Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Prejudiced, one-sided and utterly lacking in compassion
Lo and behold, when I sat down to write this, I looked up and saw Mr. Critser on tv being interviewed for the Today show! Strange coincidence. However, it served to remind me that Mr. Critser's "epiphany" occured when, as a sedentary middled aged white guy, a rude bystander called him "fatso." He was humiliated, and this spurred him to diet...the kind of simple low-carb, no-beer-and-snacks diet that works very well for most MEN (but not women) producing a quick weight loss that returned the author to a normal weight.Like the typical fanatical convert, he is now empowered to criticize and look down on ALL overweight people no matter what their circumstances, and judge them as lazy and gluttonous. (He pays scant lip service to the idea that genetics might somehow and in some way be involved.) He jumps on the popular current bandwagon that most American obesity can be traced to supersized meals at McDonald's --- as if everybody ate there all the time! His very valuable information on the inclusion of Palm Oil and High Fructose Corn syrup in the American diet starting in the early 70s and poor government policy regarding corn production get buried under the tons of jibes against ordinary people who happen to have a weight problem. Mr. Critser apparently believes that the overweight don't even deserve to have clothing that fits, because they should be in a maximum state of embarassment and humilation at all times until they lose weight (after all, Mr. Critser didn't lose weight until HE was humiliated). Much blame is laid at the feet of the self esteem movement. Obviously all overweight people should be called names, embarassed in public places and discriminated against...it will get them motivated to diet! Bullies, are you listening? It's open season to call fat people names and insult them PLUS you can feel good about yourself because you are only encouraging them to diet! THe reality is that bariatic science (the real medical research into obesity) is still so new that scientists and doctors don't even know how normal-weight individuals maintain their size, let alone why some people get fat and others stay slender. Clearly genes AND environment play a role, but it is very unclear what that role is. Nobody needs to reinforce how utterly miserable the obese are. The biggest point that I take with Mr. Critser is that he seems to feel that obese people LIKE being heavy and want to continue this way if only they aren't picked on. WRONG WRONG WRONG! I have never known an overweight individual who wasn't terribly unhappy being fat. The social stigmatism...lack of opportunities for dating and romantic relationships...discrimination at jobs etc. Despite what Mr. Critser seems to see, no fat woman really has the choice to either BUY or WEAR really attractive, fashionable clothing (although the situation is improved since the grim old days -- that he wants to return to -- where a fat woman was pretty much forced to sew all her own clothing.) Along with the large fast food portions, we also live in a culture which constantly shows us extremely thin, anorexic models and actresses and holds them up as a role model. This has also changed since the 70s. Just look at a re-run of any common TV show from the 60s on Nickelodeon. The "good looking" women featured are positively PLUMP by today's standards! Today they could never even get an audition! The present standard for extreme thinness makes even normal-sized women feel fat and inadequate and sends them on crackpot diets. HOw much does this failure to measure up to an artifically thin standard of beauty contribute to many women descending into a cycle of extreme dieting and binge eating? with the end result a weight problem? not to mention self-hatred? This is a selfish and self-serving book, mostly written to make Mr. Critser feel better about his own weight loss and freeing him to ridicule those that can't lose weight the way he did. You won't understand the obesity problem any better after having read this and there is a serious risk that those already lacking in compassion will be encouraged to be more prejudiced, to ridicule more, to call names and feel Ok about their mean spirited behavior. Shame on you, Greg Critser!!!
Rating: - Bizzare
The New York Times writes of this book: "Such bizarre notions, combined with a perfunctory assessment of the ways in which America can combat obesity, distract attention from the very real and alarming problem." Among the bizzare notions put forward in this simplistic and poorly researched assessment of the country's growing struggle with overweight is that we are fat because there is not enough embarassment invovled in being obese. The author--who says he lost weight by taking a diet drug (he gave a nice plug for this drug in his writing for business magazines)-- actually suggests that we reintroduce the notion of shame in this country to combat the obesity epidemic. He also blames the obesity epidemic on high fructose corn syrup, saying that we "metabolise fructose differently" from sugar. I don't know if this guy ever took high school chemistry, but high fructose is about half fructose, while sucrose--or table sugar--is a disaccharide that is also half fructose and half glucose so what he's saying makes no sense at all. There are so many mistakes like this in the book that you really can't take it seriously. Sure, the United States is fat, but the rest of the developed world is getting fat along with us--even in India, the middle class is getting more obese by the day. So calling this a problem of American agriculture is just dumb. The problem is much bigger than that, and much more complicated, and it deserves a much more thoughtful treatment.
Rating:  - A completely entertaining and informative read
The best book about the fat epidemic. Critser goes beyond diet criticism and into the realm of nutritional politics. He's done his research, and he presents it in sharp and witty fashion. Everyone who has to eat in this country should read this book.
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