Hunger by Roxane Gay

Hunger by Roxane Gay, 306 pages

As a fat woman walking through this world, I felt this memoir echo in my bones. Gay's words were equal parts galvanizing, galling, defeating, and triumphant. I hadn't read anything she'd written and chose Hunger because the idea of a memoir to one's body--a missive, a rumination, a plea--appealed to me. As a woman in society, I am all too familiar with the (often unreasonable) aesthetic demands placed on women. 

In the words of Time: "Gay's writing is simple and direct, but never cold or sterile. She directly confronts complex issues of identity and privilege, but it's always accessible and insightful."

I was unaware of the extreme violence of her past. That fact coupled with the intensity and raw honesty of the text was like jumping face first in a sea of ice water.  I was absorbed and read the book very quickly, but it stays with me. I suspect I'll be chewing on it for a while. 

 

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, by Michael Moss

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, by Michael Moss, 446 pages

This work of non-fiction won the Pulitzer Prize, and it raised alot of important questions about the processed food industry among the general population (ie, "pink slime," for one).  I found it fascinating- the levels of salt, sugar, and fat that are incorporated into processed food are astounding, and the machinations of corporations to use these known triggers of diabetes and obesity in order to make profits was appalling. Unlike a persuasive Michael Pollan book, where he clearly tells you a better way to eat, Michael Moss informs- by providing a thorough, well-rounded account of the processed food industry and letting the reader decide where to go from there.