I’m decidedly not in the target demographic for this book. I’m not fat. I’ve never had to diet. Except for the odd foray into cross-dressing on Halloween in San Francisco’s Castro district, I’ve never worried about slipping into a size 8 evening dress.

But the publisher of The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude, A Memoir, by Carol Lay (Villard Books, 2008) kindly sent me a review copy, perhaps mistaking me for someone else. I figured the least I could do in return was give it a quick browse.

From the first page, I was charmed.

Heaven knows there are more than enough weight-loss books to tip the scale. (I’ve helped to write one or two myself.) Most recycle the same basic advice in different guises. With self-effacing humor, antic drawings, and an insider’s knowledge of the pratfalls of shedding pounds, Lay uses the comic book format to make the familiar advice fresh, personal, convincing, and even fun.

“You want to lose weight?” her cartoon character asks. “The experts all agree that it’s tough, but that it IS possible. So!–Make a decision, take action, be honest, and stick to it! Be all that you can be, baby. Just not so much of it.”

The Big Skinny covers most of the essential territory, from theories about why some people get fat and others don’t to emotional triggers for eating. “What?! You’re dumping me?! The night before Valentine’s Day?!! No–Don’t go!! Ben!” a character cries as her boyfriend slams the door. “Ben!!” she sobs, as a series of frames transports her from the door of her apartment to the door of the refrigerator, where “Ben!” becomes “Ben and Jerry!” And she buries her face in a pint of ice cream.

No sooner, in another sequence, does the narrator vow that “not even the sexiest man on earth bearing gifts of food could tempt me now” than who should show up bearing a sack of sausage biscuits with eggs and hash browns but George Clooney. “That’s what I get for living in Hollywood,” her character says.

There’s little new in the advice Lay offers–but then there’s very little that’s new in any weight-loss tome. A few of her points are debatable. She vilifies liquor, for instance. (”They say a glass of wine a day is good for your heart, but it’s not good for your butt!”) In fact, there’s evidence that people who drink moderately with meals weigh less than those who don’t drink. Liquor itself may not be the reason. People who drink wine with dinner also tend to eat healthier meals. But still…

Even here, however, Lay casts her advice in the form of her own personal experience, which gives the book a confiding rather than prescriptive tone. Indeed, the real pleasure (and value) of The Big Skinny is Lay’s exuberant humor and the many clever ways her cartoon narrative takes the evergreen advice and makes it personal and specific. You’ll come to identify with her cartoon persona and to like her a lot. Dieters who hit a snag may find themselves returning to a few of the episodes she narrates to console themselves and renew their commitment to losing weight. A colorful compendium of calorie charts and recipes at the back of the book should prove useful to anyone who’s trying to shed some pounds.

The good fun of The Big Skinny doesn’t change the fact that it’s damned hard to lose weight and keep it off. But by offering plenty of laughs along the way, this is one diet book that will help you keep your spirits up as you try to bring your weight down.

©2009 PDQhealth

Tags: Carol Lay, dieting, graphic books, The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude, weight loss