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    Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pi e Is Not the Answer
    Unavailable
    Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pi e Is Not the Answer
    Unavailable
    Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pi e Is Not the Answer
    Audiobook8 hours

    Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pi e Is Not the Answer

    Written by Jen Lancaster

    Narrated by Jamie Heinlein

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A NOTE FROM JEN LANCASTER:"To whom the fat rolls…I'm tired of books where a self-loathing heroine is teased to the point where she starves herself skinny in hopes of a fabulous new life. And I hate the message that women can't possibly be happy until we all fit into our skinny jeans. I don't find these stories uplifting; they make me want to hug these women and take them out for fizzy champagne drinks and cheesecake and explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don't matter. Unfortunately, being overweight isn't simply a societal issue that can be fixed with a dose healthy of positive self-esteem. It's a health matter, and here on the eve of my fortieth year, I've learned I have to make changes so I don't, you know, die. Because what good is finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult onset diabetes?"
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 12, 2009
    ISBN9781440641053
    Unavailable
    Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pi e Is Not the Answer
    Author

    Jen Lancaster

    JEN LANCASTER is a New York Times bestselling author who has sold well over a million books. From Bitter Is the New Black to The Tao of Martha, Jen has made a career out of documenting her attempts to shape up, grow up and have it all—sometimes with disastrous results. Her novel Here I Go Again received three starred reviews (Kirkus Reviews, Booklist and Publishers Weekly). Her memoir I Regret Nothing was named an Amazon Best Book of the Year, and she’s regularly a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards. Jen has appeared on The Today Show, as well as CBS This Morning, Fox News, NPR All Things Considered and The Joy Behar Show, among others. She lives in Chicago with her husband and her many dogs and cats. Visit her website, jenlancaster.com, and find her on Twitter, @altgeldshrugged.

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    Reviews for Such a Pretty Fat

    4/5

    419 ratings48 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I don't even know what to say about Lancaster's books anymore. This is the third of her memoirs I've read, and I can't wait to get the rest. She's hilarious and, most importantly, brutally honest about her flaws. This book focuses on her attempt at weight loss, even though she initially wasn't upset about her weight or how she looked. I love how much she evolves through the course of each individual book, as she realizes whatever she changes is for the best.
    • 4/5
      In Jen Lancaster's third memoir, she is chronicling her attempt at losing weight. This is another funny, entertaining book by Jen. I particularly identified with her in the first half of the book - she knows she should lose weight, but the motivation just isn't there: "I'm certainly thinking about [dieting] 24/7. Then my mind goes back to a life not eating cookies and I wonder why I'd even bother, since life wouldn't be worth living." Jen does try a few different diets, and she hires a personal trainer to help motivate when it comes to exercise. (Like her, I need some kind of motivation for both, diet and exercise!) I have to admire her husband Fletch for being able to put up with Jen on her various diets! I actually really like their relationship, and how they play off each other. I didn't find it as hilariously funny as Bright Lights, Big Ass, but I found I liked this topic much better, and there are still plenty of funny bits!
    • 3/5
      I love her humor and sarcasm. Not my favorite of hers though. Still an entertaining read!
    • 4/5
      2nd of Jen Lancaster's memoirs. This one has her detailing here attempts at weight loss. She tries a few different diet plans including weight watchers as well as Jenny Craig. Filled with a number of quirky moments. Near the start of the book she talks about knocking over someone's wine glass with her rear at a restaurant. Ordering a Barbie cut and style head as a side effect of Ambien. Her trials with her mother's cooking, her mother was into all natural and whole grains way before it was popular. She's an interesting read. Some may be put off by her liberal use of the F bomb and her snarky sense of humor, but fun read over all.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book just as loved her others! She is so sarcastic and funny.
    • 4/5
      Really, quite hilarious. Fair warning: she doesn't hold back her language. By the time the book was over, I kinda wanted to be her friend. If you've ever been on a diet or struggled to lost weight, this book will entertain you.
    • 5/5
      I thought this book was pretty funny - not quite as funny as her other two books - but still worthy of a couple loud giggles. I've been on Weight Watchers myself for nearly 5 months now and could totally relate to the dieting stories.However, I found it somewhat disconcerting how in the middle of the book she starts talking about the proposal for this book, and then starting to write this book. It was jarring to me, and didn't quite fit with the rest of the stories.Overall, though it was a good, quick read. I'm looking forward to her next book, and will always read anything she writes!
    • 5/5
      Jen Lancaster books are not to be missed if you want to laugh, cry and say "that's me" for she honestly and with humor describes the life of being overweight; OK, fat! Even her acknowledgements are funny and that is an achievement. I didn't like the post notes on the bottom of each page, so I ignored them. Typically a Jen behavior, I bet. They are witty and further explain what was just said, but it too;k me away from the smoothness of the reading. Your choice. Read or skip.A weight-loss odyssey, the author shows the ridiculous side of losing weight. Even when she fails for a day or two, she continues and achieves her goal, laughing all of the way. With Fletch by here side, how can she not succeed?I loved the book and am looking forward to the next Jen Lancaster self drama. I love to laugh when reading a good book, and Ms. Lancaster never lets me down.
    • 3/5
      This is the third volume of Jen Lancaster's memoirs, and I made the mistake of reading it right after the first two. It was better than Bright Lights, Big Ass, but not as good as Bitter is the New Black. Also, I think a little of Jen's overwhelming personality goes a long way.She is a good writer, and knows how to tell a funny story. I'm sure this is a fictionalized account of her life, but she makes it seem real, and there are a lot of sharply observed, funny takes on things.In this book, she decides to do something about her weight, for health reasons, since she is happy with the way she looks. This puts her at odds with the multi-billion dollar weight-loss industry, and it's probably an even match. In the end, she succeeds in improving her strength and endurance, and discovers that exercise isn't as horrible as she always thought.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this.
    • 4/5
      Jen is woman writer in her 30s, married to a great guy, living in a city she loves. She has attitude to spare. And after being called a fat bitch—again, she decides despite her positive self image to get healthy. This book chronicles her quest to lose weight and get healthy, beginning with the packaged food of Jenny Craig and finding the freedom of Weight Watcher. And let’s not forget the endlessly cheerful and relentless personal trainer, Barbie. This book was seriously laugh-out-loud funny! I want to be her best friend. I’ve put every one of her books on my TBR. If you’ve ever had a weight issue, and even if you haven’t, this book is worth the time.
    • 4/5
      Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster

