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mmichellemoore's review
4.0
A good collection overall - my favorites were "Cartography, and the Death of Shoes," "Tangwystl the Unwanted," and "Lift." They did a good job of giving the protagonists a variety of backgrounds and interests. Everyone is fat but not everyone is upset at being so which is a nice change from some other fat central character stories. Worth buying, I hope there's a follow up.
pastathief's review
2.0
As with all collections of short stories, this one is variable. There were a few stories that I really enjoyed, which is why I couldn't quite give it one star. However, when it "missed", at least for me, it missed by a lot.
I bought this as part of an ebook bundle at WisCon (a feminist SF/F convention). Because of the context, the normal wariness I might have had was dulled, and I expected a great set of stories about fat women being awesome, probably in space (the cover features a spacesuited woman).
Unfortunately, what I got instead was mostly depressing stories about people hating their fatness, achieving things (when they did achieve things) despite being fat instead of just while being fat, and a whole heap of stereotypes about fat people. I started getting the vibe that none or few of the authors were actually fat women, and instead this is what you'd get if you asked a bunch of people to posit what it's like to be a fat person. Virtually every character in the book is friendless, single, lonely, despised by everyone around them, deeply unhappy, and eats to compensate for it.
And that's just the ones that are just disappointing as opposed to those that are actively offensive. Such as the story about two fat women being hired to perform covert operations in virtual reality because in the VR world they're to infiltrate, key assets are (for whatever reason) always modelled as copious amounts of decadent food, and the military special ops agents, being health nuts, wouldn't be able to force themselves to eat and eat enough, even in a simulation, whereas the military figures these women will be all-star eaters. And, of course, they are -- their first mission involves one of them fending off a virtual snake while the other eats and entire cake. Of course, the defender eventually decides that her gun isn't effective enough and just eats the snake. And so on.
There's another story, even earlier on, that's entirely about a person who has to gain weight for a specific mission that occurs on a very cold planet and about how much they hate being fat. It ends not with them coming to terms with it, but with them finally getting through the mission and being intensely relieved to be losing the weight again, while pitying whoever gets assigned to the duty next for having to go through the ordeal.
So... yeah. Overall I was not pleased with this collection at all, despite a few gems. I've still got a few other collections from the same publisher to check out. I'm hoping they'll be better.
I bought this as part of an ebook bundle at WisCon (a feminist SF/F convention). Because of the context, the normal wariness I might have had was dulled, and I expected a great set of stories about fat women being awesome, probably in space (the cover features a spacesuited woman).
Unfortunately, what I got instead was mostly depressing stories about people hating their fatness, achieving things (when they did achieve things) despite being fat instead of just while being fat, and a whole heap of stereotypes about fat people. I started getting the vibe that none or few of the authors were actually fat women, and instead this is what you'd get if you asked a bunch of people to posit what it's like to be a fat person. Virtually every character in the book is friendless, single, lonely, despised by everyone around them, deeply unhappy, and eats to compensate for it.
And that's just the ones that are just disappointing as opposed to those that are actively offensive. Such as the story about two fat women being hired to perform covert operations in virtual reality because in the VR world they're to infiltrate, key assets are (for whatever reason) always modelled as copious amounts of decadent food, and the military special ops agents, being health nuts, wouldn't be able to force themselves to eat and eat enough, even in a simulation, whereas the military figures these women will be all-star eaters. And, of course, they are -- their first mission involves one of them fending off a virtual snake while the other eats and entire cake. Of course, the defender eventually decides that her gun isn't effective enough and just eats the snake. And so on.
There's another story, even earlier on, that's entirely about a person who has to gain weight for a specific mission that occurs on a very cold planet and about how much they hate being fat. It ends not with them coming to terms with it, but with them finally getting through the mission and being intensely relieved to be losing the weight again, while pitying whoever gets assigned to the duty next for having to go through the ordeal.
