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A review by emilykathleenwrites
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
4.0
A powerful book that made me uncomfortable in important ways. Gay bucks the cultural expectation that stories about bodies, especially those written by women should be stories of weight loss rather than ones of body acceptance.
The audio is exquisite as Gay's voice is like butter (listen to her podcast The Roxane Gay Agenda) but I wish I had it on the page as well.
The opening reminded me of the opening of HEAVY by Kiese Laymon. They both talk about the book they could have written, the one they were expected to write, the one readers would have loved, but instead wrote the truth.
This book is a memoir, but it also felt like a conversation. The sections on preferring the term "victim" to "survivor" or her thoughts on fatphobia and disordered eating had me wrestling with my own ideas on the topic. Arguing along with and against her as the narrative moved forward.
I particularly connected with the sections where she talked about folding in on herself through eating, destructive relationships, or hiding from positive relationships... the sense that she did not feel worthy was palpable.
The narrative was repetitive at times, which could have been to highlight the repetitive nature of her flashbacks of sexual trauma and relapse of disordered eating. If this was the goal I needed it to sound more intentional. Some of the chapters ended abruptly
The audio is exquisite as Gay's voice is like butter (listen to her podcast The Roxane Gay Agenda) but I wish I had it on the page as well.
The opening reminded me of the opening of HEAVY by Kiese Laymon. They both talk about the book they could have written, the one they were expected to write, the one readers would have loved, but instead wrote the truth.
This book is a memoir, but it also felt like a conversation. The sections on preferring the term "victim" to "survivor" or her thoughts on fatphobia and disordered eating had me wrestling with my own ideas on the topic. Arguing along with and against her as the narrative moved forward.
I particularly connected with the sections where she talked about folding in on herself through eating, destructive relationships, or hiding from positive relationships... the sense that she did not feel worthy was palpable.
The narrative was repetitive at times, which could have been to highlight the repetitive nature of her flashbacks of sexual trauma and relapse of disordered eating. If this was the goal I needed it to sound more intentional. Some of the chapters ended abruptly