A review by otiggerifico
Big Girl by Meg Elison

5.0

There's something magical about reading a book about fat, by a fat author, talking to their fat audience. I love this book.

The stories aren't happy, and there's probably some triggers needed for just acknowledging what life is like for fat people (and our nightmares of how it could become worse) but there's such a fierce and angry joy in the writing.

My favourite in the collection is The Pill, it hints towards my favourite theme (found family) and the protagonist is so confident in knowing herself and seizing happiness where she can.

For nothing else though, I'd love this book for some of the lines in Guts (the last piece),

Spoiler

"When their [thin people] talk rolls around to calories and their moral obligation to hate themselves, I typically spread out as wide as I can. I can expand like a jellyfish; it is a particular advantage of the very fat. I conform to the shape of my container like a water balloon. Displaying maximum width, I'll eat anything I can get my hands on while they talk"