Goodreads rating: 4.3/5
Published: June 13, 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins
Author: Roxane Gay
Genre: Memoir, non-fiction
From the bestselling author of Bad Feminist: a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself
“I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. . . . I was trapped in my body, one that I barely recognized or understood, but at least I was safe.”
In her phenomenally popular essays and long-running Tumblr blog, Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and body, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she explores her own past—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers along on her journey to understand and ultimately save herself.
With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and power that have made her one of the most admired writers of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to learn to take care of yourself: how to feed your hungers for delicious and satisfying food, a smaller and safer body, and a body that can love and be loved—in a time when the bigger you are, the smaller your world becomes.
The above taken from Goodreads.
Firstly, this book was selected by Emma Watson for the month of September/October 2017 reading for her book club, Our Shared Shelf. It was also featured in Our Shared Shelf's giveaway recently where I was one of the lucky winners to have won a copy of this book from HarperCollins. You can read my previous post here:
http://www.sholee.net/2017/10/thank-you-our-shared-shelf.html
To be honest, I was afraid it might not be my cup of tea since it's a memoir. However, after a few pages in, I was hooked and it was 'unputdownable'! Truly a gripping read from the start, though not heavy duty but still engaging in it's own way.
From the first part to the last, I can sense Roxane's angst, fear, regret and more through her body's journey from the time it was triggered, i.e. the rape, until she has finally acknowledged and accepted her situation. It may not be a flowering journey but she has written it with perfect clarity... definitely not an easy feat.
I truly applaud her for her bravery to reveal what has actually happened. To finally writing it down and declaring it to the world. I am at awe that she has finally realised her potential, her dream and being who she is today. Though Roxane hasn't fully gotten her peace of mind, she's blessed to have her family and friends who love her unconditionally.
I will not deny, as a human being, it is natural to quickly jump to conclusion and to judge people. I am guilty of that. After reading this book, it's an eye-opener as I can understand from Roxane's point of view, on how fat people see and think. Many atimes we judged without thinking. So we should think first before we speak or response and never, ever judged others. It's a very bad habit which needed to be culled so it's a learning progression for me now.
I've always believed that everything happens for a reason. And whatever it is, we always have 2 choices so it's up to us to choose either one and proceed with our journey. So this time I'll also add never be judgemental. There are people who had it worst than me so I should count my blessings, be grateful for what I do have and thankful to still be alive! I'm a little low lately so this definitely came at the right timing which touched a chord in me... like a morale booster for me.
The whole book was practically filled with stickies, inspiring quotes etc, hence I'm not sure how to post everything up so instead, am sharing a snippet from the book which I find interesting:
Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances - Wayne Dyer
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