There’s not much to say about this book. The “storyline” is about an overweight columnist who loses weight in order to impress (literally) the man of her dreams – a movie star. I use the word “storyline” very loosely because this book is really a self-help and diet book thinly veiled by adding cliché characters and trying-to-hard-to-be-witty dialogue.What makes it worse is that the characters aren’t even likeable. The main character is the biggest hypocrite I’ve ever fictionally met. She looks down on women who count their calories and continuously try the latest fad workouts and exercise machines; yet she does that exact same thing halfway through the book. She preaches to her readers the cliché line of loving your body regardless of your weight, yet she decides to slim down just so that she could seduce a man. Also, for a book that is all about “loving” your body, she sure does put down a lot of women. Throughout the book, the main character is constantly comparing herself to other women and their bodies (their breast size, the shape of their butt, the beauty or exoticness of their faces) and even going so far as to assume the reason for their slim bodies was because of their unhealthy, miniscule diets and rigorous exercise. The main character looked down on others too much for someone who dedicated her career to making women feel better about themselves. All the other characters were basically unbearable as well. Each character had little development or depth and were nothing more than clichés. The actor was a beautiful drug addict who had a line of women wanting to have sex with him. The editor had a beer gut and a huge appetite. Even the side characters were cliché – models who starved themselves, actresses who slept around the industry, a mother who loved you in a way that you didn’t realise until the end (of the book, literally). The love story was weak and so painfully obvious – the author would give you easy clues about the ending and then include massive neon signs pointing to the clue, in case you missed it.As a diet book, I’d give this book two, maybe even three stars. However, as a “fictional novel”, it definitely only gets a single star. Either publishers need to re-think what constitutes as an interesting storyline, or they need to be more subtle in their secret quest to help women lose weight.
A quick, fun chick read. Has some funny moments that made me laugh out loud. Maggie is a New York journalist who writes a column for overweight people. She thinks dieting is a joke and food is for eating. She practices what she preaches, too. Until she's asked to go to LA and consult with a major hottie movie star, Mike Taylor, for his upcoming movie dealing with obesity and eating disorders. So she begins a secret plan to lose weight, with the help of her assistant. Don't expect this to be the average person's weight loss dilemma. The pounds come off a little too easy to be believable, but it's still a fun story. Maggie is a mess, but aren't we all!
What do You think about Fat Chance (2005)?
The more I read of this book the more the readers' reviews became confusing. The pure hatred and criticism for the book didn't make any sense, to me at least. The book was fun. Maggie's thoughts and feelings were legitimate. The writer seemed to have lived inside my head at some point. I am sorry, but losing weight to look more attractive to men, to yourself, to the fashion industry, blah, blah, blah, is absolutely understandable, especially if you have been born fat and lived life on the sidelines. All in all the book was a tad unbelievable, but mostly fun and truthful.
—Lobna Amer
Not terribly well written. A bit scattershot and hard to follow w/ lots of pedantic diet/weight advice and research in the guise of the main character's columns. The whole deal with the "consulting" for a film about a diet doctor seemed silly and unrealistic. What famous actor is going to put up the consultant at his own house, pick her up at the airport in his own car, etc?? There was never a single scene about 'consulting' with the writers or producers. I had to push myself to finish this. Only part that I felt anything about was where her mother is selling the family bakery- this made me cry as it felt very like when my folks sold their long-time family business.
—Phair
OMG, I am so glad I am not alone in my intense dislike of this book. I had high hopes, being a fat girl myself, for something that wasn't a "fat girl loses weight and now she's BETTER and MEN like her!" story, but that's exactly what this is. The nutritionist author (I should have known RIGHT THERE!) slides in all sorts of diet tips hoping you won't notice - but the entire thing reads (badly, I might add) like a self-help book for delusional fatties (you know, the ones who don't hate themselves) rather than a good beach read. Sucked out loud.
—Jessica
