Review: 'Such a Pretty Fat' by Jen Lancaster

MEMOIR | Believe it or not, losing weight can actually be a laugh riot

On the thoroughly covered-to-death topic of losing weight, consistent themes run through stories in books and women's magazines: will power, struggle, self-deprivation, rising above the odds and, oh, yes, misery. In other words, losing weight must be A Giant Sucky Experience.

Losing weight is the theme of Chicago author Jen Lancaster's third memoir, Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big or Why Pie Is Not the Answer (New American Library, $14, 380 pages). Lancaster, 40, is the very funny author of the memoirs Bitter Is the New Black and Bright Lights and Big Ass. In Such a Pretty Fat, she mercifully infuses much-needed humor into the life-altering process. "What good is finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult-onset diabetes?" she asks.

Refreshingly, Jen isn't self-loathing. She loves how she looks -- perfectly highlighted hair, well-applied makeup, her signature pearls. She unabashedly loves food. "What gets me is the 'pretty face' bit. 'Cause I won't mind being reminded I'm fat as long as you water it down first," she writes. In a mortifying restaurant experience, "my ass knocks over someone's wineglass, like, four tables away."

After a run at the Atkins diet, the food lover endures pre-packaged meals from Jenny Craig and moves on to Weight Watchers -- which takes off more pounds, though a meeting attended by people who use terms like "emotional baker" nearly make her burst out laughing. She signs up with a personal trainer named Barbie -- who apparently looks like a Barbie -- for 40-plus sessions of torture.

Victory comes haltingly at first, but it's clear she's a heroine in the War on Fat, down about 40 pounds at one point. The first time she gets the courage to go from walking a treadmill to running, "Every single bone in my body is jarred. My knees in particular are screaming and need to be iced, like, right this second," she writes. "Yet I don't care. Because I ran."

Lancaster reminds us to laugh during laps and while counting food points on the way to a healthier size and lifestyle.

Tammy Chase

Sun-Times

The author will sign books at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes and Noble, 1441 W. Webster.