| Author: |
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Sussman
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| Title: |
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The DIETER |
| Moochable copies: |
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No copies available |
| Recommended: |
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| Topics: |
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| Published in: |
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English |
| Binding: |
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Paperback |
| Pages: |
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| Date: |
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1990-02-01 |
| ISBN: |
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067167725X |
| Publisher: |
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Pocket |
| Weight: |
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0.35 pounds |
| Size: |
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4.2 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches |
Amazon prices: |
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| Previous givers: |
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3 catsalive (Australia), Harvey (USA: OR), KC (USA: OH) |
| Previous moochers: |
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3 michelle (Canada), Jenny S. (USA: IL), Heather (USA: AZ) |
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| Description: |
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Product Description
Thin, bright and beautiful Barbara Avers has it all, a powerful political husband, great kids, beautiful home -- and a two pack a day cigarette habit.
But, when Barbara decides to honor her best friend's passing by flinging her last carton of beloved cigarettes into Lake Michigan -- she hurtles headlong into the frightening and exotic universe of hips and thighs, weight clinics and fad diets, elastic waistbands and camouflage overblouses.
In this new world, the facade of her life peels away, each layer exposing something new. Her high-power attorney husband begins spending more time with his pretty, thin campaign manager. Her children seem embarrassed by her. Her once solid self-image shifts like quicksand.
When Barbara is offered a job to resurrect her old newspaper career, she catches the eye of a craggy, irreverent crime reporter. And she is befriended by a wise-cracking 300 pound fellow-dieter -- a woman forced to lose weight for health reasons -- whose boyfriend complains she's getting too thin.
Like Alice down the rabbit hole, Barbara emerges much changed, amazed she ever equated body weight with self-worth.
"A delightful novel, intelligent, witty, and very moving."
--Susan Isaacs
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| Reviews: |
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catsalive (Australia) (2009/04/23):
From Publishers Weekly
Latching onto the timely subject of marathon diets, Sussman's clever, lighthearted novel chronicles Barbara Aver's increasing avoirdupois. Immediately after her best friend dies of lung cancer, Barbara decides to give up a two-pack-a-day habit. Adding to her stress, her marriage is faltering (her husband is a politician running for re-election) and relations with her teenage children are going downhill fast. Moreover, she begins to suffer from writer's block, jeopardizing her career as a syndicated advice columnist. Food, and lots of it, seems to be the solution, but even while breaking every eating taboo, Barbara is also hell-bent on a serious course of dieting, running the gamut from Weight Watcher's to popping diet pills - an odyssey that the author captures brilliantly and with uncanny insight. Despite Barbara's hefty proportions (chapter titles begin at "February, 115" and, at one point, reach "August, 175-190"), she meets a smart and tough newspaper reporter who not only desires her but also helps her sort out her life.
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| URL: |
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http://bookmooch.com/067167725X |
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