The Skinny: What every skinny woman knows about dieting

by Patricia Marx, Marek Lugowshi, Susan Sistrom

Ever wonder how skinny women stay skinny?  ( it's not their metabolism.)

Forget diet books.  You've read them.  You've tried them.  You've lost five pounds . . . and gained back six.  It's time you learned the truth about weight loss from those who know--the skinny women who have successfully (and secretly) dropped pounds and stayed slim.

Do skinny women skip breakfast? Taint half their portions with salt, pepper--or Clorox--to make sure they don't eat it? You bet they do.  You'll get the inside story on the dieting tricks, shortcuts, and closely guarded secrets of women who stay a perfect size 6 . . . forever.  From using depression to lose weight (God makes you miserable for a reason) to the calories you unintentionally consume in cough syrup . . . or by licking a stamp, everything you really need to know about losing weight is right here in the first anti-diet diet book.  So put on a pair of tight jeans (you'll find out why), say no to bagels, sprinkle sweetener and cinnamon on just about anything, and start reading.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Patricia Marx is an American humorist and writer.
Born in Abingdon, Pennsylvania, she earned her B.A. from Harvard University in 1975. Her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Atlantic Monthly. Marx is a former writer for Saturday Night Live and Rugrats, and one of the first two women elected to the Harvard Lampoon.[1][2] She is the author of the 2007 novel, Him Her Him Again The End of Him, as well as several humor books and children's books (Meet My Staff, Now Everybody Really Hates Me, Now I Will Never Leave the Dinner Table).[3]

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and full of good tips! Even better, some of these tips are unhealthy. Perfect for the eating-disordered.

[Melly Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not to be taken seriously at all - a deeply silly book that shows us we are all worrying way too much. Pass the butter.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this because I’m obsessed with the fact that Susan Orlean and Patricia Marx wrote a diet book. It’s funny.

[Tara Blais Davison · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5 Gimmick. Could have been better. In fact, I think if I stopped buying diet books and just started lugging all the useless pop-psychology, fat-free cookbooks and fitness manuals I’ve bought over the years to various charity shops I’d likely lose more weight than I ever have through reading them.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and refreshingly non-PC. Discusses the potential calories of autocannibalism on one page and saline solution the next. If anything I think it would encourage the extreme dieter to relax and be more realistic.