Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: I'm probably not in the category "Fat Girl" as defined by Shanker, but I have felt like one all my life thanks to our thinness-obsessed culture, where size 0 and 2 actresses are given a million dollars a week to make us feel lousy about the way we're made. Every sentence Shaker writes resonates with meaning and I found myself nodding with approval and in agreement with her. She offers great advice on how to look and feel your best the WAY YOU ARE--whether or not the way you are is reflected by the 1% of our population who actually resembles a supermodel.Buy it, own it, read it--whenever you start to feel the panic that society has implanted in you that says "I'm not thin enough".
Rating:
Summary: FAT? NOT FAT? READ IT ANYWAY!!!
Review: It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me THINK -- and how many books can you say that about? The Fat Girl's Guide is one of those books that tells it like it is in a way you wish you could -- except that only Wendy Shanker seems to be able to do it. While fat people (boy -- it does feel liberating to use the f-word!) will certainly feel themselves reflected in this book -- anyone who has ever doubted him or herself (read: all human beings) will share in this book's unflinching honesty about our physical and emotional roller coasters. Wendy Shanker gets it. And thankfully, she shares it with us. Can't wait to see what she writes next!
Rating:
Summary: A high school teacher's perspective.
Review: My best friend loaned me her copy, now I must have a copy for myself! This book should be required reading for all teenage girls...no matter their body type. I wish this book had been around when I was a teenager. Wendy Shanker's approach to a very sensitive subject is perfect. Shanker's mixture of humor, sensitivity, and seriousness shows the reader a depth of perspective that too often gets overlooked. What a beautiful gift!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Devour This Book!
Review: Nicely Written.
Good humor.
A great joy to read for thin or fat.
Her mind is like going into my head. Back and forth.
One day it's ok, the next day, no.
Wendy is very real. A joy!
Rating:
Summary: Even the title is courageous
Review: Of course Wendy Shanker is conflicted. Who wouldn't be with the constant barrage of anorexic models and actresses and the dearth of women in the public eye who are average-to-large? I found the book to be entertaining and realistic, but I wish Wendy would stop beating herself up. She's quite attractive.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: Size doesn't matter -- and Wendy knows it. And you will too when you read this informative, inspirational and funny tome.
While I can't quite get behind loving the one you're with, I CAN get behind loving the *behind* you're with, and Ms. Shanker makes the case that to not do so is not only a waste of time and a useless brian drain but stupid and insane.
Read this and be smarter, less insane, and feel better
Buy the book already!
Rating:
Summary: FIT NOT FAT
Review: The main message I took out of this book was that being FIT is much more important than constantly obessing over weight. After years of careening to and from on the scale, doing Weight Watchers and chastising myself everyday for having a pot belly, this book has finally inspired me to get off the beating-myself-up-bandwagon and instead focus on my health. Instead of depriving myself of chocolate, I am adding swimming and Pilates to my life. Instead of calorie counting, I am making sure I eat good, fresh food everyday. I've decide to take all that negative time and energy I spent obsessing and turn it into adding to my life, not depriving myself from life. This book intelligently and with a great sense of humor debunks many of the myths we carry around weight and weight loss, and for that I feel like I am finally free to pursue my fitness over my fatness. Thank you Wendy Shanker for telling your story.
Rating:
Summary: It's not about weight, necessarily.
Review: The reader from Miami, FL, did not read this book, or they would have known that Wendy is actually healthier than most people, she explains why. The author is not encouraging being unhealthy by any stretch, she is just saying that trying to be skinny is super overrated and there are other things to worry about and she's correct.
I can say all of this, while I have never been overweight I read this because I liked the title. It's not the funniest book in the world but Wendy has done her research and states some facts that were very insightful about W.W. and retailers, etc.
Great for any girl.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful read no matter what your weight is
Review: This book deals with the body-conscious among us. The antedotes are very humorous and told from a very "real" perspective. I thought that many of the reviews I have read here were a bit harsh. Wendy really just gives people her perspective on life as a "fat" woman. I myself am not plus size, but I have many close friends who have struggled with their weight over the years. It is not easy in this day and age to be overweight. Wendy's commentary on binge eating was spot on from what I can glean from the lives of those around me. I very much admire the frankness of the author and applaud her efforts to better herself and the world around her. Just an aside... as I was finishing up this book I became aware of a new TV show called "The Biggest Loser". Now think about this. Openly, the media is insinuating that fat people are losers. Granted, it is a weight loss challenge but the word play is just too much. You will never see a reality show starring anorexics. It is an appaling double standard. Why are thin individuals treated with more kindness/softness? Are the "fat" among us tougher? No, they aren't. I have seen the shows previews and some contestants were actually crying. It was very sad to see that as a nation this is what our entertainment has become. We enjoy watching fat people cry and struggle. Very pathetic of us.
Rating:
Summary: Finally - truth and humor about weight and dieting!
Review: This book is big. Big ideas, big feeling, big hearted, big funny, big truths. Big. Just like me.
The author doesn't just pick one argument about being fat. She comes at it from all angles. You get a lot of perspective about something people in our country are afraid to talk about freely. I found it extremely thought-provoking and inspiring. I would definately reccomend it to friends.
| 
