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Fat
A waitress recounts a story to her friend, about "the fattest person I have ever seen."
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1971
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271 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Carver
361 books5,118 followersCarver was born into a poverty-stricken family at the tail-end of the Depression. He married at 19, started a series of menial jobs and his own career of 'full-time drinking as a serious pursuit', a career that would eventually kill him. Constantly struggling to support his wife and family, Carver enrolled in a writing programme under author John Gardner in 1958. He saw this opportunity as a turning point.
Rejecting the more experimental fiction of the 60s and 70s, he pioneered a precisionist realism reinventing the American short story during the eighties, heading the line of so-called 'dirty realists' or 'K-mart realists'. Set in trailer parks and shopping malls, they are stories of banal lives that turn on a seemingly insignificant detail. Carver writes with meticulous economy, suddenly bringing a life into focus in a similar way to the paintings of Edward Hopper. As well as being a master of the short story, he was an accomplished poet publishing several highly acclaimed volumes.
After the 'line of demarcation' in Carver's life - 2 June 1977, the day he stopped drinking - his stories become increasingly more redemptive and expansive. Alcohol had eventually shattered his health, his work and his family - his first marriage effectively ending in 1978. He finally married his long-term parter Tess Gallagher (they met ten years earlier at a writers' conference in Dallas) in Reno, Nevada, less than two months before he eventually lost his fight with cancer.
Rejecting the more experimental fiction of the 60s and 70s, he pioneered a precisionist realism reinventing the American short story during the eighties, heading the line of so-called 'dirty realists' or 'K-mart realists'. Set in trailer parks and shopping malls, they are stories of banal lives that turn on a seemingly insignificant detail. Carver writes with meticulous economy, suddenly bringing a life into focus in a similar way to the paintings of Edward Hopper. As well as being a master of the short story, he was an accomplished poet publishing several highly acclaimed volumes.
After the 'line of demarcation' in Carver's life - 2 June 1977, the day he stopped drinking - his stories become increasingly more redemptive and expansive. Alcohol had eventually shattered his health, his work and his family - his first marriage effectively ending in 1978. He finally married his long-term parter Tess Gallagher (they met ten years earlier at a writers' conference in Dallas) in Reno, Nevada, less than two months before he eventually lost his fight with cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 19, 2019
Reflecting the Kmart Realism movement, Raymond Carver’s short story “Fat” narrates an interaction between a waitress and an apparently obese customer. Carver utilizes a minimalist structure within the short story as a ploy to withhold information and any clear didactic conclusion. This avoidance parallels the narrator’s self-conscious refusal to delve into any deeper implications of the interactions as she retells the story to her friend Rita. This disconnect continues with her partner Rudy.
Throughout “Fat,” the narrator’s seemingly closest interpersonal connections disintegrate. Instead, the narrator finds connection and importance in the rapport with her fat customer who allows her to understand “he can’t help it” (14), and later that “there is no choice” (16). Carver creates a visual loss of control in the fat man’s mechanical, detailed actions while eating. Carver parallels this mechanized behavior as the narrator describes her routine life at home with Rudy. Like the fat customer, the narrator exists trapped inside her life. However, in the last sentence she reveals that her “life is going to change,” and that she “can feel it” (16) - seemingly indicating that she will soon assert control over her life and change the outcome.
Throughout “Fat,” the narrator’s seemingly closest interpersonal connections disintegrate. Instead, the narrator finds connection and importance in the rapport with her fat customer who allows her to understand “he can’t help it” (14), and later that “there is no choice” (16). Carver creates a visual loss of control in the fat man’s mechanical, detailed actions while eating. Carver parallels this mechanized behavior as the narrator describes her routine life at home with Rudy. Like the fat customer, the narrator exists trapped inside her life. However, in the last sentence she reveals that her “life is going to change,” and that she “can feel it” (16) - seemingly indicating that she will soon assert control over her life and change the outcome.
July 21, 2017
This book might have been a short story but nevertheless,it told a very impactful,relevant and noteworthy moral message(didactic).The story is told from the perspective of a pretty much anonymous first-person narrator who supposedly works in an American restaurant or cafe alongside her friend Rita,whom she tells the story to,and her very judgmental boyfriend,Rudy.An unusually 'fat' customer comes in and orders a detailed and large meal from the narrator,which generates rude stares,hidden sniggers and gossip from the other workers.
