Synopsis: (as told by the back of the book)

“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 had been because she ran into all kinds of trouble.  I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still in there, somewhere… I was trapped in my body, one I made but barely recognized or understood but of my own making.  I was miserable, but I was safe.”

In this intimate and searing memoir, the New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay addresses the experience of living in a body that she calls “wildly undisciplined.”  She casts an insightful and critical eye over her childhood, teens, and twenties – including the devastating act of violence that was a turning point in her young life – and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life.

With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and authority that have made her one of the most admired voices of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when the bigger you are, the less you are seen.  Hunger is a deeply personal memoir from one of our finest writers, and it tells a story that hasn’t yet been told but needs to be.

Morgan’s thoughts:

Hunger is a remarkably candid portrayal of rape and obesity, published into a world where we rarely, if ever, speak candidly about sexual assault or food.  Gay’s prose reflects that – she writes with no pomp or circumstance.  What you see on the page is what you get, and what you get is more than enough.  

This book is intense but Gay makes herself so vulnerable, I immediately trusted her.  We need more writers who are willing to write honestly about what it is like to be different in a world that hates difference.  Gay details the hatred she receives from a shocking number of people around her for her weight; from men she passes on the street who yell harmful things to doctors who treat her with repulsion, professionals who are meant to do no harm.

Reading this book was painful and fascinating.  If you’re looking for nonfiction that will force you to think about the reality of our 21st century society, pick this up.  It reads very quickly but will stick with you for long after you finish the book.

Interested in this book? Click here to find it on Amazon.