Book Description Review “An essay collection focused on media representations of the body, Chloé Hilliard’s F*ck Your Diet is an irreverent must-read. Examining the quest for the so-called perfect body — a quest used to fuel Western consumerism — comedian Hilliard writes of her once-fraught relationship with her body, in the hope that others can find their way out of the yo-yo dieting cycle.” —Bustle One of Book Riot’s “8 New Books You Won’t Be Able to Put Down.” One of Essence’s “24 Books Written By Black Authors That We Can’t Wait To Read This Winter.” Featured in Kirkus’s “The 8 Most Buzzed About Books Right Now.” “Chloé is the hilarious voice of reason we all need right now. I’m very grateful for this book.” —Amy Schumer “F*ck Your Diet isn’t merely a hilarious memoir of Hilliard’s own personal journey with health and wellness—it’s a well-researched study on diet culture, public policies that helped shape many health crises, and the history of Eurocentric standards of beauty. Her struggles with diet and body image are universally relatable and laugh-out-loud funny (she is a comedian, after all), but she pulls no punches in her research on how public policy and the media often set marginalized people up for failure (she’s also a journalist, after all).” —Book Riot “Smart, inspiring and hilarious. Chloé lets it all hang out. We should too.” —Wanda Sykes “F*ck Your Diet has received stellar reviews from everyone from Marc Lamont Hill to MTV Decoded’s Franchesca Ramsey, who called it ‘a witty whip-smart exploration of the ways society has screwed up the way we see our bodies.’ Let Ramsey tell it, your younger, less secure self needed this.” —Refinery29 “Informative, inspiring, and often hilarious. Fresh, whip-smart wisdom that will appeal most to women battling weight and self-esteem issues.” —Kirkus “A heartfelt, amusing essay collection…The author’s self-love message will resonate with readers who appreciate narratives of personal and professional fulfillment.”—Publishers Weekly “A witty, whip-smart exploration of the ways society has screwed up the way we see our bodies. Chloé blends together comedy and journalism in exciting and entertaining fashion. If only I could go back and time and give this book to my younger, less secure self.” –Franchesca Ramsey, host of MTV’s Decoded & author of Well, That Escalated Quickly “Hysterical and honest, Chloé Hilliard holds nothing back in this f*cking JOY of a read!” —Jes Baker, author and creator of the Militant Baker “F*ck Your Diet is the perfect recipe of raw humor, fresh insight, and sharp honesty. This book will disrupt your thinking on food, identity, and society. More important, it will inspire you to reimagine yourself and the world on more loving and humane terms. This offering marks Chloé Hilliard’s emergence as one of the most important and original voices of her generation.” —Marc Lamont Hill, Professor of Media Studies, Temple University and Host of BET News “More than just memoir. This is a personal story that illustrates how the most intimate aspects of existence—the way our bodies look, the way we feel about and feed them, the quality of our lives—are shaped by history and public policy, by capitalism and by the environments we live in . . . But don’t worry. This book is still funny. In fact, it’s frequently hysterical.” —BookPage “F*ck Your Diet is essential reading for anyone who knows—or needs to learn—that there’s more to life than losing weight.” —Bustle “Let [Hillard’s] book, which has been hyped by Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, f*ck your diet.” —Glamour “T his is the perfect combo of memoir, humor, and hard-hitting social commentary to keep you engaged from beginning to end, and it will absolutely help you kickstart your 2020 reading.” —Book Riot Read more About the Author Chloé Hilliard is a writer and comedian who first appeared as a semi-finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and went on to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, and more. Prior to her comedy career, she was a culture and entertainment journalist whose work has been featured in The Village Voice, Essence, Vibe, and The Source. Find out more at ChloeHilliard.com. Read more Customers Review: What a great read! And it’s not just for the ladies. Chloe’s insightful honesty about her relationship with food and body image resonates deeply with those of us who grew up fat in the 80s and 90s. Many times I found my self laughing out loud because I’d had a similar or exact same experiences. The hardest thing to believe is that this is Chloé’s first book. Tremendous execution, and dare I say “a triumph of will and the human spirit.” And just like her standup, she sneaks in fun facts and historical tidbits that shed light on how we got here. Best seller vibes. MORE CHLOÉ!
