Does My Bum Look Big in This?

by Arabella Weir

Jacqueline M. Pane is an ordinary woman in her 30s and she knows her life would be perfect if only she had a small bum, sticky-up bosoms, and a Prada handbag. She has fine-tuned paranoia and applies it to every area of her life, from her earrings, cellulite and job, to the men in her life.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Humor, Novels, Comedy, Contemporary

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Arabella Weir is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series The Fast Show and Posh Nosh, and has written several books, including Does My Bum Look Big in This? Weir has also written for The Independent and The Guardian and the latter's Weekend magazine. In 2006, she voiced an alternative third incarnation of the Doctor for Big Finish's Unbound audio range.

Reviews

[Farah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yang suka atau udah pernah baca chicklit keluaran penulis lain macam Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes, Jennifer Weiner, atau malah Helen Fielding menurut gue ngga akan terlalu suka sama buku ini.
Buat gue pribadi, setelah membaca buku ini gue merasa baru saja melalui sebuah proses down-grade dari chicklit yang biasanya cerdas dan lugas, menjadi... lemah otak.

Ibarat kata, biasa pake prosesor intel Core i5, lalu disuruh pake pentium III.
Gimana rasanya?
Pengen nangis? Kecewa?
Sama. Gue juga pengen nangis bacanya.

Satu, gaya penulisan buku diarinya aja dari awal udah lame banget.
Apa sih yang diributin? Kalau bukunya ilang terus gimana cara balikinnya?
Duh.
Gue juga dulu jaman SMP nulis diari. Dan pernah melewati masa-masa dilema dan parno kalo buku harian gue diketemuin orang, lalu nulis dan larut dalam perdebatan seru sendiri gimana dan lewat siapa sebaiknya buku itu dikembalikan kalau hilang di tengah jalan.
Tapi itu jaman gue SMP loh. Tahun 1997.
Si Jackie ini umur berapa? 33? Umur 33 masih labil? Cih.
Wajar berarti gue umur 26 masih labil. Ada yang lebih parah dari gue soalnya.

Terus apa lagi yang diributin? Ukuran baju? Yahelah.
Kayak semua orang peduli dan kepo pengen narik kerah baju lo buat liat baju lo size 12 apa 14 sih. Heran.

Dua, gue bosen sama keribetan dia yang berulang-ulang menceritakan soal ukuran badannya.
As for me, gue kalo mau belanja ngga akan dan emang ga pernah terganggu pandangan nyebelin mbak-mbak penjaganya sih ya. Gue biasa belanja dengan bangga. Nanya ukuran, nyobain, lenggak-lenggok depan cermin, coba lagi yang lain, begitu terus sampe ketemu yang pas di hati.
Kalopun ngga dapet yang pas di hati, gue akan ngembaliin semua baju itu ke tempat gantungannya, lalu bilang terima kasih, dan berjalan keluar toko sambil tersenyum.
Ngga ada lah ceritanya gue kayak si Jackie yang terintimidasi sama mbak penjaga toko dan malah jadi minder dan ngga jadi belanja. Rugi amat.

Tiga, ah ini gue udah tahu sebenernya siapa yang naksir ama Jackie. Jackienya aja rempong. Ampe ngga nyadar. Ujungnya nyadar, tapi telat. Basi.

Empat, emang harus ya SEMUA-MUANYA diceritain di buku diari? Doh.

Lima, buku diari udah ngga laku sejak ada blog di friendster, blog di myspace, notes di facebook, dan twitter. Bentar lagi juga ngetweet bakal ditinggalin. Orang akan ramai-ramai mainan soundcloud. Who knows?

Enam, yah pantes aja bukunya di obral sepuluhribuan. Meh.

[John Naylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only took a cursory glance at other reviews and ratings before I typed this. It is easy to understand why so many despised it. After the first few pages I felt I was going to hate it too. This was partially due to the diary based format. Those often can get repetitive. How much I liked the book by the time I finished reading it was a surprise that I wouldn't have predicted.

The main character Jacqueline (don't call her Jack) is neurotic. Neurotic is a word that can be often overused to describe a character but here it is also an understatement. She has huge self-esteem issues that plague her life especially when it comes to her weight and appearance. She is paranoid about the way that the world and how men in particular see her. She creates negative fantasies on a near daily basis while never noticing anything that would actually help her life particularly in regards to her love life. She is hard to like for the majority of the book.

Yet, by the end I had warmed to her a little to a lot. Her self-esteem was helped by a few separate events and she was a lot better for it. Her journey had involved learning, accepting things about herself and this made her both happier as well as a more likeable narrator.

