Landwhale

While I have never been subject to public name-calling or harassment, or anything like that (unless it was done behind my back, which hey, entirely possible), I could totally relate to Jes Baker's life. SO many things here are so me, that it's really too personal for me to put out there. Size issues, dad issues, memories of being the fat kid when I wasn't even fat as a kid (I just always heard it from people, mainly just my grandfather, but I wasn't)... even the travel anxiety! I highlighted so many places, but my Kindle just died, so I can't list them all here.

The message of body liberation is such an important one. I don't know if I will ever get there.

I did have some problems with the formatting of the footnotes, especially when they popped up during passages that consisted of a numbered list. That could just be my Kindle, or maybe it just hasn't been formatted correctly yet.

This review can be found on Goodreads and may be edited at some point in the future.

I walked away from this book very conflicted, and I don't mean that as a knock on the author - she gets people thinking. I'd actually come very close to calling this a must-read.

Although this is a somewhat random hybrid of memoir, self help and fat-acceptance essays, I think the combination works. She lives all of that in her daily life so it makes sense that they'd be intertwined in pseudo memoirs. I don't read her blog and wasn't familiar with her name, so her writing was all new to me and I found her voice to be a strong one, and her a person willing to explore the myriad issues facing women today. She covers most or all of them, from the harassment women face online (including the decision of a plus-sized advocate to undergo weight loss surgery) to doctors asking about comfort food when you're there for birth control meds, and beyond. I felt like I'd love hearing her give a talk as I had a number of ohhh shit moments.

I found myself doing a double take when she shared her evening looking at herself in profile and trying to suck in her gut to keep the balance that her breasts should be more prominent than her stomach and later when she hated all images from the bikini body shoot. I always looked at the HAES movement as body acceptance and I found myself wondering whether she was so anti Diet Culture that she refused to consider whether she'd be happier in her own skin if she lost some weight. I think she was conflicted, something she later revisited when questioning whether she should take meds her doctor prescribed for a chemical issue when they had the known side effect of controlling hunger. There's no easy answer to this. I like her idea of liberation vs. love.

My one real issue was toward the end when she referred to Diet Culture as "also known as 'That No-Fun Fatphobic Lifestyle". That's really not fair and I think goes against her tenet throughout the book that Person A is the only person with input on what Person A's body looks like and whether they're happy with that. If skinny person B should STFU about Fat Person A, then it applies the other way around too. No one should be generalized based on a scale number, fat or thin.

All in all a weighty read, but one I truly enjoyed and would recommend. Thanks, NetGalley

A quirky, entertaining, and thought-provoking read that's part mini-bio and part battle cry. I was impressed with the brave move to detail some of the harder moments in her life (that many can relate to), but also with her honesty and responses. The epub version is formatted better than the Kindle version, FYI.

Net Galley Feedback

4 stars

“This memoir goes deeply into Jes's inner life, from growing up a fat girl to dating while fat. With material that will have readers laughing and crying along with Jes's experience, this new book is a natural fit with her irreverent, open-book style. “

I am conflicted by this book and I’m not sure why. Jes Baker shares a brutally honest look at her life and struggles of being a plus-sized woman in a world obsessed with perfection, her health issues as well as issues with her father. I was not previously familiar with Ms. Baker and her quest for fat acceptance and body love for all regardless of size.
I identified with her struggles with weight loss and the overwhelming amount of diets she has previously tried. However, I struggled with her lack of continuing to try to lose weight. I also struggled with why this would bother me, as it is not my life and why should I care how she chooses to live her life? Ms. Baker is both provocative and honest. I believe many people could learn a great deal by reading this book and I recommend it.
I admire her courage for putting her whole life out there for the whole world to comment on and discuss, even while I still struggle with the contents of this book. I cannot remember the last time I read a book which brought forth so many different emotions in me even long after the book was finished.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

This is moving, heart-warming, funny memoir of Jes Baker's growing up while fat. I really enjoyed reading this, and appreciated the intersectionality inherent in fatphobia and cultural ideals. It was honest and endearing.

What a bold, hilarious read. I could not put this book down. It was one of those I kept canceling appointments to stay curled up on the couch and read. The author manages to talk about some very serious stuff that is so hard for so many of us to deal with and make it genuinely funny and empowering. Jes Baker is a riot and so is "Landwhale"!

Jes Baker's "Landwhale" is a raw and riveting account. It was hard to read about her pain at times, but it was totally worth it. I love her feisty attitude and sense of humor. I have a lot of friends who struggle with obesity and I will recommend her book to them as well as to anyone who wants to reed about an inspiring. passionate, strong woman.

Landwhale is many things: it is a delightful read, a harrowing read, an emotionally-charged read, and one that invokes laughter at times, as well as pangs of sympathy and empathy for chapters covering topics we need to continue discussing openly. Topics we may be ashamed to talk about such as controversial opinions on body image, eating disorders, the connection of religion and morality to food and body size, being an imperfect body liberation advocate, the importance of the body acceptance/liberation movement within feminism, and more.

I love Jes Baker's voice. You know when you're reading that she ~is~ speaking to her readers, not just at them. There's a difference, and it can make the difference between a book being a pleasure or a rather wordy necessity. Jes is smart and sharp, but she is also incredibly compassionate and this comes across beautifully in the honest way in which she lays out so many of her most important messages within the book - as well as those that were likely included if just to make the reader smile/chuckle.

I was so excited to be given access to this ARC and it certainly did not disappoint. I greatly appreciated Baker sharing some of her most influential/favorite activists, and am very glad to have her voice out there and making noise as well. 5/5

Very honest memoir of a woman who calls herself fat. A good counterpoint to the memoirs and selfhelp books that push thinness and equate it with happiness.

