At last, I bought my copy of Lessons from the Fat-O-sphere yesterday, after being disappointed that they didn’t have it yet on the floor on Tuesday night. The interesting thing is that Chapters put the book in the Self-Help: Dieting section. I can’t figure out whether that’s annoying (and could be triggering for some) or simply subversive (someone looking for a dieting book might pick it up… or would they?).
It is a fat acceptance 101 book, so obviously, its target reader isn’t me, who’ve been involved in the FA movement for 10 years. This being said, it still is a great read, and always good to refer to on blah days that we all have. Besides, for me, it goes beyond the book is useful or not to me. Buying it sends a message out that we are a worthwhile readership, that we want book about fat acceptance. In any case, kudos to Kate and Marianne. Your book definitely has its place on my shelf of reference FA books (incidentally, one OOP book missing from the bibliography is Hanne Blank’s Big Big Love!).
Kate Harding said,
May 17, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Thanks for the shout out! And, of course, for buying the book.
And yeah, I’ve got similar mixed feelings about it being shelved in the diet section. Bad for anti-dieters trying to find it, potentially good for dieters just browsing the shelves.