Fat Girl: A True Story

Great Book

The book Fat Girl by Judith Moore is about a girl who is fat and what her life is like growing up known as "Fat Girl". She experiences what it feels like to have her parents be divorced, and live with her mother through her childhood. The girl's mother divorced her father because he would not stop getting fat. When the girl lived with her mother she was always being scolded about her weight. "When I stood close to her so she could measure my waist or pin up the hem to my dress, she pinched me hard and flicked me with her fingernail and hissed again and again how disgusted she was. She said I looked ugly and that boys and girls at my school would keep on teasing me," (Moore 86). Not only was her mother malicious but also the peers in her class.
The book was really heartbreaking that ever since childhood the main character has been hurt physically and mentally. It's surprising that people can act towards another person with cruelty just because they look different. I hope that people will read this book so that mankind will stop judging people on appearances. It is a good book to learn about how people are being mistreated everyday about the littlest things. But the thing I didn't like about this book was that it talked about food a lot, with a great deal of detail. Other than the food the book was a great read.

9 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

That fat girl was me!

I didn't have all of the challenges that the author did, but soo soo many of us grew up overweight, and being beat up emotionally for it 'even by ourselves'. This is a book that says, 'you weren't alone!'. I have to say, please go read a book that spoke so crystal clearly to me---'Build Your Mind, Your Body Will Follow'. It tells how to feel good about yourself, no matter how you look, and then how to start changing in a positive way! These 2 books should be a 1-2 punch!

8 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

A true story, indeed

Fat Girl is a sad story about an overweight woman who went through obstacles from childhood to adulthood. I like the way Ms. Moore explains her thoughts in a warm, sedate kind of way that the reader can familiarize.

5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

eye opening book !

this is the true story of a girl who grew up overweight, beaten, lost and depressed. it tells you all the details you may never have thought about, and tells the engrossing truth about it all. i would recommend this book NOT ONLY to someone who has been, or is overweight, but to anyone, skinny or fat. so that they could also start to see how miserable it is to be overweight. i feel for this girl !! i am 17 and would recommend this book to anyone 13 and up.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

COOL;)

I am 11 years old and i liked this book because well i am a fatass . Do not judge me but i am 11 and i weigh 140 pounds this book spoke to me .

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book wasn't the best

The book Fat Girl is a story that after I read it I wish I hadn't. Judith Moore should cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it."

4 out of 34 people found this review helpful.

Amazing

I read this book in order to look for a piece for highschool forensics (competitive speaking) in the solo-serious acting catagory. I have had amazing results from my cutting from this book. I highly recommend reading this startling and honest memoir.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

?.....

Love it havent read it but heared it was really giod

2 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

a decent read

props to Judith Moore for opening up and writing on a topic that is so personal. however, to be honest, it wasn't quite what i was expecting. while i understand that describing her family was a vital part of understanding her background/environment, i think she may have gone a bit overkill, and it wasn't until the last 40-50 pages that she started talking about herself a lot vs. her family. i don't know... not bad, but not as good as i was expecting.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This book was popular a while back, and I read it then. Now, evidently more have discovered it. Why more is not made of family dysfuction/abuse and overweight children is beyond me. FAT GIRL is not the happy ending you might expect, but it will open your eyes to why you do the things you do regarding food and relationships.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

True to life..

This book really hits home. Although I wasn't a 'fat' child I did get bigger later on in life. But the same feelings surface at any age. She described a lot of problems bigger people have, from chaffing legs, to never exposing certain parts of your body. Anyone who has an overweight child should read this book. The insight will be very valuable. Life is tough enough to tackle, when you add weight, you don't even get to the life part because the weight consumes you. Take note.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Sweet

She has a sexey but

1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Awsome

This book was one of the most well written, take my breath away book. One of the best books I have read in a long time

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

True to life story

This book was depressing and sad, but it was so honest. I was fat as a child and teen too and still struggle everyday to keep the weight off. I can relate to dreaming of food, having to find double digit sizes, feeling ugly and undateable. This book made me relive so many sad memories of my younger years that I work hard to not think about. So many young kids are obese nowadays, they all go through this torment and shame and then the cycle continues into adulthood.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Opens your eyes to childhood cruelty

'Fat Girl' is one book that I won't ever forget. Judith Moore endured a childhood so filled with pain it brought tears to my eyes. I was so happy she had a nice uncle to give her some sense of love. I was not fat as a child, but have put on weight after having children, and now I understand the difficulty of taking the weight off. This book is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Absolutely could not put it down. Now I want to read Moore's other memoir. If it's anything like this, I will love it!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Courageous Memoir by Moore

Memoirs don't get much more frank than this. Judith Moore's Fat Girl: A True Story is an anti-sentimental journey through the life of a fat woman. Do not read this to feel better about your size. Read this because you want company.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Couragious Genius

Judith Moore leads other readers into a cathartic experience regarding childhood demons. Her outstanding courage and poignant honesty lessened the childhood pain in my heart.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Completely engrossing

I purchased this book yesterday. I picked it up this morning and could not put it down until I finished it! An absolutely haunting memoir.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

DO NOT TAKE THIS BOOK TO BURGER KING

'It's alright to love the devil. Just don't let the devil love you.' So said Truman Capote, at least, in his short story, 'Children on their Birthdays.' Judith Moore's demons come in the form of cheeseburgers, self loathing, and the insatiable emptiness of a ruined childhood. In Fat Girl Moore stands up to and describes her love affair with these in unflinching, unsentimental, detail. The result is a profoundly intimate self examination- brilliantly, beautifully and breath-takingly told. At the end of the book you will thank Judith Moore for her candor, and her generosity in telling her tale. You'll also thank God it was she and not you that lived to do the telling.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Of three memoirs of overweight life struggles I¿ve read recently

Of three memoirs of overweight life struggles I’ve read recently, this is the darkest and most lyrically written.  The author tells us upfront that she hates herself.  And even though she matter-of-factly requests that we not feel sorry for her, my heart ached at her recounting of a miserable childhood marked by abandonment and rejection.  

One thing I found odd and unexpected was the lack of information about her life as an adult.  This is a short book, and she devotes pages and pages to minute details from her childhood.  Yet she covers her adult life with only a few pages of random musings at the beginning and a partial summary at the end.  Because the book focuses on family relationships, in particular I would've liked to know more about her relationships with her ex-husbands, whom she barely mentions.  

If you are looking for a funny, uplifting or inspirational read about overweight life, this isn’t it.  Yet Ms. Moore has a gift for painting vivid pictures in the reader’s mind and evoking a mood. Her book is haunting, engrossing and beautifully written, and I’m glad I read it.   

For memoirs infused with more hope, see my two recommendations.  Those are written in a more girl-next-door style with candid depiction of highs and lows.