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Title: Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed ISBN: 0-7653-0762-6 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Truth Hurts
Comment: THINNER THAN THOU may depict a futuristic dystopia, but a great deal of it is uncomfortably close to home as it takes America's obsession with weight and beauty and stretches it only a little to give us a portrait of the horrible place at the end of the highway down which we are now speeding.
With the evolution of such plastic surgery shows as THE SWAN, surgery and liposuction are being touted as acceptable, if not expected processes in every day life. Weight has been an issue in the media since at least the Sixties and with Hollywood stars now starving themselves to create an even thinner ideal, the idea of a normal body has become skewed to the grotesque.
Thinner Than Thou celebrates those who have been forced into these ideals and the torture required to obtain them and, despite crippling disabilities (anorexia, morbid obesity), these heroes have the strength and the will to fight back. Every aspect of America's obsession with food, from self-starvation to eating contests to the everyday torture of talking ourselves out of that extra cookie is explored and celebrated, for this bleak view of the future is taken with a grain of salt and, more importantly, a fabulous sense of humor.
Ms. Reed has long been a spokeswoman for the American Woman, but she may just have been promoted to being the spokeswoman for the American consciousness. A great book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Are we already living this dystopian future?
Comment: Failing to conform to the "ideal" body shape already FEELS like a crime in America, so it's easy to imagine a time when it will actually be a crime. Beauty isn't everything...it's the ONLY thing. So don't be surprised when gym memberships, facelifts and weight-reducing herbal supplements become compulsory.
Taking on the beauty obsession from several different angles, Reed provides a fresh perspective on something that preoccupies most people, whether they admit it or not.
Thinner Than Thou has several vibrant, well-rounded characters and a simple plot that keeps you involved with each of the story-lines. The only place I found it to drift from the realm of the possible was in its discussion of religion. I strongly disagree that Americans will ever replace religion with the cult of beauty, and I cite the dozens of faith-based diets as evidence enough of that.
This book would have gotten a solid 5 stars from me, if not for the ending. Like many satirists and social commentators, Reed isn't sure where to take us to provide a satisfying resolution. Though the very last line is excellent, the preceding climax rings false.
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Title: Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys : A Novel by Eric Garcia ISBN: 0060730315 Publisher: Regan Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Weight-Loss Diaries by Courtney Rubin, Courtney Rubin ISBN: 0071416234 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Pub. Date: 02 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Innocents Aboard: New Fantasy Stories by Gene Wolfe ISBN: 0765307901 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Dead Lines (BEAR, GREG) by GREG BEAR ISBN: 0345448375 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Passing for Thin : Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self by FRANCES KUFFEL ISBN: 0767912918 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 13 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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