Meanwhile,the narrator brings the man a new round and rather large plate of food several times only to return a few minutes later to an empty dish.This intensifies the other workers' rudeness and backlash,which in turn causes the narrator to halfheartedly stick up for the customer despite her friends' disapproval.The narrator reflects on society's obsession with a person's exterior appearance and habit of casting judgement without considering the person's inner traits,personality and character.She goes to her home which she shares with her bf,Rudy,whom she couples with later that evening.
In the midst of their coupling(which is very PG,don't worry),she suddenly feels fat and full.She does not go on to elaborate or specify the meaning behind her ambiguous words but ends in a very vague;'My life is going to change.I can feel it'.I,personally translated it to mean that she was pregnant...?I honestly guessed that due to the undecipherable meaning behind the final words of the story.Despite his simplistic writing style,Carver tackles a major issue in our modern society which should be remembered,spread and implemented in our day-to-day lives. Raymond Carver, to sum it up in a saying,teaches us not to judge a book by its cover.
Meanwhile,the narrator brings the man a new round and rather large plate of food several times only to return a few minutes later to an empty dish.This intensifies the other workers' rudeness and backlash,which in turn causes the narrator to halfheartedly stick up for the customer despite her friends' disapproval.The narrator reflects on society's obsession with a person's exterior appearance and habit of casting judgement without considering the person's inner traits,personality and character.She goes to her home which she shares with her bf,Rudy,whom she couples with later that evening.
In the midst of their coupling(which is very PG,don't worry),she suddenly feels fat and full.She does not go on to elaborate or specify the meaning behind her ambiguous words but ends in a very vague;'My life is going to change.I can feel it'.I,personally translated it to mean that she was pregnant...?I honestly guessed that due to the undecipherable meaning behind the final words of the story.Despite his simplistic writing style,Carver tackles a major issue in our modern society which should be remembered,spread and implemented in our day-to-day lives. Raymond Carver, to sum it up in a saying,teaches us not to judge a book by its cover.
February 22, 2016
Gabrielle Zevin mentions many short stories in her novel The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. Fat by Raymond Carter is one of those stories and that is how I became familiar with the title.
As a reader of Fat, I was struck most by the employees’ reaction to the fat man, including Rita’s. No one saw anything about the man other than his size. I, also, noticed the man’s perceived state of helplessness.
I’m certain that Raymond Carter intends for there to be a connection between Rita and the fat man, but I’m not clear as to what that connection is. Perhaps Rita feels helpless to change some aspect of her own life. I didn’t like the ambiguity at the end of this short story. I felt like Carter was expecting me to make it up. It's Carver's job to write the story, not mine.
As a reader of Fat, I was struck most by the employees’ reaction to the fat man, including Rita’s. No one saw anything about the man other than his size. I, also, noticed the man’s perceived state of helplessness.
I’m certain that Raymond Carter intends for there to be a connection between Rita and the fat man, but I’m not clear as to what that connection is. Perhaps Rita feels helpless to change some aspect of her own life. I didn’t like the ambiguity at the end of this short story. I felt like Carter was expecting me to make it up. It's Carver's job to write the story, not mine.
February 2, 2016
What a fascinating study on how to set a scene, introduce characters, and symbolize something scary, insecure, human.
August 23, 2020
Short stort
March 19, 2021
No se si no le entendí o la historia así es, pero me dejó totalmente indiferente.
July 21, 2025
Fat by Raymond Carver
I love the first story that I have read by Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver is listed on the list of Pulitzer Prize for Novel winners, albeit he is a runner-up for the prize given in 1989.
The winner then was Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, a superb novel that I loved and makes me wonder how you determine which would be better, among excellent works that compete with each other.
Since he was not a “winner” of the Pulitzer Prize, when I studied the list to select reading material, his name did not stuck in the memory as it should.
But he is repeatedly mentioned, together with his story – What We Talk About When We Talk About Love in the Academy Award Winner for Best Picture:
- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Since I heard Michael Keaton saying that on the stage from the film, I thought this sounds intriguing and modern.
So I looked Raymond Carver up again and found that he is a classic and his stories have been highly regarded.
Fat has reminded me of The Three Women of Antibes by William Somerset Maugham one of the top five favorite writers of mine.
In The Three Women, they try hard to keep to the rules of a diet, until they have a visitor who turns things upside down.
