Ummmm.....
Wow. This is kind of a big deal. Changed my *views* on something? That's pretty dramatic.
Plus, I primarily read fiction/chick-litty stuff, which ain't exactly groundbreaking.
Well, wait. It can be.
I love to read and watch movies/TV as an escape. Not really to make me think, not to expand my horizons...I do enough of that already. I just want some relaxing and happy "get lost in another world" time. So I stick to entertainment that I know will most likely have a happy ending, and I really prefer it if no one dies. For awhile, I was reading a lot of the "Red Dress Ink" imprint from Harlequin, very Bridget-Jones-ish heroines, imperfect and sassy, sometimes slutty, mostly working in publishing (what's UP with that??)...you know. Those books are always quick and satisfying.
I was super intrigued by the back cover description of the next RDI in line, Inappropriate Men:
With her marriage spiraling toward divorce, sexually confident and unapologetically sized-24 Sidney Stein finds herself drawn into an illicit affair with Geoffrey Fahl -- not only married and twenty years her senior, but also her father's business partner. Perilously close to falling in love with this man who is so very wrong for her and knowing there's no future in the relationship, Sidney decides it's time to turn her life around.
Newly separated from her husband, Sidney dives into the dating pool. And after more than a dozen dates, a disastrous transitional guy and reconnecting with a high school crush, she can't help but wonder if it might not just be easier to let herself drown. But just as she stops looking for the ideal man, someone else arrives . . .and he might just be everything she never knew she always wanted.
Experience the love, joy and heartbreak of Sidney Stein in Stacey Ballis's debut novel. Neither pat nor predictable, Inappropriate Men is laugh-out-loud funny without compromising intelligence.
I'd never read a chick-lit book about a plus-sized heroine (and NO, Bridget's 130-lb "weight problem" doesn't count) who is *happy* with her body, and that word "unapologetically" in the back cover matter was a shocker to me. I wasn't far from that size at the time, and I couldn't imagine ANYONE in the double-digit sizes would be happy with their body. I hated my body, hated mirrors, hated my clothes, and just knew that I was unlucky in love because no man would ever want someone as fat as me. And, ironically, I was never, ever treated badly because of my weight. One boyfriend had told me he didn't find me as attractive as he used to because of the extra weight, but I knew he was a dick anyway. I've been blessed to have such wonderful people around me who don't give a shit how I look (and who don't feel the need to offer "helpful" suggestions about losing weight).
So this book....it was a freakin' page-turner. I loved everything about it. It was funny, dirty, illicit, and I adored the heroine. Her weight wasn't a focus, just another characteristic--as important as her hair color or her height.
I think that book really began my reluctant (and definitely ongoing) acceptance of myself. This girl was no different than me in size...why doesn't she care as much? She's stylish and sexual and hot, because she KNOWS she is. It was so, so, so refreshing.
And I began to realize....maybe there *are* men who can stand this body. Or even, who prefer it.
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