Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

Gay shares her difficult path through life and the effect that a [then] undisclosed rape at age 12 framed her life and self image for years. Although primarily a revelation of her life as a very tall, very large woman has made her a target for fat shaming from even the most well intentioned persons, she also examines sexual abuse, race and eating disorders. This book and did more for my understanding and appreciation of the need for Universal Design in public places than anything else. Thank you.

I've never heard of Roxane Gay, didn't know who she was and was only half listening to Trevor Noah interview her on The Daily Show. I ended up stopping what I was doing to listen to what she was saying. She wrote a book about being fat?

http://cc.com/shows/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah/guests/tds-roxane-gay/oifn27/roxane-gay---fitting-into-the-world-in--hunger----extended-interview


Hunger is a memoir of her body. Gay was gang raped at the age of 12 and, in a very short summary, began eating and eating and eating in order to build a fortress around her. She felt that if she was bigger, men wouldn't hurt her.

The book was amazing. Gay really articulated how she has to move through this world in her body. She was a "hot mess" for a while and has since moved into a better type of mess and is able to share her history, and how she became the woman she is, to us. It pained me to read, and know as true, how people think they can offer advice and criticism to fat people without batting an eye. I hear this stuff in our break room at work almost daily - someone critiquing someone else's food choices "That's not healthy. Aren't you diabetic?", "Should you be eating that?", "How many miles do you need to walk to burn THAT off?". Some of those were said to me, and even though the BMI says I'm overweight, my food choices shouldn't invite criticism from co-workers (or anyone for that matter).

Gay talks about being invisible yet highly visible. People don't see her, but they are upset she takes up so much space. Women, all women, are not supposed to take up space. Girls are taught that, either explicitly or implicitly, throughout their whole lives. And yet, here she is, taking up space.

This is really a great book to read to gain a perspective you probably didn't know you needed. EVERYONE targets fat people. Everyone has judgments about fat people and the majority of people love voicing those opinions. It's insane that we, as a whole, can target a group of people and think it's ok.

Read this.....

This memoir is both very interesting and very moving. I could relate to a lot of what she wrote about since nearly every woman in America struggles with weight loss (even the thin ones seem to stress about it). There were also many things about life in the BMI numbers above overweight and obese that I was unaware of and therefore perhaps not sensitive to - for example, some of the accommodations that are necessary. I like Gay's collection [b:Bad Feminist|18813642|Bad Feminist|Roxane Gay|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1421292744s/18813642.jpg|26563816], but I think this memoir is even stronger.

Should I - or anyone - be allowed to rate a memoir?
Do I even have the right to rate a memoir as vulnerable and brave as this one?

When I picked this up, I expected something so well written that I'd swoon at words, sentences, paragraphs. That expectation was met. I expected something confident and a little bit in my face. A little bit of this expectation was met. What I did not expect was what I mostly got - bare bones and sensitivity and humiliations. I was blown away.

What struck me is how NOT manipulative this was. I wasn't being forced or even politely asked to believe what she believes or feel what she feels. She was simply stating what she believes and how she feels. And while there was no manipulation, I left with an awareness. Sure, I nodded along to certain excerpts that I felt deep in my soul and ranted to my boyfriend about others that resonated or just simply made me furious at the ignorance of the world, but what I truly gained from this was that awareness and knowing that I can also be better. We can all be better.

5 Stars
And hey folks, the next time you feel like being an ignorant a-hole to someone, maybe just don't. Because that someone just may be able to write circles around you.

A difficult read. Not because of the writing. Writing was brilliant. But the content, the rawness and realness and truth of it all. Hard. I’ve been through a roller coaster of emotions with this book everything from judgement, anger, annoyance, fear, sorrow, respect, love, recognition. It has challenged me and made me think. What conclusions have I come to? None. Zilch. Zero. But I think this book will remain with me for a while to come. Did I enjoy it? No. Is it a good book? Yes absolutely and you should read it so we can talk about it!