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Thin Is the New Happy | 
 enlarge | Author: Valerie Frankel
Creator: Marie Caliendo
Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $18.75
You Save: $11.20 (37%)
New (13) Used (2) from $18.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 947319
Format: Audiobook, Cd, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 6
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 5.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 142337052X
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9781423370529
ASIN: 142337052X
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Like so many women in today’s society, Valerie Frankel’s world was dictated by her weight, from starvation and binge eating to her self-loathing and total preoccupation with her weight. Not wanting to pass this legacy on to her own daughters, Valerie set out to cleanse herself of these painful and damaging cycles. Yes, she lost twenty pounds and two dress sizes along the way – without dieting a single day. But more than that, she’s come out on the other side, loving her body, herself, and finally being free.
Thin Is the New Happy is a hilarious, unflinching, self-deprecating, and joy-filled memoir for every woman who has ever felt good or bad about herself based on how she looks.
“[A] poignant…hilarious memoir – As Frankel diets through good times and bad, she skewers her own weight-loss foibles and a society that teaches women that thin is all that matters.” – Lucy S. Danziger, editor-in-chief, Self Magazine
“Riotously funny…always thought-provoking…down-right inspiring.” – Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries
“It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me think.” – Jennifer Cruise, author of Agnes and the Hitman
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
A candid memoir November 30, 2008
In "Thin is the New Happy," Valerie Frankel chronicled her struggle with dieting and her obsession to be thin. Valerie's mother had always been overly critical of her appearance, and more specifically her weight, and this has influenced how she viewed herself, and her constant yo-yo dieting. This was a memoir about how she overcame that obsession, and to learn to accept herself for who she really is.
Most women can probably identify themselves with Valerie, the need to be "thin", and the struggle with having positive self-image. This very candid memoir from a popular women's fiction author brought to light the issue that young women struggle with, and how this is a problem that needs to be addressed. This was a quick read - nothing new or insightful per se, but should appeal to women who has issues with their weight.
 So honest and insightful November 16, 2008
I think every woman will identify with Frankel's lifelong body-image struggles, about which she is gut-wrenchingly honest in this book. It's a brilliant, truthful path to achieving outer--and inner--peace and self esteem. A must read.
Everybody can relate in some way November 6, 2008
A really interesting memoir about Frankel's lifetime issue with weight, body image, and dieting. Anybody (especially women) who has ever tried to lose weight will relate to this book in some way. Frankel goes deep, emotionally and psychologicaly to figure out why she continues to gain and lose weight. An eye-opening and good read!
 I wanted to like this... October 31, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I wanted to like "Thin is the New Happy." I was looking forward to reading it. There are parts of it that are quite readable and moments when I felt sympathy for the author, particularly when reading about her abusive childhood. Like millions of women (and probably a lot of men too) Frankel fixated on her weight and body image instead of dealing with life's uncertainties. This book is supposed to be about her journey from self-hatred to self-acceptance.
Overall I found the author lacked a consistent message. Just when she's determined to abandon making everything about her looks, she does something like pose nude to prove she's hot. How is that helping the problem? She's still on the same roller-coaster, being self-exultant one moment and self-hating the next. Why is it that women with professed low self-esteem often think so highly of themselves? I think it would take a pretty big ego to pose nude for a national magazine and call yourself "hot." Frankel does that, all the while talking about her self-hatred.
Frankel self-diagnoses as someone who is excessively "goal-oriented." I don't think that even begins to cover it. What Frankel seems most concerned with is having an extraordinary life. This comes up most notably when she interviews a childhood tormentor who once called her fat. She insists on pointing out how much more interesting her life is compared to his, when in fact I think they don't seem to be living very different lives. Why does she feel the need to think she's better than other people?
In the end, I found this book sad. What it showed me is not a woman gaining self-confidence but rather an example of how pointless competition brings out the worst in people. I suspect both Frankel and her tormentors are people who think happiness is a contact sport, and the last woman standing is the victor. It will be a great day when people move beyond this.
 Horrible and self-hating October 14, 2008
14 out of 20 found this review helpful
I was really disappointed by this book. I am a eating disorder psychologist and I thought this book would offer some perspective, as in, the title is ironic and thin really is not the new happy. Instead this superficial book means exactly what the title says. Thin does equal happiness for her. As a child she was teased and abused, mostly by her mother, for being chubby. As an adult, she abuses herself in every way possible - diets, body hatred, drugs, alcohol. It seems her only redemption was losing a small amound of weight as an adult (appox 15 pounds) and becoming "thin enough" to like herself. The ultimate low in this book is a revenge fantasy where she imagines a former high school tormenter as now obese and stupid. For this author fat = stupid and a whole range of other negative stereotypes. I wish this woman had therapy instead of writing this book.
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