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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 8 reviews on
ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A "warm, funny, and honest...genuinely unputdownable" memoir (Curtis Sittenfeld) chronicling what it's like to live in today's world as a fat man. Journalist Tommy Tomlinson, approaching fifty and weighing 460 pounds, decided to confront the risks and realities of living in a body at war with itself. At risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke--and unable to climb stairs or fly without two seats--Tomlinson had long lived in denial. Raised in a food-loving Southern family, he tried countless diets, saw doctors, wore Fitbits--none of it stuck. Until he decided it was time to truly change. In The Elephant in the Room, Tomlinson recounts his journey with wit, grit, and searing honesty. His voice combines the emotional urgency of Roxane Gay's Hunger with the personal intimacy of Rick Bragg's All Over but the Shoutin'. From his own habits to America's obesity epidemic, from shame and overeating to resilience and accountability, he explores how weight shapes our relationships with food, our bodies, and ourselves. By confronting his compulsions and unhealthy patterns, Tomlinson doesn't just aim to lose weight--he reclaims his life. This powerful addiction memoir and wellness journey offers inspiration to anyone navigating body image, self-esteem, or personal transformation.
Book Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publish Date: Jan 14th, 2020
- Pages: 256
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 7.90in - 5.20in - 0.70in - 0.35lb
- EAN: 9781501111624
- Categories: • Personal Memoirs• Diet & Nutrition - Weight Loss
About the Author
Tomlinson, Tommy: - Tommy Tomlinson is the author of The Elephant in the Room, a memoir about being overweight in America. He's the host of the podcast SouthBound in partnership with WFAE, Charlotte's NPR station. He has written for publications including Esquire, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Garden & Gun, and many others. He spent twenty-three years as a reporter and local columnist for the Charlotte Observer, where he was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in commentary. His stories have been chosen twice for the Best American Sports Writing series (2012 and 2015) and he also appears in the anthology America's Best Newspaper Writing. He teaches magazine writing at Wake Forest University and has taught at colleges, workshops, and conferences across the country. He also has a Substack called The Writing Shed. Tommy and his wife, Alix Felsing, live in Charlotte with Alix's mom and a cat.
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
"Inspirational . . . I loved this book. I found myself sneak-reading it from the moment it came in the door. As with a sack of White Castle burgers, I hated to reach the end. . . . [Tomlinson] writes exceedingly well. . . . His clean and witty and punchy sentences, his smarts and his middle-class sensibility made me yearn for the kind of down-to-earth columnist I often read in the 1980s and 1990s but barely seems to exist any longer."
--Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Powerful . . . A funny and moving account of what life is like for someone who carries extra weight."
--Garden & Gun "The Elephant in the Room . . . is for anyone who's struggled with their weight, who's struggled with addiction, or for the people who love them."
--Salisbury Post "This book deserves all the rave reviews that are pouring in. It's funny and poignant and life-affirming. . . . An acclaimed journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tomlinson can write like nobody's business."
--Traverse City Record Eagle "Add this to your reading list ASAP."
--Charlotte Magazine
--Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Powerful . . . A funny and moving account of what life is like for someone who carries extra weight."
--Garden & Gun "The Elephant in the Room . . . is for anyone who's struggled with their weight, who's struggled with addiction, or for the people who love them."
--Salisbury Post "This book deserves all the rave reviews that are pouring in. It's funny and poignant and life-affirming. . . . An acclaimed journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tomlinson can write like nobody's business."
--Traverse City Record Eagle "Add this to your reading list ASAP."
--Charlotte Magazine
"The Elephant in the Room is more than a memoir of an ever-supersizing America. It's a love story. It's also a whipsmart history of working-class America, where the fast-food line is long and a weary mother's love is shown in third helpings of cornbread and butter beans. Tommy Tomlinson's singular voice--of journalist, Southerner, son, and of a husband who knows how lucky he is--is at turns punchy and poetic, heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud, and full of language so authentically fresh it needs no sell-by date. I could not turn the pages fast enough."
--Beth Macy, author of Dopesick
--Beth Macy, author of Dopesick
"I just read a wonderful book: The Elephant in the Room by Tommy Tomlinson. It's about his extreme weight struggles and also about family, marriage, class, journalism, the South, and food. It's warm and funny and honest and painful and poignant. I found it genuinely unputdownable."
--Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Prep and American Wife, on Twitter
--Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Prep and American Wife, on Twitter
"What a gift Tomlinson has. To take a subject this difficult, this personal, this, well, enormous, and to somehow make it read like a summer cliffhanger, but with depth, feeling, and huge moments of catharsis, is an amazing achievement. It's also a kindhearted book, generous, empathetic, and funny just when you need it to be."
--Brian Koppelman, co-writer of Rounders and co-creator and showrunner of Billions
--Brian Koppelman, co-writer of Rounders and co-creator and showrunner of Billions
"A revealing memoir . . . After topping out at 460 pounds and seeing a doctor's diagnosis of 'morbidly obese, ' Tomlinson knew he needed to change before the 'morbid' part became reality. He doesn't hold back in his comments about his needs and wants and interjects enough humor to offset the more serious parts of the narrative and keep the pages turning. Readers who are overweight will find encouragement in Tomlinson's story, which serves as proof that with determination and the right attitude, anyone can win the battle over food addiction and/or obesity. An authentic look at a struggle that millions of Americans face every day."
--Kirkus Reviews
--Kirkus Reviews