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| Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephanie Klein
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $10.96
You Save: $13.99 (56%)
New (47) Used (18) from $10.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 28717
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060843292
Dewey Decimal Number: 618.923980092
EAN: 9780060843298
ASIN: 0060843292
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New. Ship within 24 hours. Quality packaging & email notification.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
With her signature acerbic wit and captivating insight, the author of the wildly popular Straight Up and Dirty offers a powerful and beautifully stark portrait of adolescence While she is pregnant with twins, one sentence uttered by her doctor sends Stephanie Klein reeling: "You need to gain fifty pounds." Instantly, an adolescence filled with insecurity and embarrassment comes flooding back. Though she is determined to gain the weight for the health of her babies--even if it means she'll "weigh more than a Honda"--she can only express her deep fear by telling her doctor simply, "I used to be fat." Klein was an eighth grader with a weight problem. It was a problem at school, where the boys called her "Moose," and it was a problem at home, where her father reminded her, "No one likes fat girls." After many frustrating sessions with a nutritionist known as the fat doctor of Roslyn Heights, Long Island, Klein's parents enrolled her for a summer at fat camp. Determined to return to school thin and popular, without her "lard arms" and "puckered ham," Stephanie embarked on a memorable journey that would shape more than just her body. It would shape her life. In the ever-shifting terrain between fat and thin, adulthood and childhood, cellulite and starvation, Klein shares the cutting details of what it truly feels like to be an overweight child, from the stinging taunts of classmates, to the off-color remarks of her own father, to her thin mother's compulsive dissatisfaction with her own body. Calling upon her childhood diary entries, Klein reveals her deepest thoughts and feelings from that turbulent, hopeful time, baring her soul and making her heartache palpable. Whether Klein is describing her life as a chubby adolescent camper--getting weighed on a meat scale, petting past curfew, and "chunky dunking" in the lake--or what it's like now as a fit mother, having one-sided conversations with her newborn twins about the therapy they'll one day need, this hilarious yet grippingly vulnerable book will remind you what it was like to feel like an outsider, to desperately seek the right outfit, the right slang, the best comeback, or whatever that unattainable something was that would finally make you fit in. Marie Claire, for Straight Up and Dirty
"Stephanie Kleins raw account of divorce at age 29 is refreshingly honest and funny, without delving into cheesy chick-lit territory. Youll easily relate to Klein--even if you dont have a 'wasband.'" USA Today
"Klein is a talented writer who tells the story of her love life with boldness and irreverence." Publishers Weekly
"Kleins sense of humor is downright wicked . . . a great, fun read." New York Times
"Nothing, it seems, is too private not to share with . . . Ms. Kleins legions of followers. And that is exactly how they like it." People
"You could call her a real-life Carrie Bradshaw, but it wouldnt do Klein justice. With a fearless voice, the blogger weaves a memoir filled with heartbreak and humor . . . a compelling writer." Kirkus Reviews
"Candid . . . inspiring . . . With vivid characterizations, spot-on locale descriptions and sly jokes at her own expense, Klein offers an original and touching take on the all-too-common problem of childhood obesity." Elle, for Straight Up and Dirty
"Kleins appeal comes not just from her nocturnal wonderings, but from her relentless plumbing of what went wrong in her twenties and how those mistakes inform her present." Daily News, for Straight Up and Dirty
"[Stephanie Kleins] confessional, intimate writing style has a magnetic and often voyeuristic appeal that transcends the gloss of her Sex and the City-style escapades." Susan Shapiro, author of Lighting Up, for Straight Up and Dirty
"A kooky, heartfelt, and ultimately triumphant chronicle of young divorce and the importance of family, friends, and a good shrink." Marie Claire (UK), for Straight Up and Dirty
"Beneath the wisecracking tales of solo supermarket shopping, phone therapy and Hamptons houseshares, the raw emotion about her divorce and nightmare mother-in-law rings true."
