Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312373924
ISBN: 0312373929
Label: St. Martin's Press
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2008-09-02
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: 2008-09-02
Studio: St. Martin's Press

Customer Rating:
Summary: Waste of time and money
Comment: Everyday observations presented as if they're insights. A woman of average intelligence, humor, appearance and accomplishment spends a ton of energy trying to find a way in which she's superior to pretty much everyone she meets. If you take for granted that there are lots of people smarter, kinder, more accomplished and more attractive than you (regardless of their upbringing), as well as that there are lots of people less intelligent, accomplished, fun and attractive than you, you've already moved past this book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: This is definitely happier
Comment: This is a fun read. Definitely relate-able if you're like so many of us that struggle with some extra pesky pounds.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Wasted calories
Comment: I can't believe this woman wrote this book and others are actually rapturous about finding it useful. To think that all that time and mental energy were spent on the old daughter-blaming-mother story...this time about weight, of all things. I would tell Valerie Frankel to "get a life" but, amazingly, it appears she has managed to do it in spite of her busy dieting schedule and obsessing about her childhood. I am so glad I only borrowed this book. I would be on my way to get a refund otherwise.

In case anyone thinks these are the comments of a whippet-thin person, I too have struggled with weight issues since I was a teenager (too many years to count). Otherwise, why would I have wanted to read this book? But it was of no use to me; sorry. The reason why this book is a fast read is because it is empty - and the one thing that is thin about it, beside its page count, is its content!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: slim results
Comment: Frankel's book starts out engagingly enough, and I empathized with her struggles and the bullying and cruelty she had to endure in school. Ultimately, though, her prose wears very thin.(Pun intended). As the book progresses, Frankel resorts to boasting, and comes across as a real snob. Yeah, her childhood tormenter Z. was a crude and hateful jerk, but Frankel seems to think the fact that she lives in the Northeast and not in the "soulless state" of Florida elevates her to cultural sainthood. As does her "striving" nature. Stuff like this cheapens what might have been an interesting memoir.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A candid memoir
Comment: In "Thin is the New Happy," Valerie Frankel chronicled her struggle with dieting and her obsession to be thin. Valerie's mother had always been overly critical of her appearance, and more specifically her weight, and this has influenced how she viewed herself, and her constant yo-yo dieting. This was a memoir about how she overcame that obsession, and to learn to accept herself for who she really is.

Most women can probably identify themselves with Valerie, the need to be "thin", and the struggle with having positive self-image. This very candid memoir from a popular women's fiction author brought to light the issue that young women struggle with, and how this is a problem that needs to be addressed. This was a quick read - nothing new or insightful per se, but should appeal to women who has issues with their weight.

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