Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one woman’s beautifully written account of a difficult life story. It's one of the best memoirs I've ever read and I can't recommend it highly enough. However there is a caveat to my recommendation: it is a hard, hard book to read because Gay, the author, goes into a lot of traumatic issues, particularly sexual assault. Tread carefully if you’re sensitive to those kinds of things, but I believe the understanding, compassion for others and for self, and the insights you will gain as you read her story will compensate for any discomfort you may feel as you read.

"In writing this memoir of my body, in telling you these truths about my body, I am sharing my truth and mine alone. I understand if the truth is not something you want to hear. The truth makes me uncomfortable too. But I am also saying, here is my heart, what's left of it. Here I am showing you the ferocity of my hunger. Here I am, finally freeing myself to be vulnerable and terribly human. Here I am, reveling in that freedom. Here. See what I hunger for and what my truth has allowed me to create."

This is a book I would like everyone to read. It should be required reading for anyone who has ever thought they had the answers to another person's weight problem. It is a well written, fast, easy read and I devoured it.

Even though Gay spends a lot of time probing the psychological barriers that have contributed to her weight gain, this book isn’t about “making excuses.” She knows she’s fat, she knows how she got there, and she harbors no illusions about it. “This is a memoir of (my) body because, more often than not, stories of bodies like mine are ignored or dismissed or derided. People see bodies like mine and make their assumptions. They think they know the why of my body. They do not.”

In our society of body worship, it is an especially appropriate read. She asks the question, “What does it say about our culture that the desire for weight loss is considered a default feature of womanhood?”

I listened to the audio, read by Gay, and everything she writes (says) is emotional and gut-wrenching, and thought-provoking, and I love her.

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