      ★★★★

      When it comes to a good laugh and an easy read, Jen Lancaster never disappoints. In her third memoir, Such a Pretty Fat, Jen takes us through her journey of weight loss and her many other adventures. While I didn’t always find myself laughing out loud, I almost always had a smirk on my face during the reading of this book. Lancaster is sarcastic and doesn’t hold back on her feelings. She is a very relatable woman. I found myself nodding in several places in agreement or wishing I was as awesome as her. Her husband is equally awesome by the way. In the end, as usual, besides all the humor, her books wrap up with a comforting, inspirational message – in this case, if you put your mind to it, one can do it, whatever “it” is. At the end of every Jen Lancaster book I just think “I sure wish this lady was my friend.” Thumbs up on this book.
    • 5/5
      Laugh out loud funny, she tells it just like she feels.
    • 3/5
      I liked this much better than her second memoir. I can't imagine having her for a friend, she's way too touchy and snarky and mean, but I did enjoy reading about her transformation into a person who likes to exercise. There's a passage where she's swimming laps that is almost transcendent. Lancaster's an odd and interesting person.
    • 5/5
      The perfect book to read as I started a new diet, I mean, lifestyle change. Like Jen Lancaster, I love food and would prefer not to exercise, but I have gained some wait over the past few years and want to be more healthy. But I also want to find that balance between enjoying life and complete gluttony, and it's hard to do. Jen Lancaster makes the search hysterically funny but also authentic. I'm looking forward to reading Jen Lancaster's other books.
    • 2/5
      I decided around page 200 that I didn't want to finish Such a Pretty Fat. I paged through the last half of the book, reading a bit here and there, and confirmed I was okay with my decision before putting it back in the library bag.

      The thing is, I disagree with a lot of the negative reviews -- I love sarcasm, I love bitchiness, I love swearing (I FUCKING LOVE SWEARING), but there's still something about Lancaster's writing that doesn't sit well with me. If I'm reading a memoir, it's important that it feels authentic, and almost all of the conversations I read in Pretty Fat felt canned, like they were scripted for a sitcom with a laugh track. I realize part of a memoir is putting your most interesting self forward, but there are only so many WE ARE SO CLEVER, OH MY GAWD back-and-forths a reader can take (if that reader is me).

      Slow-ass pacing, smugness, nastiness for the wrong reasons, and the fact that the magical elixir was a combo of sensible eating and hiring a personal trainer -- so much for the everywoman appeal -- cemented Pretty Fat's place on the "unfinished" shelf.