I was hovering over whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. In the end I decided that the growth the character showed and the progression in the story meant it deserved 4 stars. I accept that many readers would quit reading this due to the main character but they also would be missing out on a story that does improve.

[Tetty Marlinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

#68 - 2023
Genre: Chick Lit

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really did not like this book and found it a struggle to finish, not because it was badly written or hard to read but because the main character was so unbelievable, so negative and so paranoid. Written as a diary of a 30-something woman working in an industry where looks are apparantly important (not convinced myself but who knows) the level of negativity, self-critism, delusion and outright paranoia was that high it just felt like one book length stereotype taken to extremes. It was only in the last few pages that there was any form of redemption but by then it was way too late to save this book or improve my opinion of it.

[Elizabeth Heeles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was trying to think of the worst book I've read, and this won. If I was able to work out how to give it no stars au would have done

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really loved this book! It was funny, emotional, chaotic, but it was real! This was so different to what I’d normally read but really special!

[Lauraloves · Rating 1 out of 5]

I brought this as it was part of the Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition reading challenge as it was recommended under the Bridget Jones books. This was fairly similar to the Bridget Jones in the plot however I just found it very unbelievable and almost quite shocking that anyone could be quite that shallow. For example – deciding not to eat to impress a man is quite ridiculous and really in my opinion doesn’t set too much of a good example to a young girl that could be reading the book. I didn’t really enjoy this at all and to be honest I was glad to see the end of it. Maybe I’m just at the wrong time of life to read this book however it just wasnt for me.

[Dawn Vowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious book! Laugh out loud kind of book!

[Orinthia Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baca buku ini dah lama, dan bukunya juga udah ilang...
Lumayan lucu sih seingetku.

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mother bought this book for me when it came out. I was a young teenager and had enjoyed Bridget Jones's Diary so was clearly going to get stuck into another comedy about a so-called fat so-called spinster. Only the joke is that she has cripplingly low self esteem due to her parents constantly shaming her for eating.

It's a funny book in many ways and many of Weir's turns of phrase made it as far as my adult lexicon due to the exposure in my formative years - re-reading now, I had many moments of 'oh *that's* where I got that from' and now worry that I don't have an original bon mot in my body. Ultimately though, the heroine is dense bordering on irritating right until the end where things come good for her despite all her self-sabotage. I remember thinking at the time that surely adults don't behave like this, think like this? And now as I exceed the age of the protagonist I can confirm, sadly, that they absolutely do - but mercifully I've left most of them behind! Don't worry, 13 year old me, you may be the same dress size as this hapless protagonist but it need not define you. Thank god.

[Simona Calò · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rilettura di un romanzo frivolo e spassoso su una donna nei trenta impegnata a boicottarsi quotidianamente. L’insicurezza della protagonista è talmente portata agli estremi da diventare comica: vive nello spasmo perenne di aderire alle aspettative e ai giudizi degli altri, finendo per costruire un mondo parallelo in cui le persone la vedono grassa, stupida, disperata e la disprezzano per questo. Analogo per registro e stile a Bridget Jones, la differenza sta nella completa mancanza di quell’equilibrio interiore di cui l’eroina degli anni ’00 disponeva, seppur in minima parte. Jacqueline non mira a dimagrire e a uscire con il capo, ma ingaggia una guerra autodistruttiva in cui si consuma a indovinare cosa dovrebbe fare sulla base di cosa il prossimo può aspettarsi da lei. Grottesco perché paradossale, ma in misura normale comune a tante di noi: anche io mi riconosco in qualcuna delle sue isterie nonsense. La scrittura scoppietta di energia femminile e battute memorabili che ricordavo a distanza di anni.

[Nur Wulan Nugrahani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jacqueline M. Pane might be a representation of myself - in skinny way. Lost in self-analytics of how people see ourselves and less confidence regarding physical appearance are some of women's problem in recent life, where we virtually suppressed to look attractive in many ways. I found myself didn't like the way Jacqueline thinks, the way that she hate herself so much and negatively over-thinking. And that's the example of how we're not supposed to do to ourselves - that we're supposed to love ourselves and maximize with what we have.

[carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. The main character in this book is annoying, dumb, paranoid, and has amazing inner dialogue. I kept rolling my eyes at how unbelievable her thought process was. Despite this review sounding negative, I actually enjoyed the story and felt it was an insanely easy read. A solid 3 stars because I liked it, otherwise the story itself didn't move me at all or change my perspective. A simple read.

