The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
- Shalini Prasad
- Oct 30, 2018
- 3 min read
Lazily scrolling through Instagram, I saw that a friend had reviewed Carolyn Mackler’s latest book, The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I. It was the sequel to her book, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, which was published 15 years ago. My friend had left raving reviews on this book and I had to check it out. So, I went back and read the first book in this two-part series.
Synopsis:
It might seem like Virginia’s life is pretty good, but nope, it’s actually not. In fact, her best—and only—friend, Shannon, has moved across the country, the older brother she idolizes has gone off to college, and her sister up and joined the Peace Corps. But these aren’t her biggest problems.
Her biggest problem is that she’s fat.
Fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves has a larger-than-average body and a plus-size inferiority complex, especially when she compares herself to her slim, brilliant, picture-perfect family. But that’s before a shocking phone call – and a horrifying allegation – about her rugby-star brother changes everything.
Review:
This book came out in 2003 and the way people view plus-size women has changed since then. But that still did not make this book an easy read. The main takeaway from the book is “Nobody is perfect”, which is a good message. However, there are a lot of things that go unaddressed in the book.
The author does not address all the disturbing things that are mentioned at the beginning of the book. Convinced she was switched at birth, Virginia feels like a misfit in her own family. She is very close to her older sister and idolizes her brother, but has difficulty relating to anyone in her family. She comes up with “The fat girl codes of conduct” life guide, which is horrible, to say the least. Her belief in how a fat girl should behave in a romantic relationship was so depressing to hear. Basically, you should just fool around with boys, in secret because it would be embarrassing for THE GUY if the word got out. She mentions that it is like she is “giving the milk for free”. Like, really?
Take her parents now. They are horrible people. A dad who ‘likes his women thin’ and openly comments about Virginia’s weight and a mom who is a child psychologist but is so dense when it comes to understanding her own daughter’s issues. She was also overweight as a child and she dumps all those insecurities on Virginia. Her mom is so concerned about staying thin and with what she is eating, I’d say she has an eating disorder as well.
The book also touched the topic of rape (not to Virginia) but did it terribly, as the rapist got as little punishment as a slap on the wrist. It was merely in the plot to make Virginia realize that who she thought of as perfect is essentially not.
The self-hate and self-harm are never truly addressed as a bad thing. The only mention of it is when Dr.Love recommends Virginia try kickboxing instead of hurting herself. This just creates the idea that self-harm is something one can just stop doing, which is not true in many cases. In addition to not discussing self-harm, the author also fails to discuss the eating disorders prevalent throughout the book. Virginia goes on a crash diet, not letting herself eat anything, her mom is always only ‘chewing on a piece of lettuce’, and Virginia notices the popular girl in school is bulimic but she does nothing about it.
Virginia goes from self-harming to self-love in a matter of days and I don’t think that is possible. I was a plus-size child and am a plus-size woman and I can tell you through my experience that it is not that easy. I have a decade more on Virginia and it can still be hard to love myself every moment of every day. So the fact that a simple eyebrow ring and colored hair can give her the perspective she needs in life seems a little far-fetched to me.
The book does have some good points. It was captivating and well written. Virginia’s narrations make the story more relatable. People who have been chubby and were criticized for it can relate to Virginia on many levels. Overall, this book is playing with dangerous material in a fairly unsafe manner, and it is not something to be read without discussion.
Rating: 2.5/5
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