She starts using butter on bread, asking for cream and potatoes, together with other caloric bombs that outrage the hosts.
In the short story by Raymond Carver, the style has brought to mind Albert Camus and his simple yet brilliant writing in The Stranger.
The use of the repetition is wondrous, with I said, he said having not an effect of boring or grating but on the contrary, soothing the reader somehow.
The story is told by a waitress who has a client that is so fat that she says she had never seen anyone like him before.
In fact, he uses “we” when he talks and I don’t think we are told there is anyone else with him, so he may use the plural on account of his largesse.
But I am mean, in the same way as the other workers in the restaurant who mock him, behind his back.
- I hear there is a fat man from the circus
- There is nothing he can do about it
- She is getting sweet on fat
- There is more to him than that
Words to this effect, I guess and another outside source comes to mind- Ricky Gervais and his mocking of fat people.
The comedian says that he would not joke on sexual orientation or aspects that one cannot control, has been born with.
But choosing to fill the stomach and eat enormous portions is a choice made in full awareness of the consequences.
Our fat man eats a lot-
- A big salad, potatoes, soup, the special desert, lamb chops, then some ice-cream with a lot of bread and butter
But he makes a point to say:
- We don’t eat like this in general
Perhaps, but then again, he has overdone it with this gargantuan meal, for which he is not judged by the good waitress
I love the first story that I have read by Raymond Carver
I love the first story that I have read by Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver is listed on the list of Pulitzer Prize for Novel winners, albeit he is a runner-up for the prize given in 1989.
The winner then was Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, a superb novel that I loved and makes me wonder how you determine which would be better, among excellent works that compete with each other.
Since he was not a “winner” of the Pulitzer Prize, when I studied the list to select reading material, his name did not stuck in the memory as it should.
But he is repeatedly mentioned, together with his story – What We Talk About When We Talk About Love in the Academy Award Winner for Best Picture:
- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Since I heard Michael Keaton saying that on the stage from the film, I thought this sounds intriguing and modern.
So I looked Raymond Carver up again and found that he is a classic and his stories have been highly regarded.
Fat has reminded me of The Three Women of Antibes by William Somerset Maugham one of the top five favorite writers of mine.
In The Three Women, they try hard to keep to the rules of a diet, until they have a visitor who turns things upside down.
She starts using butter on bread, asking for cream and potatoes, together with other caloric bombs that outrage the hosts.
In the short story by Raymond Carver, the style has brought to mind Albert Camus and his simple yet brilliant writing in The Stranger.
The use of the repetition is wondrous, with I said, he said having not an effect of boring or grating but on the contrary, soothing the reader somehow.
The story is told by a waitress who has a client that is so fat that she says she had never seen anyone like him before.
In fact, he uses “we” when he talks and I don’t think we are told there is anyone else with him, so he may use the plural on account of his largesse.
But I am mean, in the same way as the other workers in the restaurant who mock him, behind his back.
- I hear there is a fat man from the circus
- There is nothing he can do about it
- She is getting sweet on fat
- There is more to him than that
Words to this effect, I guess and another outside source comes to mind- Ricky Gervais and his mocking of fat people.
The comedian says that he would not joke on sexual orientation or aspects that one cannot control, has been born with.
But choosing to fill the stomach and eat enormous portions is a choice made in full awareness of the consequences.
Our fat man eats a lot-
- A big salad, potatoes, soup, the special desert, lamb chops, then some ice-cream with a lot of bread and butter
But he makes a point to say:
- We don’t eat like this in general
Perhaps, but then again, he has overdone it with this gargantuan meal, for which he is not judged by the good waitress
I love the first story that I have read by Raymond Carver
April 19, 2025
“This fat man is the fattest person I have ever seen, though he is neat-appearing and well-dressed.”
Raymond Carver’s Fat is a compact yet emotionally weighty short story that does what Carver does best—find the profound in the painfully ordinary. Told in the voice of a disenchanted waitress recounting a seemingly mundane interaction with an extraordinarily obese man, the story unpacks layers of empathy, alienation, and quiet existential dread, all within just a few pages.
Carver doesn’t give you answers—he gives you moments. The fat man’s gentle demeanor and odd way of speaking ("we are eating," he says, not "I") serve as a mirror, reflecting the waitress's own dissatisfaction with her life, her boyfriend, and her routine. By the end, it’s not the fat man who feels heavy—it’s everything else.