[Annie Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love two doors down, which is where I first came across Arabella Weir, so I picked up this book because of the author. The diary style of this book disappointed me somewhat, it seemed like a 30-y.o. painfully insecure Adrian Mole aimed at YA. That being said I read it all in two days so something clicked with me.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

felt like a bad, odd copy of bridget jones' diary; even for someone who can identify with the protagonist, it felt overly exaggerated and some of the humour felt too forced. felt like i had to push through, enjoyable at some point, but still, wouldn't recommend it to a friend. rather stick to the classic bridget jones' diary imo.

[Scarlett S · Rating 1 out of 5]

i hated it.
felt like bridget jones on crack.
an insanely insecure woman who is also just a shallow cow to everyone around her...god i couldn't wait for it to end. thankfully quick read. Sorry mum, this is not your finest reccommendation to me.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what I thought of this book...seemed to end quite quickly without much of a resolution to long standing problems throughout the book.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh out loud funny

[Sarah Kapalo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book at all and was irritated by the main character. I finished it as I don't like to not finish a book!

[Anna Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giggled to myself throughout. Fun book

[Ness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant writing, fun, exciting and real life encounters one of my all time favourites !

[Alison Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in summer 2001 and I really enjoyed reading it. It was so funny. I actually preferred it to Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones' Diary.

[Jessica Stubbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very similar Bridget Jones story, loved it, very relatable 🤣 x

[bramsoladeb · Rating 2 out of 5]

You get attached to her but then the book gets repetitive

[Pauline Destinugrainy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jacqueline M. Pane menulis di buku hariannya pertama kali pada tanggal 3 Januari. Tentu saja buku ini bukan buku harian pertamanya. Dia mengawali tulisan di buku hariannya dengan menceritakan ukuran pakaiannya. Jackie memiliki tubuh berukuran 14 – 16, dan dia sangat tidak nyaman dengan ukuran tubuhnya. Berkali-kali dalam buku hariannya Well… sebenarnya hampir tiap hari dimana dia menulis di buku hariannya) dia menyinggung soal “big size”-nya itu. Dia bahkan sering memikirkan apa yang akan dikatakan orang mengenai dia.

Selain ukuran tubuhnya, Jackie tentu saja menceritakan tentang tempat kerjanya. Dalam urusan karier, Jackie sebenarnya mendapatkan posisi lumayan sebagai Koordinator Senior Konferensi. Tapi (lagi-lagi) Jackie menganggap dia mendapatkan jabatan itu gara-gara dia sudah berumur, dan rekan kerja lainnya masih muda. Di kantor, Jackie mnyukai seorang pria bernama Andy. Andy sendiri juga menyukai Jackie, tapi Jackie tidak pernah menanggapi perhatian Andy padanya. Dalam pikirannya Andy hanya memanfaatkan dia untuk mendekati si Ceking Clare. Tidak mungkin Andy akan menyukai wanita dengan dada dan bokong besar. Ohya, bukan hanya Andy yang suka padanya. Salah satu klien mereka dari Italia, Carlo Pozzi juga menunjukkan ketertarikan padanya.

Membaca buku harian Jackie cukup melelahkan menurut saya. Setiap halaman ada saja keluhan Jackie soal tubuhnya. Pikiran-pikiran negatif Jackie bertaburan dalam buku ini, dan sepertinya energi negatif itu yang membuat saya merasa bosan membaca buku ini. Bahkan ketika Jackie diminta menuliskan kelebihannya dalam satu sesi terapi, dia malah menuliskan kalimat berikut :

“barangkali aku akan merasa lebih baik jika membuat daftar kekuranganku, itu lebih gampang ketimbang mencari-cari kelebihanku” (hal 129)

Ketika saya membaca judulnya, saya berpikir bahwa buku ini akan bercerita tentang seorang berukuran besar yang mampu “survive” dalam lingkungan yang mengatakan langsing itu indah. Saya sendiri juga memiliki pinggul yang secara genetis berukuran besar. Tidak jarang saya mendapat “joke” tentang ukuran pinggul saya, dan tentu saja beberapa kali sempat masuk ke dalam hati. Makanya saya tertarik untuk membaca buku ini dan berharap akan mendapatkan sesuatu yang membesarkan hati saya dari buku ini.

