Afterlife Diet, The

Rating:
Summary: Where do fat people go when they die?
Review:

I'm a fat activist. When I heard that Pinkwater had written a novel mainly about fat people, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.

At first I thought that the author hated fat folk, but as I kept reading, I began to sense a theme: Pinkwater seems to be attacking obesessions. Whether your obession is food, fitting in, chubby chasing, weight loss, paperback writing, or family tradition -- it doesn't matter. If you're obsessed with it, "The Afterlife Diet" will make you feel like a putz about it.

But this isn't an entirely bad thing. Pinkwater seems to be poking as much fun at himself as he is anyone else. As far as fat people go, his point is that everyone can just relax about the concept: it's not good, it's not bad -- it just is.

As another review pointed out, this book is kinda choppy. I found it easy to put it down for days and start another, much more gripping, book. I finished "The Afterlife Diet" because I had started it, not because I was getting much out of it.

So, this book is okay. I wish that I could say something amazing about it due to the subject matter, but if you want light reading where the fat characters are just as messed up as everyone else, this novel may very well do the trick for you.

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Summary: Uneven adult novel; Power to the Pulchritudious!
Review: Daniel Pinkwater is best known for his childrens' and young adults' books. Really odd and off-beat stuff, best enjoyed by kids destined not to be consumer drones and conformists.

I once talked with an editor who knew Mr. Pinkwater. I asked him what he was up to. "He's said he's doing a book for adults," replied the fellow, "Which could be really scary, because it could have sex in it. Can you imagine Pinkwater writing about sex?" Hmmmm . . .

_The Afterlife Diet_ is indeed his first novel for grown-ups (although he's written for adults before, in his collections of fine essays and reminscences). It could be called a "fat lib" book. Most of its characters are great big folks. Some are alive, some are dead. We see them dealing with the afterlife (it's segregated; The Other Side for hefty folks appears to be an indifferently run Borscht Belt resort), with dating, and careers. It does have sex, although nothing explicit, although we learn enough to know that it takes place in a tub of hot water infused with hot-dog spices.

There are a lot of cool characters and situations here here, such as a psychiatrist who conducts therapy sessions in a deli, and a crazed fat-doctor. A lot of the pain expressed must come from personal experience. But a good chunk of the book reads as though it were filler. There are bits about a gummy alien, and an outline for a sprawling SF epic set in the vast parking lot of a interstellar retail complex. Much of this is funny, but it doesn't quite fit in.

I ultimately enjoyed this one, and hope The Captain writes another book for grownups.

Rating:
Summary: Three cheers for Pinkwater
Review: I snatched this book off the shelf after hearing about it on NPR. While others had complaints, I wasn't dissapointed at all. Pinkwater recognizes that the pressure to lose weight can come from anywhere, especially other fat people. The worst are always those who've lost weight and want to help the rest of us to be the wonderful thin people they are. He also shows us that beyond the social stigma and constant ridicule are real people living lives just like the thin people.

Ok, so the plot was, well, I don't remember it well enough to comment. However, the characters are still with me.

I was very upset when the first edition went out of print. I'm thrilled it's back.

Rating:
Summary: Best Fat-Afterlife Book I've Read
Review: I'm a big fan of originality, and this book didn't disappoint. while it seemed to make a lot out of a little, seemed a bit 'padded' (HA) at times, and contained perhaps the worst sci-fi short story I've ever read (One word: wereakeets), I nonetheless chuckled all the way through. Hardly great literature, but it achieved its intended effect. It made me laugh.

Rating:
Summary: Not for young kids
Review: Just to make it clear to kids and parents: this is NOT one of Pinkwater's whimsical books for kids. My eleven-year-old son recently ordered it from Amazon, having lived on a diet of Pinkwater for the last couple of months. Thrilled to receive it after much anticipation, he started to read. A few minutes later he brought it to his Mom, pointing out the words "f*ck" and "bastard" in the first few pages. He was *very* disappointed, not so much because of the words, but because it caught him by surprise; he felt let down. "It's **Pinkwater!** What happened?!"

I'm buying it back from him so he can spend his money elsewhere. (If I like it I'll post another review saying what Dad thinks of the book.)

Rating:
Summary: A Serious Work
Review: Reader reviews of this wonderful book are obsessed with its being a wildly funny book. What they fail to see is the very serious work beneath the comedy. Read it for the hilarity, but give its subtext the sober analysis it deserves. As with all comic masterpieces -- and this is one -- there's far more to it than the laughs.