Thin Is the New Happy

Written by Valerie Frankel

Narrated by Marie Caliendo

"Val Frankel is a woman of amazing insight. . . . Read this, weep, and heal."

—Stacy London, cohost of What Not to Wear

You've heard the phrase "the mirror is not your friend." For Valerie Frankel, the mirror was so much more than "not a friend." It was the mean girl who stole her lunch money, bitch-slapped her in the ladies' room, and cut the hair off her Barbie.

If you're like 99.9 percent of women, the war you wage with yourself over your body image begins at the ripe age of eight, and the skirmishes are fought for the next eight decades. Sometimes you don't even know when you've won. (How many of us have taken out a photo from high school and thought, "Hey! I looked great—why didn't I know it?") This book is for anyone who has spent most of her life on—or thinking about being on—a diet. It's for anyone who ever wished for candlelight in dressing rooms. It's for anyone who has ever owned a pair of "fat pants." In short, this book is for anyone who ever felt good or bad about themselves based on how they look.

Valerie Frankel, like most women, has spent most of her conscious life on a diet, thinking about a diet, ignoring a diet, or failing on a diet. At age eleven, her mother put Val on her first weight-loss program. As a teen, she was enrolled in Weight Watchers (for which she invented creative ditching methods). As a young woman, her world felt right only when she was able to zip a certain pair of jeans. Not wanting to pass this legacy on to her own daughters, Valerie set out to cleanse herself of her obsession. Thin Is the New Happy is the true story of one woman's quest to exorcise her bad body-image demons, to uncover the truths behind what put them there, and to learn how to truly love herself. It's a poignant, hilarious, and all-out honest account of one woman's struggle with body image—the filter through which she's always seen the world—and the way she ultimately overcame it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Sep 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781423370567

Valerie Frankel

Valerie Frankel has written over thirty books, including three New York Times bestsellers. Her articles have appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine; Parenting; Self; Glamour; Allure; and the New York Times, among other publications. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Reviews for Thin Is the New Happy

[emelymac · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

About 3/4 of the way through this one it started getting preachy. The chapter with Stacey London sounded completely cheesy. I felt like I was reading the actual script to an episode of What Not To Wear. There is no way you could actually get me to believe that they really had a conversation like that.

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Val was only 11 years old, her mother started in on her about dieting and losing weight. That has stayed with Val her entire life. This book tells of her struggle to stop the constant dieting. I really enjoyed reading this. Val had a tough time, not only at home, but was teased at school, as well. Each chapter focuses on one main thing in her life (though there are a few chapters about her mother, with whom she does have a good relationship now) like school, her rebelling as a teenager, each of her two husbands, and more. There is a chapter where her friend and coworker, Stacy London (yes, from What Not to Wear) helps her with her wardrobe. It was really fast to read. I hadn't even realized that she has also written a number of fiction books, and I might take a look at some of those, too.

[wineisme · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book for some perspective. Body image comes in many shapes and forms, literally and figuratively. I appreciate her candor and detail of a lifelong battle with her body. The moral of the story resonates with my mission to spread the 'non-diet' mentality to everyone, regardless of weight management needs. I love to exercise. I love to eat. I love to feel hungry and make the connection between what I'm eating and how I use the food as energy. Val experienced this revelation after much digging into her past and current relationships and environments. Kudos to Val for preaching the most simple messages of all: Live life. Love yourself, and do so actively. Be who you are for you.I suggest reading this book if you yourself are stuck in a diet rut and want a reality check. It doesn't matter what size you are, anyone who has ever struggled with wholly accepting his/her body will be able to relate to some aspect of Val's memoir.

[deesirings · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First, I should mention that I hadn't read the subtitle (i.e. a memoir) when I picked up this book and so I expected more of a social commentary on thinness in current North American culture. Second, I have read one novel by Frankel in the past and I did not like it. So my mindset going into her memoir may not have been the best. Compound this with the fact that I am a fat person and pretty much always have been, while she is writing about her experiences as someone who has carried a few extra pounds for much of her life (as opposed to actually being fat), and perhaps I was predisposed to just not really appreciate Frankel's perspective. But Frankel's memoir was an insightful read nonetheless. It wasn't what I expected but it worked for what it was. Frankel shares intimate portions of her past, including emotional abuse and bullying by other kids and her parents during her junior high years, a period of promiscuity in adulthood, and the death of her first husband. Frankel has experienced some very real challenges and has put it all out there for the reader before outlining some life lessons in positive body image by the end of her no-dieting journey to thinness. She is an admirable woman and I do appreciate that she was willing to share her story in print.