Fat: A Cultural History of Obesity

"Gilman's work is absorbing and witty. It is addictive to read his critical observations on areas including childhood obesity, the growth of obesity in modern China and media coverage of the topic. And this, er, slim book will certainly appeal to all of us who want to understand a little more about the cultural and historical aspects and attitudes to obesity."
Tribune

"This book will be useful to students of culture and social identity, concentrating as it does on the historical debates surrounding obesity."
Times Higher Education

"[Fat] offers an engaging and suggestive reading with which all historians of fat, food, and modern dietary regimes will want to engage."
H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

"Sander Gilman makes a nuanced and richly documented argument about the historical, cultural, and scientific contingency of concepts such as 'fat', 'obesity', and 'health'. This book is a powerful demonstration of how moralistic prejudices influence public health discourse, and our ideas of what constitutes diseases and epidemics. It is an invaluable contribution to the contemporary interdisciplinary critique of our moral panic over fat."
Paul Campos, University of Colorado

"In Fat, Sander Gilman artfully skewers the cultural tropes and myths surrounding one of the leading moral panics of our time – America's so-called obesity epidemic. Gilman unearths the hidden agendas and historical precedents that allow for our growing weight to be labelled as a deadly disease. Through his wit and erudition, Fat is an invaluable perspective for anyone wanting a more nuanced perspective about health, culture, and society"”
Eric Oliver, University of Chicago, author of Fat Politics