A review by yungokssss
Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught

2.0

Recommend this for:

1) IDK!!
2) Really fat people who wanna be sure that they're better than skinny or normal people
3) People who want to know how to ditch their sick boyfriend for a hotter and smarter guy (maybe this one's a big too harsh)
4) People who want to know the effects of fat-removal surgery
5) People who like to laugh at mean things

I got this book because I wanted to read about the relationship between overweight/normal people, and see what life was like from a perspective from an obese person's view.
I have to say that I did not like what I got.


1) Throughout the book, Jamie insults normal people. She gets pissed that when she walks into a store, they don't have over 13 size clothes. (Hello??? This is America, I get it. America has the most obese people ever. But you don't see us normal people marching into Plus Sizes and making a fit that they don't have clothes that fit us!)

2) Jamie has this one friend that hates touching anything that was made from animals and stuff. She's really eco. The author really made fun of her! When she got hysterical about something that meant a lot to her, (killing animals for leisure, etc), the author put on a humorous air, like "oh haha isn't she just charming". And people have their beliefs and stuff. It's not OK to make fun of them.

3) I really DID like how the author put everything through a Fat Girl's (Jamie's magazine name) perspective. But I did NOT like how the author really pushed it on that "being obese is OK!" and "You're great the way you are!". No, I absolutely agree that we shouldn't change because of society or fashion views, but this is HEALTH. It is OK to make a person feel better about themselves, but to encourage them to continue their bad habits? To stay the way they are? Don't change? Don't TRY to change? Obesity is a hazard, and people die from it. And the author's saying that if you're a teen and your body fat is over 50 it's "okay"? No, it's NOT okay. Being obese isn't a choice where you can just wave your hand and go "whatever." It's got consequences. OK, I don't mean to be mean or put anyone out or make them feel bad. I'm just trying to say that we shouldn't JUDGE or MAKE FUN of obese people, but we can't just let it happen and say "OK". That's wrong. And I kinda felt that the author was like consoling people and saying "it's OK".


The language was fantastic, and it was well written. But if you're considering reading this, please try and think about my comments before you go to the library and pick it up.