Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maybe it's because I have struggled through my own body issues for many years, but a lot of this book really spoke to me.

I want to thank Roxane Gay for sharing so many intimate details of her own personal story. I can't imagine that is an easy thing to do, especially when you have been hiding those parts of yourself for so long. As she writes in the introduction, "Mine is not a success story, but it is a true story." Thank you for sharing your truth.

In many ways, Roxane's story is vastly different than mine, but there are parts of her story, of the experience of being overweight, and being overly conscious of the space your own body takes up, that really resonate with me. People that have always been small don't always seem to understand the impact your physical size has on your life. It's not even about health, it's about wondering if you'll fit in a chair or a rollercoaster or a plane seat. It's about wondering if the people that end up near to you in public spaces are going to be annoyed at the extra space you take up, and constantly trying to minimize your physical footprint. It's about wondering if you'll ever find something to wear that you like, and seeing all the clothes you'd like to wear not come in your size. I've experienced all those things, and I weigh several hundred pounds less than Roxane.

I've seen some criticism that parts of this book can be repetitive, and yes, I'd say that is true. But I think that can be attributed to the fact that these parts that are repeated are significant to each essay they are included in. For me, listening to this book over the space of a week, it wasn't an annoying repetition, it was appreciated.

If nothing else when you read this book, I would hope that your eyes would be opened to the world that so many people live in; to the biases, whether conscious or unconscious, that larger-sized people face. We need to be sensitive to the way we interact with and speak to one another, regardless of size. As Roxane puts it towards the end of the book, it's about inclusion and acceptance, not just tolerance.

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