Book Review: Landwhale
Landwhale is subtitled: On turning insults into nicknames, why body image is hard and how diets can kiss my ass and is by Jes Baker. I wasn’t sure about this book at first, but it turned out that I could totally relate to it and it was definitely something I needed to hear/read. The very beginning of the book is a huge trigger warning, and I can see why. However, if you are able to make it through the pages that follow (and I can totally understand if you can’t, Jes herself even said she was often crying when she was writing some of the chapters) there is a lot of body positive information and resources but I think the most powerful thing from this book for me was realizing or reaffirming that I am not alone. There are many others unfortunately out there who feel the same way as Jes and I do. Another helpful piece of information was about how she learned to love herself after a breakup and while she may not love ALL of herself, she is working on that and I think that was another great lesson that everyone needs to learn.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated. This book was published May 8, 2018 from Perseus Books, Da Cap Press, Seal Press.
About the Book
By the author of Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls and a heroine of the body image movement, an intimate, gutsy memoir about being a fat woman
Jes Baker burst onto the body positivity scene when she created her own ads mocking Abercrombie & Fitch for discriminating against all body types–a move that landed her on the Today Show and garnered a loyal following for her raw, honest, and attitude-filled blog missives.
Building on the manifesta power of Things, this memoir goes deeply into Jes’s inner life, from growing up a fat girl to dating while fat. With material that will have readers laughing and crying along with Jes’s experience, this new book is a natural fit with her irreverent, open-book style.
A deeply personal take, Landwhale is a glimpse at life as a fat woman today, but it’s also a reflection of the unforgiving ways our culture still treats fatness, all with Jes’s biting voice as the guide.