So... yeah. Overall I was not pleased with this collection at all, despite a few gems. I've still got a few other collections from the same publisher to check out. I'm hoping they'll be better.
tregina's review
3.0
While it evened out to a middling-good rating in the end, the truth is that I really liked some of the stories and really disliked some of the others. I came to the anthology believing that it would be fat-positive, which in retrospect I guess I was never promised, and in some cases it definitely wasn't. I was taken aback by the fat-shaming and fat-hatred in some of the stories, and the unexamined stereotypes that formed the foundations of some of the plots. But then, a couple of the stories were really, really lovely. I certainly don't regret reading it, but be aware of what you're getting into.
bluebec's review
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this. A great idea to have an entire book about fast women and girls being amazing.
catevari's review
3.0
I rated this a 3 largely for the two really good stories in the anthology. Overall, though, Fat Girl In a Strange Land is an incredibly disappointing book. Both because it's largely not what it sets out to be, in terms of positively featuring fat women and because many of the stories just aren't very good.
This interview, where they say:
With that as their stated mission, the biggest problem I have with this anthology is that its protagonists are mostly not heroes, their characters often feeding into the worst stereotypes about fat women; ugly, sad, unwanted loser-loners with no self-esteem or self-worth. Comparing the majority of the anthology's stories with the editor's statement: " We also wanted to prove that fat women can be proud of who they are, and are deserving of their own stories," I don't know whether to feel more dismayed that they felt these stories represent fat women feeling proud of who they are or that they feel these are the kinds of stories that fat women deserve.
Breakdowns by story:
La Gorda & the City of Silver – I feel like it was almost a mistake to place this as the opening story of the anthology, because it really gives you a false idea of what to expect from the anthology as a whole. The self-love, accomplishment, and community of La Gorda were exactly what I wanted from the anthology, exactly what I thought I'd be getting from it. Though its connection to SFF is more subtle/tenuous than the majority of the other stories, it was nevertheless the most enjoyable of the stories for me.
The Tradeoff – If it was a mistake to put La Gorda as the first story, it was an equal or bigger mistake to put this one second. This story was like a slap in the face with the textual and subtextual fat hate. End message: It's okay to be fat for a little while as long as you do something worthwhile to make up for your hideous fatness. Sadly, this has it over some of the later stories in that it reads as a complete story, but for the stated purpose of the anthology, I feel like it's all wrong.
Cartography & The Death of Shoes – I'm neither a fan nor a hater of second person narratives, but this story shows how easily second person can go really really bad. Funnily enough for a story about cartography, our map to navigate this world is incredibly inadequate, written in what, for me, is overly lyrical prose (to the detriment of lucidity) with too few contextual clues about the world building to make it enjoyable. And, like many of the later stories, pacing becomes an issue, where the bulk of the story is in buildup that is inadequately paid off in the rushed and unearned denouement.
Survivor – I was left wondering what the hell was the point of this story; it's really too big a story to be told in such an abbreviated fashion, which means it's all telling, no showing and the 'fat girl' element of it feels like such a Fat Girl 101 type story, i.e., fat girls can do 'it' (fill in your it of choice) too! In rereading my review for posting, I had to think hard to remember what this story was even about. Take that as you will.
The Right Stuffed "…but she felt like something more than just a fat girl for the first time. She was on a team, she had missions. …Life was getting better." The conceit, of 'eating' data as a means of absorption, is an interesting one, one that has greater promise than delivery and the fat hate is strong with this one.
Tangwystl The Unwanted - A play on Rapunzel, apparently even being raised in total isolation doesn't stop Tangwystl from shitty self esteem: "[The faerie folk] were graceful, beautiful, delicate and agile—even the Stone Beetles. Tanny was none of these things." What makes it even more awful is that no one, except for Tangwystl, seems to have problems with her size. I feel like something could have been made of this story, but the pieces don't add up and the whole thing feels either unfinished or inadequately thought out.