Jes Baker has written a very moving book about her life and struggles with accepting her body. Her experiences of fat-shaming were painful and difficult to overcome. Society is a long, long way from accepting all body types. That being said, Ms Barker retains an effervescent sparkle which comes across in a delightful manner. Humour always helps.
I had bariatric surgery 14 years ago and have maintained a 100lb weight loss. The difference in how the outer world (not friends and family who have always been supportive) treats me is like night and day. There is so much fat ignorance out there, including the medical profession.
An excellent book- highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Jes Baker definitely has a unique voice and an interesting story that many women can relate to.

The topic is very timely.

Landwhale: On Turning Insults Into Nicknames, Why Body Image Is Hard, and How Diets Can Kiss My Ass by Jes Baker is probably the most important book I've ever read in my life. I'm not exaggerating. It made me feel so many emotions while reading it: happy, sad, mad, uncomfortable, elated and just about everything in between. After finishing the digital ARC, I bought the paperback version from Amazon because I loved it that much that I needed a physical copy as well. This book is exactly what I needed in my life right now, and I'm so happy and grateful that it exists for other people, especially younger people, because I think it helps validate a lot of struggles that we don't need to go through alone anymore. I can't stress enough how important this book was to my personal development journey, and I've recommended it to all of my friends and family members.

I thought this was a fantastic memoir! As a big girl myself, I admire the author for her honesty, guts and the message she was getting across. It was an awesome book that I would definitely recommend!

This book started as funny and light-hearted, but the it took a serious turn. What a read. You know a book is good when 1) you read slow to not get to the end and 2) when you get to the end you wish there was more. The author was open, honest and she showed her vulnerabilities. This author gives one something to think about if one allows themselves to. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Very honest, very funny and I enjoyed the writer's take on life as a larger person. It doesn't define her but she doesn't shy away from her size and her thoughts on it. Great read.

I received an advance copy and I'm glad I did.

Blogger Jes Baker may be familiar to readers and social media users that are already clued in to the body positivity movement. Over the years, Baker’s blog The Militant Baker: Lose the B-------, Liberate Your Body has featured vibrant, joyful photos of herself in bikinis, fitted dresses, shorts, and other clothes that the manners-free like to tell fat people not to wear.

Baker’s Mormon childhood and family life are complicated; while she has a loving, supportive relationship with her mother, the father she loves just as dearly projects his own conflicted feelings about weight when he repeatedly warns or scolds his daughter about being “lazy”. Fat=lazy in mainstream American culture, no matter how many jobs a working-or-middle-class person may be holding down. With those seeds of self-doubt sown early, Baker experiences depression and strained personal relationships, not to mention verbal abuse from complete, shouting strangers.

But the creative, empathetic love for life at the heart of Jes wins out. Baker’s evolving relationship, friendships, family communication, and nascent activism begin to bear fruit. Her blog readership grows, and eventually she’s sought after as a public speaker. The audience love isn’t universal, of course: she experiences vicious online harassment and public insults during the question-and-answer portions of her speaking engagements; she develops her own coping strategies. Baker blocks, talks back, and leaves the hateful, nameless commenters to their own echo chambers. Perhaps the trolls will someday understand that some poisons corrode the vessels they are stored in.

Approximately three-quarters into the book, Baker briefly refers to some writing/publishing advice she was given -- bloggers writing book manuscripts should avoid including previously published blog content. Wise advice, especially for aspiring authors who may themselves be polishing their writing craft in various online publication formats. However, its placement so late in the book felt a bit jarring, and may make the book feel somewhat dated years from now. It seems better suited to the introduction. Other aspects of the pacing and content are similarly awkward; although one understands that Baker believes in ethnic diversity and inclusion, women of color in the body positivity movement are mentioned late in the book. It would be interesting to read about how Baker’s Mormon childhood and young adulthood may have resulted in limited exposure to difference.

As a librarian, I’d recommend this to social sciences faculty, individual readers seeking engaging quick reads, and people unfamiliar with body positivity (both pro and con).

tl;dr Review:

A funny and honest memoir of learning to love who you are and overcoming the bullsh*t. 

Full Review:

As a writer and someone who struggles with her own body issues, reading Landwhale: On Turning Insults Into Nicknames, Why Body Image Is Hard, and How Diets Can Kiss My Ass by Jes Baker was like sitting down for drinks with a close friend.

While the publisher describes the book as follows, I didn't feel like it captured the warmth the book actually held.

Jes Baker burst onto the body positivity scene when she created her own ads mocking Abercrombie & Fitch for discriminating against all body types--a move that landed her on the Today Show and garnered a loyal following for her raw, honest, and attitude-filled blog missives. Building on the manifesta power of Things, this memoir goes deeply into Jes's inner life, from growing up a fat girl to dating while fat. With material that will have readers laughing and crying along with Jes's experience, this new book is a natural fit with her irreverent, open-book style. A deeply personal take, Landwhale is a glimpse at life as a fat woman today, but it's also a reflection of the unforgiving ways our culture still treats fatness, all with Jes's biting voice as the guide.

I loved her hilarious stories about blogging and related to them all too well. Her descriptions of her emotional trauma were poignant and touching, and her acceptance and f*** it attitude coming out the other end was empowering. 

Was it some deep, philosophical tome on the societal issues of shaming and policing women's bodies? No. 

But I wouldn't have wanted it to be. It was exactly what I needed at the time I read it - it made me laugh, it made me think, and it left me feeling good. And I wouldn't have wanted anything more.

I give it 4 out of 5 thumbs up.