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| Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self | 
 enlarge | Author: Frances Kuffel
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $1.04
You Save: $13.91 (93%)
New (39) Used (37) from $1.04
Avg. Customer Rating:  85 reviews
Sales Rank: 326622
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0767912926
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780767912921
ASIN: 0767912926
Publication Date: December 28, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: some wavy pages in the back
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
An intimate and darkly comic memoir of a woman who does a 180 with her body.
When she was in her early forties, Frances Kuffel lost half her body weight. In Passing for Thin, Frances describes with unflinching honesty and a wickedly dark sense of humor her first fumbling introductions to her newly slender body, shining a light on the shared human experience of feeling uncomfortable in one’s own skin. She gradually moves from observer to player—enjoying for the first time flirting, exercising, and shopping–as she explores the terrain on the “Planet of Thin.” As Frances gradually comes to know—and love—the stranger in the mirror, she learns that her body does not define her, but enables her to become the woman she’s always wanted to be.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 80 more reviews...
 She drew some horrifying comparisons... August 8, 2008
I picked this book because I wanted to read about someone else who has struggled with compulsive overeating and who has recovered/is recovering from it with some success.
I really did appreciate the descriptions the author, Frances Kuffel, gave of her life as a compulsive overeater - her thoughts, her feelings, her food associations, the secretive nature of this problem, the amount of time, energy and money taken up by food - eating it and thinking about it. I could identify with so much of her experience.
But...
There was as much about the book that I disliked as I liked. Frances Kuffel is a writer by trade and she seems to have written this memoir with an audience similar to herself in mind - that is, for other writers and people in the "literary circle". In my opinion, her use of "big words" detracted from the message of her story. Despite the fact that I have a graduate-level education, I found that on most pages of this book, there were either words or references that I did not understand. I came across so many words that I have never heard of that I lost count. I wasn't far into the book when I lost the desire to look them up as well. I ended up doing my best to approximate the meaning of unknown words using context clues, then moved on. In addition to so many "big money" words, there were countless references to classic literature (which I will admit, I did not "get"). There were also many "relates" to plays, Broadway productions, classic movie stars and gay icons (Barbara Streisand, etc.).
So...all that was annoying enough, but...
Toward the end of the book (p. 228 out of 257 total), Ms. Kuffel drew a comparison between the end of a 3-month relationship and the loss of a child:
"I'd been disappointed in love when I was fat, but it was the grief of miscarriage, a deformed possibility of mostly unadmitted love that couldn't survive gestation. This was a funeral for an infant. It had a name and a personality and a future. And it was dead."
I found this so offensive, it's hard for me to put into words how I felt when I read it. My jaw dropped. It was one of those, "Oh, no she didn't!" moments. I could hardly believe it. I mean, where on earth does she get off comparing the end of a three month relationship - even if she did fall in love - to the death of an infant???? I get that she was making a point, trying to explain the pain she felt over the loss of her first love relationship. But comparing it to the death of an infant??? Even comparing it to a miscarriage would have been outrageous in my opinion. I read that passage over several times and shook my head, marveling over the fact that Ms. Kuffel had the nerve to even think those words, let alone write them out for the world to read. And on top of that, her words presumably had the approval of an editor and a publisher as well. I don't get it.
Imagine my surprise when just 12 pages later, I found another stunningly inappropriate comparison regarding that same failed relationship:
"City Hall. The fountain where the Boy from Connecticut and I had kissed such a long kiss that I could probably find our shadows seared into the concrete like the immolated citizens of Hiroshima."
OMG. I don't even know what to say to that.
I think it's a shame that this memoir contains such glaring drawbacks because Frances Kuffel's story is such a touching one. She conveyed her struggle with compulsive overeating and obesity and the challenges of recovery that face her every with such honesty. I saw myself in so many of the things she did and recognized my own feelings in so many of the feelings she described. It is a comfort to know that there are other people in this world who interact with food in many of the same ways that I do, and that at least some of those people have found a way to manage their addiction.
 Boring, non-motivational-DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. August 1, 2007
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
I have read several weight loss stories and this book was THE WORST! Most readers buy weight loss stories/books for encouragement and motivation..this book does neither. Ms. Kuffel starts the book in diary form telling of her feelings during her prior fat and boring life. Then she finds a support group (no detail), and voila, she's 168 lbs. She did not even cover ONE DAY on her diet...what foods she ate, her menu, her thoughts or tactics to keep her from straying, etc.. She did not divulge anything!! All she said was to "abstain from sugar & flour". To be honest, I was quite pee'd off. This book left me empty-DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. If you'd like a couple great weight loss (motivational) books, I recommend "The Incredible Shrinking Critic" by Jami Bernard or "The Weight Loss Diaries" by Courtney Rubin. They are honest, funny and offer motivational insight.
More than weight loss May 23, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book could have used a patient and nurturing editor. There were some sections which were vividly written (Frances' days on "Planet Fat") and other parts (the "work" of OA) which seemed to be hastily written. And, to discuss the weight loss rather than the book, I would speculate that one reason Frances has difficulty maintaining a healthier weight is that she may have something of an addiction to her prior identity as a "Fat Girl."
All this aside, I read this book as more than just one woman's journey from Planet Fat to the land of the average bodied. What I looked at was how someone was able to change their identity...or at least, work on changing their identity. In the author's case, she found the support to do so in the community of OA, in carefully and consciously restructuring her environment (the weighing and measuring of food, the daily calls). She then found that when she achieved her goal, there was still more work to be done...learning how to dress, relate, handle social rejection, to assimilate herself in middle age to the average sized world with its own issues and problems.
 Would be inspiring if she hadn't gained the weight back May 19, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I read this book last summer when I was on vacation in Cape Cod. It takes a decent book to keep you glued to your beach chair instead of enjoying the ocean, but I was hooked. Then I got home from vacation and Googled "France Kuffel" only to discover that Frances was fat again. What a disappointment. It sort of negated all her efforts and my time. From what I can tell about her life today, she is walking dogs and obsessing about things, which leads me to conclude that the real root of her problems are mental and the fat is just a symptom. Nonetheless, her willingness to reveal all the personal details of her life is commendable, as many of them are very easy to relate to for those of us carrying extra pounds.
 Humorous, Honest, and Compelling December 28, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a great book. Frances Kuffel bares her soul and hits the nail on the head describing the sadness and shame of obesity. She also reveals her charm and uniqueness that reminds us of the value of each soul. She did it - she lost the weight and has kept it off. It doesn't change the journey of the lessons of life, but it makes it much easier to move and breath, and be acceptable to society. Parts of this book made me laugh, and parts made me cry. Bravo!
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