There’s no climax, no big reveal. Just an aftertaste of something unsettling, like the feeling that the real weight we carry isn’t on our bodies, but in our silence.
Fat is short, strange, and haunting. Classic Carver—less is always more, and what's unsaid lingers the longest.
Raymond Carver’s Fat is a compact yet emotionally weighty short story that does what Carver does best—find the profound in the painfully ordinary. Told in the voice of a disenchanted waitress recounting a seemingly mundane interaction with an extraordinarily obese man, the story unpacks layers of empathy, alienation, and quiet existential dread, all within just a few pages.
Carver doesn’t give you answers—he gives you moments. The fat man’s gentle demeanor and odd way of speaking ("we are eating," he says, not "I") serve as a mirror, reflecting the waitress's own dissatisfaction with her life, her boyfriend, and her routine. By the end, it’s not the fat man who feels heavy—it’s everything else.
There’s no climax, no big reveal. Just an aftertaste of something unsettling, like the feeling that the real weight we carry isn’t on our bodies, but in our silence.
Fat is short, strange, and haunting. Classic Carver—less is always more, and what's unsaid lingers the longest.
December 22, 2025
Relata como una camarera le cuenta a su amiga Rita lo que le pasó un día en que una persona extremadamente gorda se sienta a comer en la cafetería en la que trabaja. La camarera lo atiende y empatiza con él mientras que los demás tienen una actitud de burla hacia el gordo.
Mi interpretación es que al final ella se da cuenta de que es demasiado buena para su pareja o que quiere ser libre como vio libre al gordo, y quizá, solo quizá, esa revelación significará un cambio en su vida.
Siento que estoy terriblemente gorda, tan gorda que Rudy es una cosa pequeñita que apenas siento encima de mí.
Mi interpretación es que al final ella se da cuenta de que es demasiado buena para su pareja o que quiere ser libre como vio libre al gordo, y quizá, solo quizá, esa revelación significará un cambio en su vida.
Siento que estoy terriblemente gorda, tan gorda que Rudy es una cosa pequeñita que apenas siento encima de mí.
January 17, 2025
I read this at the request of MIL because she wanted to discuss it (she read it for her great books class), and I honestly have no idea how to rate it. The short story definitely drew me in and kept me focused & alert & wondering what, if anything, was going to happen. And now, one day later, I’m still thinking about it.
September 25, 2022
I read this story as an example of Fast Fiction that uses the influence of one character on another.
I found it a fascinating read. We are taken through a story of a fat man eating dinner: a very minimalistic setting. However, there is so much more to it. As it progresses, we can see the moment's effects on the MC and how she becomes more alienated from her coworkers and friends as she feels more empathy toward the client.
The ending is also good. The ambiguity leaves us; not knowing what changes will occur in the MC's life.
I found it a fascinating read. We are taken through a story of a fat man eating dinner: a very minimalistic setting. However, there is so much more to it. As it progresses, we can see the moment's effects on the MC and how she becomes more alienated from her coworkers and friends as she feels more empathy toward the client.
The ending is also good. The ambiguity leaves us; not knowing what changes will occur in the MC's life.
November 21, 2022
This is just - wow. This is really really not what you expect it to be.
July 13, 2023
Wonderful wonderful wonderful
July 25, 2023
give us a substantial ending raymond pls
July 8, 2024
Who is we?
December 18, 2025
my favorite short story of all time. i think of it almost every day
December 27, 2025
fat & full = pregnant ?
January 1, 2023
a very complex narrative in a very simple story. I don't feel like the form matches the plot. It is all so unnecessarily complicated. But also there is a magicality to it. It feels like a puzzle that the reader has to figure out. There is no fancy language here. It is so dry which is a compliment but also a fault. I have no idea what to get from this but "there must be unity in form and concept" (i have to add that the character distance but also its closeness is very interesting -not bad not good but interesting- we don't get to know the main characters very well, we don't even know their names but we know a very delicate detail about them., it feels like a secret between the audience the characters and the author)
October 25, 2016
Carver is fantastic, and i'm totally including 4 page short story this just to help me inch closer to my reading goal for the year.
January 9, 2025
Read for class
July 28, 2016
Empathizing with the fattest man in the world and feeling insignificant as a result.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews