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The Dieter
Thin, bright and beautiful Barbara Avers has it all, a powerful political husband, great kids, beautiful home -- and a two pack a day cigarette habit.
But, when Barbara decides to honor her best friend's passing by flinging her last carton of beloved cigarettes into Lake Michigan -- she hurtles headlong into the frightening and exotic universe of hips and thighs, weight clinics and fad diets, elastic waistbands and camouflage overblouses.
In this new world, the facade of her life peels away, each layer exposing something new. Her high-power attorney husband begins spending more time with his pretty, thin campaign manager. Her children seem embarrassed by her. Her once solid self-image shifts like quicksand.
When Barbara is offered a job to resurrect her old newspaper career, she catches the eye of a craggy, irreverent crime reporter. And she is befriended by a wise-cracking 300 pound fellow-dieter -- a woman forced to lose weight for health reasons -- whose boyfriend complains she's getting too thin.
Like Alice down the rabbit hole, Barbara emerges much changed, amazed she ever equated body weight with self-worth.
"A delightful novel, intelligent, witty, and very moving."
--Susan Isaacs
But, when Barbara decides to honor her best friend's passing by flinging her last carton of beloved cigarettes into Lake Michigan -- she hurtles headlong into the frightening and exotic universe of hips and thighs, weight clinics and fad diets, elastic waistbands and camouflage overblouses.
In this new world, the facade of her life peels away, each layer exposing something new. Her high-power attorney husband begins spending more time with his pretty, thin campaign manager. Her children seem embarrassed by her. Her once solid self-image shifts like quicksand.
When Barbara is offered a job to resurrect her old newspaper career, she catches the eye of a craggy, irreverent crime reporter. And she is befriended by a wise-cracking 300 pound fellow-dieter -- a woman forced to lose weight for health reasons -- whose boyfriend complains she's getting too thin.
Like Alice down the rabbit hole, Barbara emerges much changed, amazed she ever equated body weight with self-worth.
"A delightful novel, intelligent, witty, and very moving."
--Susan Isaacs
299 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
6 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 9, 2012
This is my secret guilty pleasure - the one I keep hidden behind the Kafka and Walker and Plato on the bookshelf. I've read it a dozen times over the years and always enjoy it. It's like a dependable old friend who's not very intellectual but you can have a ton of fun shopping at the mall and going to IHOP with (and who wouldn't know a dangling participle if it hit her in the face). I'll never get rid of this book!
April 6, 2011
Though I read this book nearly twenty year ago, I recall it is filled with one-liners which sting the intended victim with both accuracy and hilarity. As I flipped through the book to search for such examples, I was pulled into the pages with the same exuberance the main character used to get that last drag from her cigarette.
August 25, 2007
Woman loses best friend to cancer,her marriage craps out, she gains weight and makes new friends in the process. I've re-read this book probably a dozen times. You'll laugh and cry at the same time.
February 21, 2013
nice book,i even wanted to be on a diet for some time,then i changed my mind :)
September 16, 2019
I saw a hard copy of this book 15 or 20 years ago, and having fought with my own weight my entire life, the title caught my attention. I bought and read it then, but after I found a Kindle edition, I decided that it was time to revisit.
No, the book is not about how to lose weight. It's about a woman whose life goes into a tailspin after the death of her best friend and her subsequent/consequent decision to give up smoking, followed by her gaining weight and realizing that said weight gain is NOT the cause of all problems – between her friend and her cigarettes, she had managed to block out everything that was wrong with her marriage and her life!
An eye-opening look at the possibilities around us and the need to block them out, followed by the need to open our eyes and see!
No, the book is not about how to lose weight. It's about a woman whose life goes into a tailspin after the death of her best friend and her subsequent/consequent decision to give up smoking, followed by her gaining weight and realizing that said weight gain is NOT the cause of all problems – between her friend and her cigarettes, she had managed to block out everything that was wrong with her marriage and her life!
An eye-opening look at the possibilities around us and the need to block them out, followed by the need to open our eyes and see!
October 14, 2007
I loved the way the author dealt with the subject matter of compulsive eating in order to cover/cope with lack of self esteem. Beautifully done.
August 2, 2011
Recommended by my mom. I rolled my eyes at her, but I read it anyway and loved it.
September 22, 2023
This is not a spectacular book, but the message is good.
Everything is going well in Barbra’s life…but when she begins to put on weight her ‘perfect’ life falls apart. It takes a while for her to realise the problem is much bigger than her weight gain. Her weight gain is the tip of the iceberg: her husband is an ass, the superficial society she involved herself in engages in toxic fat shaming behaviour and she, herself is struggling mentally with coming to terms with the death of her friend. She eventually needs to humble herself and face reality while at the same kind being kinder to herself and others.
This was a relevant and easy read that I picked up at a secondhand store. It helped me feel validated because I also use eating as a coping mechanism. When I go through a depressive episode, I have constant food cravings and just stuff food into my mouth. I think about food 24/7 and I always feel guilty after eating. People see you differently when you’re bigger and for some reason value you less. The subject of weight and body image is also a deeply politicized matter- when people who struggle with it should actually be handled with support and respect.
In this book Barbra learns that how much you weigh does not determine your worth. This is an invaluable lesson that many people have yet to learn.
