Fat Girl: One Woman's Way Out

by Irene O'Garden

An account of one woman's triumph over food- and body-related guilt describes in a diary form, with line drawings and calligraphy, the author's journey from ascetic eating regimens, through Weight Watchers and other programs, to the present. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Memoir, Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

Irene O’Garden has won or been nominated for prizes in nearly every writing category from stage to e-screen, hardcovers, as well as literary magazines and anthologies. Her critically-acclaimed play Women On Fire, (Samuel French) played sold-out houses at Off-Broadway’s Cherry Lane Theatre and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award.

O’Garden won a Pushcart Prize for her lyric essay “Glad To Be Human,” (Untreed Reads.) Harper published her first memoir Fat Girl; her second, Risking the Rapids: How My Wilderness Adventure Healed My Childhood is forthcoming from Mango (January 31, 2019)
O’Garden’s poems and essays have been featured in dozens of literary journals and award-winning anthologies. Fulcrum (Nirala, 2017) is her first poetry collection.

Irene is also a Poetry Educator with the Hudson Highlands chapter of the national River Of Words program, connecting children to nature via poetry and art. Her latest children's book, Forest What Would You Like (Holiday House) grew out of this work.

Harper published her other two children's books. Maybe My Baby sold over 90,000 copies, and The Scrubbly Bubbly Car Wash won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award.

She and her husband writer John Pielmeier have lived joyfully together for over 40 years.

Irene loves words, those who craft them and those who give time to reading them. Which would be you. Thanks.

Reviews

[tamarack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick read and nice addition to my collection of Fat Books. Skillfully poetic and diary-esque, Fat Girl is a big like a zine, a bit like a chapbook, and a lot like a familiar friend. Things O'Garden writes choked me up at times unexpectedly as she takes the reader swiftly and softly through a life of battling (and not battling) against her weight. It is awe-striking to have it all condensed so simply into one small hardcover book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic memoir that is honest. A short read with nice pictures that help tell the story. Look forward to reading more of her work. This would be a good book to read with your daughter and I plan on doing that when my daughter is a little older and has to deal with the pressures that young girls have to deal with concerning body image.

[Bibliomama · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for a while. It reads very fast, and there are a lot of insights on being fat. But she wrapped it up rather abruptly.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thought provoking poetry memoir. Trigger warning: eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
The authors voice was engaging and her prose brilliantly written!

[Jesse · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this is an illustrated autobiography of sorts and talks a lot about weight and perceptions of weight and the diet industry in American culture. But then things are convienently "wrapped up" when the woman loses enough weight to feel comfortable moving through the world. I don't know.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a dozen or so pages to get the feel of this poetic memoir. I wasn't too sure at first but by about two thirds of the way through, I started to see the truth come into focus for the author and I enjoyed her voice immensely.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will always keep this little square book on my shelf.

[Mizbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bookcrossing "BookRay" book.

Good, but too much coarse language for my tastes.

[Selkie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not really fond of the modern, broken poetic style in which this was written but it does have its moments. And the sketches in it are just wonderful