Rating: 
Summary: give this to a friend
Review: I picked up this book after my friend Stacey decided to have gastric-bypass surgery. I wanted to learn more about the surgery, but more than that, I wanted to learn about how the surgery afftected someone who'd had it. "The Weight of It" is a moving and real story about how two sisters have dealt with issues of weight all their lives, and how this surgery changed them both (one physically, and one emotionally). What I liked the most was the way the book made me question my own perceptions of other people; I still find myself thinking about the scene in the Chinese restaurant when the sister in the book left because she was so upset by the waitress's actions. If you've ever known someone overweight, you'll get a lot out of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I thought this book would be more about the sister (Allison) and why she overate and all of that, that's what I wanted to learn about specifically. I feel there was too much detail about unrelated situations. Not satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I thought this book would be more about the sister (Allison) and why she overate and all of that, that's what I wanted to learn about specifically. I feel there was too much detail about unrelated situations. Not satisfied.
Rating: 
Summary: Sister Act
Review: The story about how a woman goes from being morbidly obese to being a normal weight is a story all by itself. Growing up increasingly overweight, deciding in her twenties to undergo surgery, and how she coped with her new body would have made a fascinating story alone. But Amy Wilensky has not written a biography of her sister, who lost the weight, but a memoir about two sisters and their family. This makes The Weight of It a more engaging story and broadens its appeal.Like most Americans, I should lose some weight and like most American women, I have worried about this nearly every day since I was about eleven years old (I grew up before girls popped out of the womb obsessing about their weight). But I would not have read the book if it had been about the weight only. The sisters and how they grew up together and grew apart was what intrigued me. I enjoyed Amy Wilensky's descriptions of two sisters playing and fighting, how they enjoyed collaborating on cooking projects, about how the older sister was cautious and prudent, and the younger sister exuberant and creative. Amy's apparent admiration for and exasperation with her sister comes through and sounds genuine. The writing is mostly direct and believable. Only a few times does Wilensky get bogged down in overly philosphical musings. The story speaks for itself and doesn't need a voice-over telling you what lessons you should draw from it. The description of Alison's Alice in Wonderland party near the end is a great conclusion to an ultimately upbeat book.
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