Everything is going well in Barbra’s life…but when she begins to put on weight her ‘perfect’ life falls apart. It takes a while for her to realise the problem is much bigger than her weight gain. Her weight gain is the tip of the iceberg: her husband is an ass, the superficial society she involved herself in engages in toxic fat shaming behaviour and she, herself is struggling mentally with coming to terms with the death of her friend. She eventually needs to humble herself and face reality while at the same kind being kinder to herself and others.
This was a relevant and easy read that I picked up at a secondhand store. It helped me feel validated because I also use eating as a coping mechanism. When I go through a depressive episode, I have constant food cravings and just stuff food into my mouth. I think about food 24/7 and I always feel guilty after eating. People see you differently when you’re bigger and for some reason value you less. The subject of weight and body image is also a deeply politicized matter- when people who struggle with it should actually be handled with support and respect.
In this book Barbra learns that how much you weigh does not determine your worth. This is an invaluable lesson that many people have yet to learn.
June 21, 2018
An old favorite
I first read this book in my 20s and found it entertaining. I recommended it back then without hesitation simply because Barbara Avers was so familiar to me, she felt like a long forgotten, yet oft longed for friend. Fast forward this reader thirty years, through the journey of marriage, child raising, aging, and the general life lessons that bring about consistent growth (or PFG as my FitBeyondForm coach-self calls it). In my early 50's, having gone badass on my health and removed alcohol from my "social" curriculum, I picked up this old favorite and knew immediately what my twenty something-stay small- disorderlied eating-always accommodating-be the good sport- self was not yet equipped to recognize: the familiar old lost friend of Barbara was me. I, like Barbara, had come to that fork in the road where one decides between continuing to silence the voice within that longs to be heard, by employing our familiar vices and methods, or do we cast that last pack of cigarettes into a frozen lake, or declare that last shot of tequila tossed back, THE last and take back our voice in this world? Your fork, your decision. As for me and Barbara: we're here and we're no longer looking to become so small that we invariably disappear. Get used to it.
I first read this book in my 20s and found it entertaining. I recommended it back then without hesitation simply because Barbara Avers was so familiar to me, she felt like a long forgotten, yet oft longed for friend. Fast forward this reader thirty years, through the journey of marriage, child raising, aging, and the general life lessons that bring about consistent growth (or PFG as my FitBeyondForm coach-self calls it). In my early 50's, having gone badass on my health and removed alcohol from my "social" curriculum, I picked up this old favorite and knew immediately what my twenty something-stay small- disorderlied eating-always accommodating-be the good sport- self was not yet equipped to recognize: the familiar old lost friend of Barbara was me. I, like Barbara, had come to that fork in the road where one decides between continuing to silence the voice within that longs to be heard, by employing our familiar vices and methods, or do we cast that last pack of cigarettes into a frozen lake, or declare that last shot of tequila tossed back, THE last and take back our voice in this world? Your fork, your decision. As for me and Barbara: we're here and we're no longer looking to become so small that we invariably disappear. Get used to it.
February 10, 2023
Мне понравилось произведение: оно по-прежнему актуально, в нём затрагиваются чувствительные для современного женского общества темы (дисморфофобия, эйджизм, фэтшейминг, мезогиния, расстройство пищевого поведения, патриархальный тип семьи) и есть значительная трансформация главной героини. Книга также подробно раскрывает проблему переживания утраты близкого человека.
Немного подпортила впечатление концовка с Маком, мне бы хотелось, чтобы героиня не переходила от одних отношений в другие, не приходя в сознание, но позволила себе встретиться с собой вне контекста мужчин. А в остальном -- это умный, тонкий и местами искромётный роман. Советую к прочтению всем женщинам.
Немного подпортила впечатление концовка с Маком, мне бы хотелось, чтобы героиня не переходила от одних отношений в другие, не приходя в сознание, но позволила себе встретиться с собой вне контекста мужчин. А в остальном -- это умный, тонкий и местами искромётный роман. Советую к прочтению всем женщинам.
November 2, 2017
I just love this book, I read it so many times when I was younger and have just started reading it again. It's a fantastic book for anyone that has struggled with food or being kind to yourself or love or all three. Love love love
December 20, 2017
A wonderful read. If you have struggled with your weight then this is a great book.
Barbara is the wife of a becoming politician, after losing her best friend Sarajane. Barabara is in the state of finding herself all the while battling her weight. Puff Puff.
Barbara is the wife of a becoming politician, after losing her best friend Sarajane. Barabara is in the state of finding herself all the while battling her weight. Puff Puff.
October 25, 2020
This book spoke to me.. and even though I read it 20 years ago, it's one of those that stayed with me.
May 26, 2024
So cute. A reality within a privileged life!
August 13, 2009
too depressing, had to put down
January 16, 2024
3.5 ★s - http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1...
An enjoyable read. I was so glad when she realised that size is not directly disproportionate to intelligence, & started sorting out her life.
An enjoyable read. I was so glad when she realised that size is not directly disproportionate to intelligence, & started sorting out her life.
March 25, 2019
The best part of this book was the revenge scene at the end. Won't spoil it for you but you will laugh.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews