{"id":73426,"date":"2017-06-22T13:17:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T02:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=73426"},"modified":"2017-06-23T16:10:08","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T05:10:08","slug":"review-hunger-roxane-gay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2017\/06\/22\/review-hunger-roxane-gay\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Hunger by Roxane Gay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Before you read Roxane Gay\u2019s Hunger<\/em><\/a>, ask yourself if this phrase is an uncomfortably accurate representation of how you see your life:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you need to know is my life is split in two, cleaved not so neatly. There is the before and the after.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If the above resonated with you, then in the spirit of full disclosure, you should know Gay\u2019s story is confronting and possibly triggering. I disclose this as someone who knows how trauma can impact the body, and the resultant way it affects our lives.<\/p>\n

A fan of Roxane Gay\u2019s essay collection Bad Feminist<\/em><\/a>, I have been eagerly awaiting her memoir. And Gay has delivered in a way only she can.<\/p>\n

Hunger<\/em> is incredible. It is complex with its interwoven threads about leading a life with obesity, trauma and battling society\u2019s standards. And yet, this is not a hard book to read. Gay\u2019s writing is consuming, and I struggled each night to put it down. Her revelations regarding her past are delicately worded to ensure those closest to her understand her truths, without her having to disclose every detail. It\u2019s a fine line to balance, and it\u2019s a balancing act she has perfected.<\/p>\n

\"Hunger<\/a><\/p>\n

Gay talks about society\u2019s perception that if we were all thinner, we would be happier; that if she lost the weight, her life would have more substance. However, having said that, she does not belittle the health issues surrounding her weight, in fact, she admits to battling eating disorders, and confesses to dieting and considering gastric band surgery as a means of maintain her size. Gay is honest, and has a captivating way with words that one can only envy.\u00a0I know I have taken a step back and reconsidered my perceptions of not just myself, but how we perceive weight as a society.<\/p>\n

I had never considered the word ‘hunger’ as a concept, however it is a fitting word to describe so many fundamental feelings that we can all relate to. Its depth as a word envelopes the story of Gay\u2019s life in such a fragile way, that the title couldn\u2019t be more fitting.<\/p>\n

Without revealing more, I would suggest keeping tissues handy as you read this beautifully written memoir. Expect the most welcomed sucker punch you will experience (so far) this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before you read Roxane Gay\u2019s Hunger, ask yourself if this phrase is an uncomfortably accurate representation of how you see your life: \u201cWhat you need to know is my life is split in two, cleaved not so neatly. There is the before and the after.\u201d If the above resonated with you, then in the spirit of full disclosure, you should know Gay\u2019s story is confronting and possibly triggering. I disclose this as someone who knows how trauma can impact the body, and the resultant way it affects our lives. A fan of Roxane Gay\u2019s essay collection Bad Feminist, I have been eagerly awaiting her memoir. And Gay has delivered in a way only she can. Hunger is incredible. It is complex with its interwoven threads about leading a life with obesity, trauma and battling society\u2019s standards. And yet, this is not a hard book to read. Gay\u2019s writing is consuming, and I struggled each night to put it down. Her revelations regarding her past are delicately worded to ensure those closest to her understand her truths, without her having to disclose every detail. It\u2019s a fine line to balance, and it\u2019s a balancing act she has perfected. Gay talks about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":73439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[6678],"tags":[748,2520,7172,4482,7618],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Hunger-Social.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73426"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73556,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73426\/revisions\/73556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}