Eat fat

by Klein, Richard

Written by the author of the highly acclaimed Cigarettes are Sublime, Eat Fat is a keen cultural dissection of a major American obsession. While there is ample evidence that fat is unhealthy for some, for the vast majority of us the risks involved in combating it must be seriously evaluated. As Richard Klein writes, "The fat we ponder serves to embody our ... drive for satisfaction and the urge to pleasure, as well as much that is self-destructive and self-demeaning in our lives." Cheeky and playful yet devastating for its insights, Eat Fat intends nothing less than a revolution in how we think about this complex issue. In this tour de force the author traces the older, positive meanings of the word fat. He analyzes "the thing fat," discussing not only the aesthetics of fat but also the nature of fat (including the latest medical findings). He examines "fat sex," including representations of the human body designed to arouse people whose taste in beauty is fat. And he explores "politic