Fat

Back cover: Rob Grant's new novel is a revelation. After INCOMPETENCE we would all have expected a killingly funny satire. And in its satire of our obsession with body image, of how the media makes us what we are FAT is certainly that. But in its depiction of Grenville, a fat man at his wits end with the need to be thin; of Hayleigh, a teenage girl obsessed with her terror of being fat and of Jeremy, the self-absorbed, self-adoring 'conceptualist' employed to promote the government's new 'Fat Farms' Rob Grant has given us, yes a very, very funny book, but also an immensely moving and personal novel about how we all feel about our bodies. As Grenville deals with the humilation and daily indignity of being fat, as Hayleigh struggles to deal with her anorexia and as Jeremy comes to terms with the dangerous lies at the centre of the government's new health regime FAT takes us on a hilarious and thought-provoking journey through our all-consuming obession with fat.

"It's unclear precisely when it became illegal to be fat."

That's what you call a prime example of a hook in the first sentence. That right there is your premise. This is branded as science fiction for its dystopian elements but it's chillingly close to the truth that as a culture the West is obsessed with body image and being fat brings with it some serious problems of the social variety. No fat taxes or plane tickets priced by body weight, though, so I'm gonna count this as science fiction even if the near future in which it's set is probably technically behind us.

This was written in 2006 and does show its age in some of the references: Charlie from Busted (bless) and ex-Big Brother contestants, though considering the ridiculously monitored fat farms health centres it makes sense even if Big Brother is no longer on the air. The characters are all perfectly positioned to show the worst parts of this society, from the overweight chef with anger management issues to the anorexic teenager and the self-absorbed spin doctor. Plus, each character has some element of disconnect from his or her personality which they remain blissfully ignorant of even as the reader picks up on this thread of tension. Grenville comes across as rational and funny until we see one of his rampages from the outside through the magic of CCTV and realise what initially read as a hilarious case of righteous justice was, y'know, slightly insane and violent. Hayleigh avoids mirrors and goes to great lengths not to eat and then can't understand why people are obsessed with trying to make her eat when she's already such a fat fatty. And Jeremy just thinks the world revolves around him and doesn't get why these disgusting overweight people don't stop stuffing their faces and go exercise. There's a moment in one of his chapters which is a quietly brutal way of showing his attitude, which is basically the atttitude of everyone who isn't fat. His chapters also made me laugh out loud several times, though so I guess it balances out.

This isn't your usual science fiction -- where's the science/robots/time travel? -- and there's even some question about whether it is science fiction because it's so eerily close to the truth with just the slightest push beyond the credible, but it's a good, and fast, read so let's not get hung up on the labels. It's what's inside that counts. (See what I did there?)

For more info/reviews check this book out on Amazon UK/US.