An authentic look at a struggle that millions of Americans face every day.
An obese man struggles to lose the excess weight he's carried throughout his life.
In this revealing memoir, journalist Tomlinson, a former longtime reporter and columnist for the Charlotte Observer, shares the story of his battle with weight gain and loss during his lifetime, from childhood through college, work, marriage, and beyond. He readily admits that food can become an addiction, a go-to in times of both stress and joy. His earliest childhood memories include family get-togethers where vast quantities of rich, highly caloric food were in abundance and he was encouraged to eat as much as he wanted. He suffered for it, getting shamed at school for being overweight and having to buy special clothes in his teens that would fit; yet he could not control his cravings and continued to gain weight. He writes, "I lust after greasy double cheeseburgers and fried chicken legs and Ruffles straight out of the bag,” he writes. “I covet hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts that melt on my tongue. I worship bowls full of peanut M&Ms, first savoring them one by one, then stuffing my mouth with handfuls, then wetting my finger to pick up those last bits of chocolate dust and candy shell. My brain pings with pleasure; my taste buds groan with desire.” 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.Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1161-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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