{"product_id":"the-elephant-in-the-room-one-fat-mans-quest-to-get-smaller-in-a-growing-america-9781501111624","title":"The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America","description":"\u003cb\u003eONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF 2019\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \"warm and funny and honest...genuinely unputdownable\" (Curtis Sittenfeld) memoir chronicling what it's like to live in today's world as a fat man, from acclaimed journalist Tommy Tomlinson, who, as he neared the age of fifty, weighed 460 pounds and decided he had to change his life.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen he was almost fifty years old, Tommy Tomlinson weighed an astonishing--and dangerous--460 pounds, at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, unable to climb a flight of stairs without having to catch his breath, or travel on an airplane without buying two seats. Raised in a family that loved food, he had been aware of the problem for years, seeing doctors and trying diets from the time he was a preteen. But nothing worked, and every time he tried to make a change, it didn't go the way he planned--in fact, he wasn't sure that he really wanted to change. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Elephant in the Room\u003c\/i\u003e, Tomlinson chronicles his lifelong battle with weight in a voice that combines the urgency of Roxane Gay's \u003ci\u003eHunger \u003c\/i\u003ewith the intimacy of Rick Bragg's \u003ci\u003eAll Over but the Shoutin'\u003c\/i\u003e. He also hits the road to meet other members of the plus-sized tribe in an attempt to understand how, as a nation, we got to this point. From buying a Fitbit and setting exercise goals to contemplating the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas, America's \"capital of food porn,\" and modifying his own diet, Tomlinson brings us along on a candid and sometimes brutal look at the everyday experience of being constantly aware of your size. Over the course of the book, he confronts these issues head-on and chronicles the practical steps he has to take to lose weight by the end. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"What could have been a wallow in memoir self-pity is raised to art by Tomlinson's wit and prose\" (\u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e). Affecting and searingly honest, \u003ci\u003eThe Elephant in the Room \u003c\/i\u003eis an \"inspirational\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e) memoir that will resonate with anyone who has grappled with addiction, shame, or self-consciousness. \"Add this to your reading list ASAP\" (\u003ci\u003eCharlotte Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/14\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781501111624\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.70d","brand":"Tommy Tomlinson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36654807548060,"sku":"9781501111624","price":15.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_d08a6a2d-5f95-46fa-944b-118dfe539e94.jpg?v=1603884129","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-elephant-in-the-room-one-fat-mans-quest-to-get-smaller-in-a-growing-america-9781501111624","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}