Flesh of My Flesh – I feel like I don't know exactly what I want to say about this story. Of the positive: it's a complete story and figures a fat heroine whose fatness is not, in and of itself, central to the story. Of the negative: the pacing is weird, the entire story could've benefited from expansion, and the story opens with an, in my mind, gratuitous scene of compulsive overeating that feels like it belies the story's later implication that the protag has become more herself in this alien environment, and who that person happens to be is also a fat person. The most memorable thing about it is that it harkens back to a favorite story of mine, Two Bottles of Relish, by Lord Dunsany.
How Do You Want to Die? The good: her fat was not presented as a virtue or a fault, just another part of her and, as the leader of an escaped rebel band, the protag is both smart and competent. The bad: a rather flat, boring story that feels more like the beginning of something than a complete story.
Nemesis – This one was enjoyable. Manages to comfortably juggle outside sizeism with a heroine who is comfortable in her body and not at all interested in debating the matter. Could've benefited from slight expansion, because it feels rushed, but it feels like a complete story and in the spirit of the stated purpose of the anthology.
Davey – This felt more like a story about post-partum than one about plus sized heroines; the fact that the mother was still carrying some baby weight seems both incidental and temporary and thus feels like cheating against the collection's spirit. On the positive, though the heroine's extra weight did figure throughout the story, it has a nonjudgmental, logistical quality to how it's featured.
Sharks & Seals – I agree with the Publisher's Weekly review that says this story ends before it really gets started. It feels more like the opening of a novel than a contained story and while the world-building and characters are intriguing, the lack of any development makes them feel, ultimately, pointless and unsatisfying. I love the sympathetic magic depicted, though.
Marilee & the S.O.B – Not terrible, but not great. Lots of conflation of "fat and ugly" (seriously, every mention of 'fat' is followed by 'ugly'). Protag is a creepy stalker, who stalks in a quest for connectivity, a character conflict that isn't really resolved by the end of the story.
Blueprints – This felt like a really good idea with inadequate execution. The first person/diary POV was really limiting and, again, it felt like an idea too big and too complex for the short peephole given to it. The more I think about it, the more this feels like wasted potential, because it has great potential, both as a story and as commentary on sizeism and fat prejudice and corruption.
Lift – This story did what a lot of the others failed to do: write a story about a girl who is fat and suffers (some) discrimination on the basis of sizeism…but goes on and does what she wants to do anyway. Lovely story and a lovely snapshot of a teenager going out and building her dreams. The images of the protag 'defiantly' painting her spaceship pink and sparkly and then zooming off to the stars is a sweet close to the anthology.
This interview, where they say:
Crossed Genres has always been a publisher that supports underrepresented groups. Fat women have always been hidden in literature and film, or represented as examples of what not to be. We wanted to show some of the ways in which fat women are ostracized, and shoehorned into stereotypes, and display some of the mental and emotional consequences of those stereotypes. We also wanted to prove that fat women can be proud of who they are, and are deserving of their own stories.
With that as their stated mission, the biggest problem I have with this anthology is that its protagonists are mostly not heroes, their characters often feeding into the worst stereotypes about fat women; ugly, sad, unwanted loser-loners with no self-esteem or self-worth. Comparing the majority of the anthology's stories with the editor's statement: " We also wanted to prove that fat women can be proud of who they are, and are deserving of their own stories," I don't know whether to feel more dismayed that they felt these stories represent fat women feeling proud of who they are or that they feel these are the kinds of stories that fat women deserve.
Breakdowns by story:
The Tradeoff – If it was a mistake to put La Gorda as the first story, it was an equal or bigger mistake to put this one second. This story was like a slap in the face with the textual and subtextual fat hate. End message: It's okay to be fat for a little while as long as you do something worthwhile to make up for your hideous fatness. Sadly, this has it over some of the later stories in that it reads as a complete story, but for the stated purpose of the anthology, I feel like it's all wrong.