Tentu saja ada yang menarik dari buku ini, yaitu ketika Jackie mendapat kesempatan untuk diwawancarai oleh sebuah majalah lifestyle yang akan mengangkat topik wanita bertubuh besar yang sukses dalam kariernya. Artikel tersebut mengatakan bahwa bertubuh besar tentu bukan menjadi batu sandungan untuk maju dalam karier, sehingga wanita tidak perlu malu jika memiliki tubuh berukuran besar. Bahkan salah satu narasumber selain Jackie yang diwawancarai adalah Geraldine, manajer toko pakaian mengatakan:

“ Aku tahu aku tidak langsing, tapi aku tidak menganggapnya sebagai masalah” (hal 252).

Di luar jalan cerita yang datar, saya tidak menjumpai typo dalam buku ini. Satu lagi poin positif yang membuat saya bertahan membacanya. Jadi dua bintang saya rasa cukup untuk chicklit satu ini.

[Sukmo Pinuji · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finish this book just because I feel that I have to finish things I started to read. Pertama kali memutuskan untuk membacanya, saya pikir it will be quite intersting an enlightening to find out how some ordinary people survive to deal with her weaknesses. But what I found was complains about her body weight dan appearance the whole pages, yang bahkan aku sendiri tidak bisa menemukan what was the problem. OK, pada sepertiga buku, aku masih berharap bakalan ada klimaks dan anti klimaks yang akan menginspirasi wanita-wanita lain supaya bisa lebih percaya diri dan menerima hidup apa adanya, tapi guess what - sampai akhir halaman I can't find it. Sepertinya yang dilakukan Jackie sepanjang tahun hanyalah mengeluh, berpikiran buruk (well, sebenarnya siapa sih yang peduli tentang ukuran bokong atau size baju orang yang kau temui di stasiun atau di dalam bis?), dan mencemaskan hal-hal konyol - dari seseorang yang bisa dibilang sukses baik secara karir maupun finansial. It's totally disturbing and annoying. Dan kalau si penulis berusaha untuk menginspirasi para big-sizers lainnya untuk lebih percaya diri dan menjadi lebih baik, saya pikir buku ini gagal melakukannya.

[Titin Susanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

the plot :
buku ini ceritanya mengenai Jackie, seorang cewe yg ga PD n mengira dirinya dudutz bgt (padahal ga ndut2 bgt) n ga menarik..
padahal cowo yg dia taksir itu juga suka ama dia.
dia selalu mengira kalau org2 sangat memperhatikan kelebihan berat badannya itu..

review :
buku ini ditulis dengan cara yg funny n witty bgt.
penulisannya seperti penulisan diary, jadi di sini pembaca diajak untuk langsung menyelami pikiran Jackie dari sudut pandang org pertama.

what I learned :
buku ini bikin ak senyum2 sendiri karena kadang2 ak juga bisa bersikap seperti Jackie yang terlalu khawatir akan pemikiran orang lain dan mengira setiap orang berpikiran negatif ttg dirinya.
kadang2 sebagai cewe (terutama cewe) bisa ga PD dengan diri sendiri dan terlalu fokus pada kekurangan diri sendiri alias terlalu self-conscious.
cewe (terutama cewe) harus belajar untuk menerima kekurangan diri (terutama fisik) n coba fokus pada hal2 baik lainnya yang Tuhan sudah beri :)

[Barbra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't know what to make of this book - some people say its hilarious and others say it is dire. I think I have to go with the latter - didn't really enjoy it at all.

Back Cover Blurb:
This is the diary of an ordinary, insecure woman in her thirties, Jacqueline M. Pane. Like all women, Jackie knows that life would be perfect if only she had a small bum, sticky-up bosoms, and didn't grow a moustache once a month.....Chart her progress as she perfects the art of feeling shitty about every little, and not so little, bit of herself. The potential for self-doubt lies in everything - and it's all her fault.

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't sure at first if this was supposed to be a parody of Bridget Jones's Diary but it's not quite exaggerated enough for parody so I think it's just something in the same style. It could have been funny but the main character is so negative, I quickly wanted to strangle her. It's hard to enjoy being with people who are constantly criticising themselves and that goes for characters in books as much as real life. She (and therefore the book) gets a little better towards the end and I even laughed a couple of times in the last few pages.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite the awful title I thought I'd give this book a go as Joanna Lumley gave it a good quote saying "a very funny and unexpectedly touching novel." Well Joanna, despite loving a lot of what you do yourself - I'm not going to trust your book reviews!
I couldn't find anything "touching" in it at all. It was written as a diary of a 30-something year old, Jaqueline, but she is just so annoyingly paranoid about things that you just don’t believe it. It really comes across as being far too OTT and a bit stupid really. To give it a small amount of credit, there are a couple of funny snippets but I just didn't believe the character at all.