Product Description
With her signature acerbic wit and captivating insight, the author of the wildly popular Straight Up and Dirty offers a powerful and beautifully stark portrait of adolescence While she is pregnant with twins, one sentence uttered by her doctor sends Stephanie Klein reeling: "You need to gain fifty pounds." Instantly, an adolescence filled with insecurity and embarrassment comes flooding back. Though she is determined to gain the weight for the health of her babies -- even if it means she'll "weigh more than a Honda" -- she can only express her deep fear by telling her doctor simply, "I used to be fat." Klein was an eighth grader with a weight problem. It was a problem at school, where the boys called her "Moose," and it was a problem at home, where her father reminded her, "No one likes fat girls." After many frustrating sessions with a nutritionist known as the fat doctor of Roslyn Heights, Long Island, Klein's parents enrolled her for a summer at fat camp. Determined to return to school thin and popular, without her "lard arms" and "puckered ham," Stephanie embarked on a memorable journey that would shape more than just her body. It would shape her life. In the ever-shifting terrain between fat and thin, adulthood and childhood, cellulite and starvation, Klein shares the cutting details of what it truly feels like to be an overweight child, from the stinging taunts of classmates, to the off-color remarks of her own father, to her thin mother's compulsive dissatisfaction with her own body. Calling upon her childhood diary entries, Klein reveals her deepest thoughts and feelings from that turbulent, hopeful time, baring her soul and making her heartache palpable. Whether Klein is describing her life as a chubby adolescent camper -- getting weighed on a meat scale, petting past curfew, and "chunky dunking" in the lake -- or what it's like now as a fit mother, having one-sided conversations with her newborn twins about the therapy they'll one day need, this hilarious yet grippingly vulnerable book will remind you what it was like to feel like an outsider, to desperately seek the right outfit, the right slang, the best comeback, or whatever that unattainable something was that would finally make you fit in.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 I love camp! October 7, 2008
This book was great. I loved every page of it. I went to overnight camp when i was growing up from the time i was very young, until i was too old, and then i was a counselor. Stephanie Klein goes through her life journey and her time at fat camp, and even though i did not go to fat camp, camp is camp. It was a very funny, relatable book. Some people have commented here that it was a bit vulgar, but i found it to be honest and true, and not vulgar. I read this book prior to reading "Straight up and dirty" and glad i read them in that order, cause from Moose, i got to know the girl who was a woman in Straight Up. :)
 Not Enough Substance September 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Stephanie is a woman who has always struggled with her weight. As an adult she is able to go back through her childhood experiences, drawing information from the diaries and letters she kept throughout the years to reconstruct her adolescent years.
This book details a summer Stephanie went away to Camp Yanisin, a "Fat Camp" where she was certain she would lose weight and become the beautiful and popular girl she was sure she was destined to be.
Although there are some interesting stories in this book, it just didn't come together for me. I was expecting Stephanie to have more perspective about her childhood, to be able to look back with wisdom and describe the things she'd learned. Instead, this book details sexual escapades, humiliation at the hands of her peers, nasty ways the author interacted with her parents, and various risky weight-loss strategies. I did like the stories, and found Stephanie's camp experience to be amusing and touching, but I was hoping for more.
Perhaps I expected this to be the story of a person who had gone through a great deal in adolescence but was able to overcome her experiences and live a healthy life. Instead, I felt that the author at the end was still struggling with the same problems she'd had at thirteen.
Thought It Would Be Better August 29, 2008
This book is the true story about Stephanie and how she battles losing weight at "Fat Camp." I think teenage girls would enjoy this most. I found it somewhat interesting, but it did not really hold my attention in the second half of the book. Not all that bad but nothing great either.
 Why did she write the book at all? August 24, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I wanted to love this book. I heard the author on NPR and she sounded interesting. It was also recommended in Women's Health magazine. After reading it, however, I was extremely disapointed.
The story of the fat camp experience was mostly good, but I have to say I was HORRIFIED when the author detailed exactly how she made herself throw up after eating too much. She seemed to recognize bulemia was a bad thing, but then gave detailed instructions on how to do it. Does she not realize that young people will read her book? So MAYBE I could look past that (probably not, but maybe) and then I got to the end of the book and it really didn't seem like the author had actually learned anything from her experiences as an overweight child. I was waiting for the epiphany, the bit about how she got over it and managed to live a healthy life, but it wasn't there. She talked about extermely unhealthy eating habits she still had as an adult, is still blaming her father for insensitive comments he made to her when she was a child, blaming her mother for not showing enough affection and had to be forced to eat more food when pregnant with twins.
Mostly, when I finished the book, I was just thinking that this person was someone I never wanted to know and that I hoped no one else would read the book and be influenced by her dysfunction. I hope her kids turn out okay if she can ever get over giving them butter on their bread, I hope she has a good pediatrician that explains to her that children need fat in their diets to develop properly, but mostly, I hope she doesn't write any more books. I know that I will NOT be letting my teenaged nieces or my daughter ever read this book.
Why did she write the book at all? August 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I wanted to love this book. I heard the author on NPR and she sounded interesting. It was also recommended in Women's Health magazine. After reading it, however, I was extremely disapointed.
The story of the fat camp experience was mostly good, but I have to say I was HORRIFIED when the author detailed exactly how she made herself throw up after eating too much. She seemed to recognize bulemia was a bad thing, but then gave detailed instructions on how to do it. Does she not realize that young people will read her book? So MAYBE I could look past that (probably not, but maybe) and then I got to the end of the book and it really didn't seem like the author had actually learned anything from her experiences as an overweight child. I was waiting for the epiphany, the bit about how she got over it and managed to live a healthy life, but it wasn't there. She talked about extermely unhealthy eating habits she still had as an adult, is still blaming her father for insensitive comments he made to her when she was a child, blaming her mother for not showing enough affection and had to be forced to eat more food when pregnant with twins.
Mostly, when I finished the book, I was just thinking that this person was someone I never wanted to know and that I hoped no one else would read the book and be influenced by her dysfunction. I hope her kids turn out okay if she can ever get over giving them butter on their bread, I hope she has a good pediatrician that explains to her that children need fat in their diets to develop properly, but mostly, I hope she doesn't write any more books. I know that I will NOT be letting my teenaged nieces or my daughter ever read this book.
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