The Sound of One Thigh Clapping: Haiku for a Thinner You by Meredith Clair

by Meredith Clair

The rigors of Ornish, reduced to seventeen syllables. Weight Watchers in three lines of enigmatic verse. The paradoxof Atkins-shed pounds while wolfing down cheese, eggs, and meat-distilled to a Zen-like utterance. Or call it the path to losing oneself, in the language of finding oneself. Inspired by a weight loss guru's pithy sayings-Craving is the root of all suffering, Self-esteem = Sodium-Meredith Clair, an inveterate dieter, explores the connection between diet and haiku, eacha discipline that insists on cutting out excess, stripping down to the bare essentials, and counting, be it calories or syllables. The result is The Sound of One Thigh Clapping, a collection of tiny, hilarious moments in the epic journey to reach the Land of the Thin.

Genres: Humor, Poetry

Hardcover

First published November 15, 2003

Reviews

[Ann Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haiku is the art of saying more with less. As the Zen master attempts to inspire his students, why can’t the weight loss captain do the same with her team of ladies seeking to lose weight?

Trim those words and cut calories! Think simply and less sweetly. What could be more perfect?

This little gem of a book is pure inspiration in a pinch. Perfect for fitting in the pocket of your sweat shirt or gym bag. Consult a few pages when you feel your energy flagging and get back on track!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this title after reading "Honku: The Zen Antidote to Road Rage" by Aaron Naparstek. Thought the premise of haiku dishing on fad diets was a funny one.
As a whole, the book was cute and even though much of the haiku was more meter-driven than message-driven, there were some funny ones. Example: "Surrounded by crushed/Slim-Fast cans and Dexatrim/The diet junkie" and "Headline from L.A./New Celebrity Diet/Hooked on Colonics!"

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really short but really cute. I don't believe the philosophy but it was a fun read.