      (one-and-a-half stars)
    • 3/5
      I laughed outloud several times... Ms. Lancaster is quite the storyteller and I'd be glad to go to Happy Hour with her. Unfortunately, the book itself (about writing a book about losing weight) was kind of lame.
    • 5/5
      Good book for support to women who have tried to lose weight or are in the process of losing weight.
    • 3/5
      If you love to laugh and you haven’t read Jen Lancaster, I really don’t know what you are waiting for! Authors like Jen Lancaster and Laurie Notaro have a special gift for turning the mundane into the hysterical. I anticipate Lancaster’s books like a junkie because I know that I am going to have the best time ever reading the book.I highly recommend Lancaster’s works!
    • 3/5
      Another book that made me laugh - this has been the time frame of humorous books for me, apparently. Lancaster's style was easy to read, and genuinely funny. Having just read Kargman's Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut, the differences in style and characters were so distinct! While Kargman had no compunction about using certain words, Jen spelled out any words that related to S-E-X or being N-A-K-E-D. It was like going from New Orleans to Disney World (which I actually did, on my honeymoon-worlds of difference in one trip). I liked how Jen didn't want to really lose weight - she was happy with herself the way she was. She had great self-esteem and confidence, yet realized she was not the most healthy of individuals. I think she is relatable to most people, or at least anyone who has embarked on a weight loss journey and tried one or two of the different diets out there - I know that I have done quite a few of the things mentioned in the book myself! Throughout the book, Jen struggles, then gets serious, and then loses some serious weight. I didn't like all the footnotes, and I had a hard time (still do) with the fact that this seems like a fiction book but is a memoir? A fictionalized account of the author's life? I am still slightly confused on this, I hate to admit. I also did not realize this was part of a series, but I never felt that I was missing anything not having read the books that came before this one.My conclusion? Easy, fun read, with a pretty relatable character.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. There were a few laugh-out-loud moments. Sometimes I thought the author rambled a bit, but then she would come through with the point of the anecdote. I found her reflections on body image very interesting - the fact that someone can be overweight but still feel good about themselves, and then that self-image changes as soon as they try to lose weight. This is something I can relate to. I spent the first half of the book wondering why Jen didn't simply find some exercise she enjoyed doing and just frickin' do it! Eventually she does, and I exhaled a sigh of relief. As a former personal trainer, I always enjoy seeing people realize the health benefits of exercise, and that weight loss is like a fringe benefit or bonus, which she did. I also enjoyed her pros and cons of Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, as I wasn't all that familiar with the inner workings of either. Overall, an enjoyable and interesting read.
    • 4/5
      This hilarious memoir is a laugh-out-loud account of Jen Lancaster’s, a self-proclaimed narcissist, attempt to lose weight. Jen’s weight loss journey is easy to relate to for anyone who has struggled with weight issues (or even knows someone who has.) It is open, honest and quite frank. The footnotes are really clever and add to the book. This is a perfect read for anyone looking for something light and fun.
    • 5/5
      Jen Lancaster's admirable efforts to lose weight and become more healthy also make for great comedic writing. As a chronic dieter, I could relate to so many of the beliefs and feelings she recounted in this memoir. Her ability to use humor as a way of entertaining her audience is such a wonderful gift, perticularly when the issues she discusses are so close to raw nerves for many of us. I have always admired her deep self confidence and it is this self respect that enables her to recount the many embarassing moments in such an honest and empathetic manner.And boyoboyardee this book is friggin funny.
    • 4/5
      Laughed so hard I snorted!
    • 4/5
      I've read Jen's blog and decided to give her book's a try. As someone who has been on a quest over the past year to come to terms with her own weight issues, I decided to start with this book. It's not a weight loss guide, by any means, but more like a friend who gets what the whole process is like. It's written in a funny, sardonic voice that I adored and I couldn't help but relate to her woes of working out, the ability to talk yourself into "one little cheat" and realizing that most of the diets out there want you to be afraid of food for no good reason.Even if you don't think you can relate on the weight loss/food side of things, I still recommend this book for the funny conversations she has with her friends and husband. I'm definitely picking up her other book
    • 5/5
      This is one very funny book; especially if you are a yo-yo dieter; it might even be inspirational for some of us...
    • 5/5
      I absolutely LOVE Jen Lancaster. I laugh so hard, out loud constantly. I really thought it was funny that this book was about her losing weight and it wasnt until halfway through the book that she actually decided to try to do it and it wasnt til closer to the end that she was successful which is why the book was so funny. But Im really glad she finally got motivated and found something that worked because she seemed a lot happier once she started to lose weight. Good work Jen! I would definitely recommend anyone read this book. Its super funny and entertaining. It doesnt disappoint. Another great memoir by Jen, cant wait to start reading "Pretty In Plaid" when Im done with this review. Keep 'em comin!!!
    • 2/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book, laughing out loud a LOT. Some of the comments were so off the wall funny that I was in tears, and books justdon't usually affect me that way. I loved her sardonic, self-deprecating sense of humor and found that I could identify with her in many ways.It's probably not for everyone, but I will certainly recommend it highly tomy Book club members. Hmmm....she likes visiting book clubs.....and we'd feed her well...hm...
    • 5/5
      Laugh out loud funny. Inspiring.
    • 5/5
      My mother included this in a care package for me and I at first thought, "What? Well, gee...thanks." While wanting to read in the bed one night, I picked it up and thought I'd see what it was about...a few nights later while reading this in bed...and crying from laughing so hard, my husband throws his own book down and says, "Will you PLEASE go buy her other books tomorrow?! You haven't laughed like this in a long time!" I absolutely loved every page of this book. I took it with me to work, the gym, the doctor's office, and yes, even to bed. I loved how she was so completely honest and made me realize, it's not just me thinking these things. I also loved how she was so funny and included so much humor, but also had those serious parts that really made you think...and love her so much more. I've since passed this book on to my mother (with instructions not to read it while on the treadmill as it's pretty hard to laugh while on that thing and not get your feet tangled up...trust me), but told her that I definitely want it back...to read again in a few months. This was undoubtedly the funniest book I've read in years and was an absolute pleasure to read. Can't wait for more.