. Because what good is finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult onset diabetes?"

I also really liked this one:
“...Ever since I made the decision to drop a few pounds—way less easy than it sounds, by the way—I’ve become obsessed with my size, and in so doing I’ve inadvertently allowed my inner critic to have a voice. And you know what? She’s a bitch. Like now when I see my underpants in the laundry, I no longer think Soft! Cotton! Sensible! Instead I hear her say Damn, girl, these panties be huge.” “Your inner critic has terrible grammar.” “I know, it’s the only way I can take away some of her power over me...”

[Doris Dvonch · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's one thing to have a big personality but it's another thing to have no redeeming qualities as a human being. That's what wrong with this character. This person is delusional, in a constant state of denial, and generally unlikeable.

[Madison Warner Fairbanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humor and realism. Fun.

[ScrappyMags · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been on a Jen Lancaster kick... LOVED this book. As a person who has battled weight loss (and lost over 100 lbs), I appreciated her take on Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, the gym.. all the places I've been. Her inner thoughts mimic mine and my writing style. Love her sense of humor and realistic look at life without being a "oh I have low self-esteem/pity me" book. She accepts how she is and loves herself no matter what. That's how I ALWAYS felt and it's refreshing to read a book with that positive (and freakin' hilarious) take on life.

[Monet The Book Sniffing Unicorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely every woman needs to read this book. “I can't believe anyone would voluntarily run 26 miles. Sometimes I sit on the couch cross-legged because I don't feel like walking to the bathroom.” ― Jen Lancaster. The memoir of a woman on the adventure of weight-loss, that's hilarious and brutally honest when it comes to societal, family, and personal factors that contribute to weight struggles. Jen Lancaster has a gift with words and sarcasm. This book had me laughing from start to finish. It is relateable, lovable and enjoyable. Worth every second.

[Ivy Deluca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this memoir when it first came out and loved it. Just discovered the audiobook on Scribd, so decided to listen to it on the way to work. Had to fix my makeup when I got to my parking garage because I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.

Full review later, but

The Bottom Line
I can't recommend this book(in any format) enough. If you're a woman and have ever struggled weight loss, or you just like funny books, check it out.

[Schenley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought I would like this book but it was unbearable. I had to force myself to finish this book. I couldn't figure out if it was fiction or non-fiction. When I seldcted it I thought it was based on this woman's actual struggles with her weight but I couldn't help But think it was fake because how could one person be in such denial and so hard headed? Turns out it is a "memoir". This lady isn't funny at all. If anything she's annoying.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe this has 4 stars. I read this as a suggestion from a friend and I wish I had borrowed it from her instead of purchasing it. This book is terrible. The author is abrasive, not funny, and I find the weird modesty and spelling out anything to do with sex completely weird. Not for everyone, I get it. But it read like it was trying too hard. Did I finish it? Yes? Did I buy it for $8? Yes. I guess I lost this round.

[Cheri Chance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a reread for me and I loved it just as much as the first time. If you are a Gen-X woman who has struggled with weight, tried every diet known to man, love all things related to pop culture, Bravo tv shows, and have used TiVo to record said shows, this is the book for you. Relatable and laugh out loud funny, you will not be disappointed.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Jen Lancaster and you're a fattie, then you'll probably love this book. If you like Jen Lancaster and you're not a fattie, you probably won't get it and you'll wonder why fat people can't just EAT LESS.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to get into with all of the footnotes. Surprised because this reads like a fictional story of a made up character - yet it is about the author, so why the foot notes? Committed to finishing it though and am hoping it gets better. Wanted a funny beach read and so far this is not it!

[Kristi · Rating 1 out of 5]

possibly the worst thing i've ever read. made it through 45 pages and wanted to hunt the author down and kill her. only made it that many pages b/c i was trapped on the train w/ nothing else to read so i struggled through.
that's what i get for reading books recommended in people magazine.