Cartography & The Death of Shoes – I'm neither a fan nor a hater of second person narratives, but this story shows how easily second person can go really really bad. Funnily enough for a story about cartography, our map to navigate this world is incredibly inadequate, written in what, for me, is overly lyrical prose (to the detriment of lucidity) with too few contextual clues about the world building to make it enjoyable. And, like many of the later stories, pacing becomes an issue, where the bulk of the story is in buildup that is inadequately paid off in the rushed and unearned denouement.
Survivor – I was left wondering what the hell was the point of this story; it's really too big a story to be told in such an abbreviated fashion, which means it's all telling, no showing and the 'fat girl' element of it feels like such a Fat Girl 101 type story, i.e., fat girls can do 'it' (fill in your it of choice) too! In rereading my review for posting, I had to think hard to remember what this story was even about. Take that as you will.
The Right Stuffed "…but she felt like something more than just a fat girl for the first time. She was on a team, she had missions. …Life was getting better." The conceit, of 'eating' data as a means of absorption, is an interesting one, one that has greater promise than delivery and the fat hate is strong with this one.
Tangwystl The Unwanted - A play on Rapunzel, apparently even being raised in total isolation doesn't stop Tangwystl from shitty self esteem: "[The faerie folk] were graceful, beautiful, delicate and agile—even the Stone Beetles. Tanny was none of these things." What makes it even more awful is that no one, except for Tangwystl, seems to have problems with her size. I feel like something could have been made of this story, but the pieces don't add up and the whole thing feels either unfinished or inadequately thought out.
Flesh of My Flesh – I feel like I don't know exactly what I want to say about this story. Of the positive: it's a complete story and figures a fat heroine whose fatness is not, in and of itself, central to the story. Of the negative: the pacing is weird, the entire story could've benefited from expansion, and the story opens with an, in my mind, gratuitous scene of compulsive overeating that feels like it belies the story's later implication that the protag has become more herself in this alien environment, and who that person happens to be is also a fat person. The most memorable thing about it is that it harkens back to a favorite story of mine, Two Bottles of Relish, by Lord Dunsany.
How Do You Want to Die? The good: her fat was not presented as a virtue or a fault, just another part of her and, as the leader of an escaped rebel band, the protag is both smart and competent. The bad: a rather flat, boring story that feels more like the beginning of something than a complete story.
Nemesis – This one was enjoyable. Manages to comfortably juggle outside sizeism with a heroine who is comfortable in her body and not at all interested in debating the matter. Could've benefited from slight expansion, because it feels rushed, but it feels like a complete story and in the spirit of the stated purpose of the anthology.
Davey – This felt more like a story about post-partum than one about plus sized heroines; the fact that the mother was still carrying some baby weight seems both incidental and temporary and thus feels like cheating against the collection's spirit. On the positive, though the heroine's extra weight did figure throughout the story, it has a nonjudgmental, logistical quality to how it's featured.
Sharks & Seals – I agree with the Publisher's Weekly review that says this story ends before it really gets started. It feels more like the opening of a novel than a contained story and while the world-building and characters are intriguing, the lack of any development makes them feel, ultimately, pointless and unsatisfying. I love the sympathetic magic depicted, though.
Marilee & the S.O.B – Not terrible, but not great. Lots of conflation of "fat and ugly" (seriously, every mention of 'fat' is followed by 'ugly'). Protag is a creepy stalker, who stalks in a quest for connectivity, a character conflict that isn't really resolved by the end of the story.
Blueprints – This felt like a really good idea with inadequate execution. The first person/diary POV was really limiting and, again, it felt like an idea too big and too complex for the short peephole given to it. The more I think about it, the more this feels like wasted potential, because it has great potential, both as a story and as commentary on sizeism and fat prejudice and corruption.
Lift – This story did what a lot of the others failed to do: write a story about a girl who is fat and suffers (some) discrimination on the basis of sizeism…but goes on and does what she wants to do anyway. Lovely story and a lovely snapshot of a teenager going out and building her dreams. The images of the protag 'defiantly' painting her spaceship pink and sparkly and then zooming off to the stars is a sweet close to the anthology.
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