Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Fat: such a little word evokes big responses. While 'fat' describes the size and shape of bodies, our negative reactions to corpulent bodies also depend on something tangible and tactile; as this book argues, there is more to fat than meets the eye. Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life offers a historical reflection on how fat has been perceived and imagined in the West since antiquity. Featuring fascinating historical accounts, philosophical, religious and cultural arguments, including discussions of status, gender and race, the book digs deep into the past for the roots of our current notions and prejudices. Three central themes emerge: how we have perceived and imagined obesity over the centuries; how fat as a substance has elicited disgust and how it evokes perceptions of animality; but also how it has been associated with vitality and fertility. By exploring the complex ways in which fat, fatness and fattening have been perceived over time, this book provides rich insights into the stuff our stereotypes are made of.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

One of the more common preconceptions in the history of the human body is that, before the modern era, being fat was an outward sign of wealth and status. In this wide-ranging and well-researched volume, Forth (Univ. of Kansas) puts this simple assumption to rest. He illustrates in ample detail the ambivalent attitudes toward fat and obesity that echoed throughout Western history. Simply put, fatness could be a signifier of wealth and leisure, but it could equally connote sloth and indolence. As the author suggests, transcending this ambivalence often has characterized the West's relationship to the body, especially in the modern capitalist era. How can Westerners strive to emulate Spartan-like fitness and athleticism, for example, and, at the same time, fulfill natural and manufactured desires to consume? This book incorporates not only a wealth of research into ancient, medieval, and early modern sources but also a healthy familiarity with ethnographic studies and sociological theory. It is unfortunate that the significant work done on fascist, Nazi, and Communist body politics is not incorporated here. Nevertheless, this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. --James Alan Jaffe, emeritus, University of Wisconsin Law School