He isøthe epitome of health?or a walking time bomb. He is oversexed?or sexless. He is jolly?or hiding the tears of a clown. He is the picture of wealth and plenty?or the bloated, malnourished emblem of poverty. He is the fat man?a cultural icon, a social enigma, a pressing medical issue?and he is the subject of this remarkably rich book. The figures that Sander L. Gilman considers, from the ugly fat man with the beautiful sylph trapped inside to the smart fat boy to the aging body desirous of rejuvenation, appear and reappear in different guises throughout Western culture. And as is often true of marginal cases, they serve to define the shifting center of our dreams and beliefs. A tentative exploration in the world of male body fantasies, Gilman?s book asks how the representation of the fat man alters with time and alters how men relate to their own bodies and the bodies of others, both men and women. His examples?ranging from Santa Claus to Sancho Panza, from Falstaff to Babe Ruth, from Nero Wolfe to Al Roker?illustrate the complexity perennially associated with fat men. From discourses about normality to the playing fields of baseball, from Greek male beauty to the fat detective, Gilman?s book examines and illuminates how cultures have imagined and portrayed the fat boy.

Where and Why The Fat Boy’s Book was written... Sitting quietly at Chambers of Commerce luncheons and banquets, waiting my turn on the lecture platform, gave me the idea of the need for a Fat Boy’s Book. I began to observe around me the hodge-podge collection of “banker’s shapes,” affluent men who had made good, then relaxed and put on bay windows. Then I looked at myself. It was nice to see so much success in America, Land of Big Appetites and Opportunity, but, unfortunately, success had settled at the belt lines. So, surrounded by my best inspirations, I started to write, and many a Chamber secretary will now know for the first time what I was scribbling on the back of the song sheet “God Bless America!” It was The Fat Boy’s Book. BE A MAN OF DISTINCTION: SWITCH FROM FAT TO TRIM

Fat from an early age, the author had an obese adolescence that last into his 30s. Despite having lost more than 130 pounds three times, he weighed 365 in October 1991, when he began accepting that he might be a food addict, and undertaking the practices and treatments designed for alcoholics. "Fat Boy Thin Man" relates what it was like to grow up fat, what it was like to experience reliable improvement in his health and lifestyle, and what about his experience relates to others. The second line of his book assures readers he isn't a guru; he shares what was shared with him by others. "Fat Boy Thin Man" will delight readers who enjoy humorous, engaging, real-life stories of redemption. But it will also serve readers who suffer, or whose loved ones suffer, with obesity that they have tried and failed to resolve repeatedly.

A heartrending novel about one man’s search for meaning in a difficult life A child ridiculed for his weight, a son overshadowed by a favored brother, a husband who falls short of his wife’s ambitions, an old man with a broken heart… As Orbits’s life passes, he doggedly pursues a simple dream — a little place in the country where a family might thrive — while wondering if he can ever shake free of the tragedies that seem to define him. Fatboy Fall Down is the lush and heartbreaking musings of a man trying to understand his place in the world. Though shot through with sadness, Fatboy Fall Down is also full of surprising moments of wry humor, and Rabindranath Maharaj's deft touch underscores the resilience of the human spirit.

Sixteen-year-old Carlos Duarte is on the verge of realizing his dream of becoming a famous make-up artist, but first he must face his jealous boss at a Macy's cosmetics counter, his sister's abusive boyfriend, and his crush on a punk-rocker classmate.

Way out west, in the tumbling greens of England, something’s going down. Two boys attempt an escape from the clutches of their poisonous parents… A good policeman fights to sidestep the corruption that blows like hellfire down his neck… A calamitous filmmaker and her witless lead actor scramble desperately to overcome their mucky pasts and make a Hollywood hit… A trio of nude-nutted nasties thrash their way through the picturesque countryside, collecting debts but finding more than they expected… Then there’s Captain Grubbe: the eminent, manipulative and falsely titled antichrist. He hosts a spectacular annual Christmas party, and this year’s is set to be even more extraordinary than usual. Fat Boy is a treacherously fictitious rhapsody, taking a tongue-in-cheek look at the best and the worst of humanity and treating it with the disrespect it deserves - love and hate, corruption and extortion, car chases, gunfights and high jinks, all set against the green and pleasant landscapes of the English countryside. It is ludicrous. It is raucous. It is a modern classic. "Fat Boy really was something else; refreshing, different and quintessentially British. I will certainly be following this author with some interest in the future." - Grant Leishman, Readers’ Favorite "The best thing about this book is the descriptions the author employs to create character and scene. It is so scrumptious that I found myself lost in its delicacy and sad when it had gone. There are moments in the descriptive writing that really showcase the talent this author has and touch all the senses." - Nicole Howard, Writer's Digest

Fat Boy and the Champagne Salesman offers a compelling behind-the-scenes exploration of the road to World War II and the invasion of Poland by the Hitler's Third Reich. Focusing on the personal power plays within Hitler's inner circle, author Rush Loving details the struggle for Hitler's approval, long before the battle for Poland had begun. The rivalry was between "Fat Boy," the moniker given to Hermann Göring by his fellow Nazi generals, and "the Champagne Salesman," Joachim von Ribbentrop, nicknamed for his previous career, and it was at the heart of Germany's plans for the expansion of the Reich into Poland. Göring, founder of the Lüftwaffe and the man who oversaw the armaments industry, was convinced that any invasion of Poland would lead to war with England and France, who were committed to its defense. Von Ribbentrop, Hitler's foreign minister, argued that the Allies would stand down and continue their policy of appeasement. Only one would be proved correct. An engrossing and dramatic tale, Fat Boy and the Champagne Salesman shows Göring and Ribbentrop playing a tug-of-war with Hitler's will. Loving's vivid narrative of the struggle between the two advisers lends a new understanding of the events leading to the opening days of World War II.

In this outstanding, funny, and edgy debut, Going tells an engaging story of two unlikely friends who meet when a high-school dropout talks a boy out of suicide--and who ultimately save each other.

From Geoff Herbach, the award-winning author of the hit young adult novels Stupid Fast and Nothing Special, comes the ultimate underdog story, which will resonate with anyone who has suffered from teasing and bullying at the hands of the high school social hierarchy—and decided to do something about it. (Previously titled Fat Boy vs The Cheerleaders.) Gabe is having a tough week. Normally the funny kid at the lunch table, he's on edge from trying to kick his soda addiction. So when news breaks that his beloved marching band camp has been cancelled due to lack of funding, he's furious. What makes him even madder? The school's vending machine money—which had previously been collected by the band—is now sponsoring the new cheer squad. The war is ON. And Gabe is leading the charge. No one will be safe from the Geekers' odd brand of wrath: not the principal, the band teacher, the local newspaper, and certainly not the cheerleaders and their jock boyfriends. Get ready: Life at Minnekota Lake Area High School is about to change. Gabe Johnson is taking over. "A funny, uplifting, and rousing book that'll make readers think. In other words, it's a real gem." —K. M. Walton, author of Cracked and Empty

Teased and abused for being grossly overweight, Jimmy, a fourteen-year-old Scottish boy who dreams mysterious dreams and secretly aspires to become a chef, decides to turn his self-loathing life around by learning how to swim.