RaveBooklistIn this uproariously funny debut, West, GQ writer and fat-acceptance activist, blends memoir, social commentary, and ribald comedy in a biting manifesto ... Readers will delight in West’s clarity as she describes her childhood ... Despite the book’s serious subject, West’s ribald jokes, hilarious tirades, and raucous confessions keep her narrative skipping merrily along as she jumps from painful confession to powerful epiphany ... a triumphant, exacting, absorbing memoir that will lay new groundwork for the way we talk about the taboo of being too large.
Peter Rader
RaveBooklistRader’s well-researched text utilizes diary entries, letters, and reviews, which he weaves together to paint each diva’s life, from childhood to death. Theater buffs will love the way Rader captures a global moment in theater—Ibsen, Chekhov, and Shaw all make appearances. A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable book.
Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Bucknell
PositiveBooklistWorld-building details feel off-the-cuff at times, but readers drawn to powerful ethical questions will be immensely rewarded by the rich themes of the price of freedom and the corrupting quality of power.
