13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

Fiction

By: Mona Awad

Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie

From the author of Bunny, a “hilarious, heartbreaking book” (People) about a woman whose life is hijacked by her struggle to conform

“Stunning . . . As you watch Lizzie navigate fraught relationships—with food, men, girlfriends, her parents and even with herself—you’ll want to grab a friend and say: ‘Whoa. This. Exactly.’” —Washington Post

Growing up in the suburban hell of Misery Saga (a.k.a. Mississauga), Lizzie has never liked the way she looks—even though her best friend Mel says she’s the pretty one. She starts dating guys online, but she’s afraid to send pictures, even when her skinny friend China does her makeup: she knows no one would want her if they could really see her. So she starts to lose. With punishing drive, she counts almonds consumed, miles logged, pounds dropped. She fights her way into coveted dresses. She grows up and gets thin, navigating double-edged validation from her mother, her friends, her husband, her reflection in the mirror. But no matter how much she loses, will she ever see herself as anything other than a fat girl?

In her brilliant, hilarious, and at times shocking debut, Mona Awad skewers the body image-obsessed culture that tells women they have no value outside their physical appearance. Brilliant, hilarious, and heartbreaking, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl introduces a vital new voice in fiction.

WINNER OF THE AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD

FINALIST FOR THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

FINALIST FOR THE COLORADO BOOK AWARD FOR LITERARY FICTION

LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD

ARAB AMERICAN BOOK AWARD HONORABLE MENTION FOR FICTION

Painstakingly beautiful

I love all of Mona’s books, I'm looking forward to the next big release this fall and 13 Ways did not disappoint. The character - Lizzy, Liz, Beth, Elizabeth - reads real. Her writing about a “busted peach” of a sunset is absolute splendor. And reading this book has made me look at my own complicated relationship with calories. Some of it is far too relatable, but I couldn't stop reading. Mona’s writing has always been remarkable, but it somehow keeps getting better. This book was phenomenal and it is a cautionary take of how we can lose years and ourselvesto chasing the body or aesthetic we think will make us happy, worthy instead of realizing we are beautiful and worthy as we are, like “Cammy” . Love you, bunny.