Chloe Hilliard is a female comedienne who has had it with diets. In fact, F Your Diet.This is a humorous book describing the author’s journey from fried Southern food to veganism (mostly). Beginning as a young child, Chloe was thick. Chocolate was her first word. She had a “torrid love affair with cereal”. Many of her stories, like being forced to eat everything on her plate because of starving African children, will seem eerily familiar—at least to women of a certain age and girth.However, it is also much more. As the author states, “I never imagined this would venture into systematic oppression, political agendas, conspiracy theories, sex tips, and traumatizing relationships.” If you love food documentaries like Super Size Me and Food, Inc., you should read F Your Diet—especially if you are a thick woman of any color. I enjoyed it plus it made me forgive myself for the French fries I ate for breakfast this morning. 4 stars!Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.From the moment I saw the title, I knew I needed to read this book. It clearly spoke to me. I’m going to confess that I had absolutely no idea who Chloé Hilliard was … and I almost prefer it that way. I mean, yeah, sure, I read books from comedians I know, but sometimes it’s fun just to discover some nonfiction with no pre-judgment or expectations.This book is part memoir, part social commentary. It’s one woman’s journey to self-acceptance, while also acknowledging the ways society sets her up for failure.When I picked up this book, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, and overall, I was pleasantly surprised. Hilliard clearly has spent some time poking around in my brain, because this book was so freaking relatable, despite the few times her and I just didn’t see eye-to-eye.My Thoughts:- There were several chapters that were enlightening as to what it’s like growing up as a lower class black girl, and it was nice seeing another person’s perspective. Some of the experiences were funny, especially regarding Hilliard’s grandmother and family, and some were just insightful and uplifting. Of course, some were downright depressing, because life happens. The thing I particularly loved is that Hilliard was honest and raw about all of it, even the negative things, and constantly emphasized the fact that life is a journey. It can’t all be coasting downhill.- At times, there’s a hard critical look at the role/place of people of color in society in general. If you can’t go in with an open mind, this book probably isn’t for you, because it’s got some hard truths and some even harder opinions. Hilliard doesn’t shy away from the race thing. Hilliard doesn’t take a “woe is me” approach, and often tries to lighten social commentary with humor surrounding her own experience, which made it a nice balance of lightness with the dark. The way Hilliard called out problems while also finding the positives in them and the potential they can lead to something made it more of an uplifting read.- Hilliard talks a lot about body image and an attempt to get healthy, and I feel attacked, y’all, but also oddly seen? There were times I just couldn’t stop laughing, because her struggles were things I also struggled with. Clearly, we’re kindred souls whose thighs are just undermining everything we try to do. Hilliard takes the reader through a montage of diets and fitness regimes she tried with varying success, always with a slightly tongue-in-cheek approach.- I went into this book expecting 100% less facts and statistics than were presented. I was impressed, not gonna lie. I thought this would just be cute little anecdotes, but nope. Hilliard cuts no slack at all in calling out problems with society, backed up with statistics (and yes, she cites her sources). The book doesn’t read like a dissertation, don’t get me wrong, but she’s clearly thought about her past experiences and added up all the factors that led her there.Sticking Points:- Hilliard is very passionate about some things, so her narrative at times becomes very preachy and prescriptive. Which felt weird, considering the overall vibe the book seems to be going for is love yourself and overall acceptance.- I confess: I skimmed some parts that made me uncomfortable. Which is somewhat disappointing, because the point of those sections was that the conversations were important to have, even if they were uncomfortable, but … it wasn’t a conversion, it was a book, and therefore, I passed.- Based on the title and blurb, I thought this would be about Hilliard’s struggle with weight and self-acceptance, and it was, but it was also a whole lot more, to the point where it felt a little random. There were a lot of chapters about a lot of things, and it eventually came back to the health/weight stuff, but it was sometimes a bit meandering. It wasn’t bad, necessarily, but I didn’t expect it, and I had a little trouble at times following the train of thought and circling back to the original idea.
*I received an advanced copy of this book from Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.”… perfection is overrated and impossible to achieve. Understanding that frees you up to focus on being healthy, unique, and confident. That is my prayer for you.”I really enjoyed reading “F*ck Your Diet: And Other Things My Thighs Tell Me”. It was super relatable and educational. I experienced all the emotions while reading this book. I laughed out loud often, became teary eyed at some parts and angry at other times (due to the treatment toward Chloé), but overall I was inspired.Although we differ in age and race, I felt like we had shared experiences to varying degrees with our relationship with food, being bullied because of weight, struggling with self worth, and trying out different diets/lifestyle choices (being vegetarian, vegan, etc).I feel like Chloé was extremely courageous to share her experiences as it takes a lot of vulnerability to do so. I am thankful that she did, because it was comforting to know I wasn’t alone in my own experiences with food, weight gain and struggling with self worth.I really loved how funny this book was and how Chloé used humor to cut some of the seriousness. I usually listen to audio books of comedic writers like Mindy Kaling, Tiffany Haddish and Phoebe Robinson, but I still had laugh out loud moments despite not reading them in the pace/delivery exactly from the author.I also really loved the research and history included in each chapter to get her point across. It was very compelling and I learned a ton I never knew about Reagan, Kellogg’s, racial bias in healthcare and plastic surgery, just to name a few.I hope other readers get as much as I did out of her memoir. It’s certainly a journey and hard work towards loving the skin you’re in and to focus on being healthy vs a weight goal. I felt like this book helped to give me some motivation to take steps towards loving myself and making better decisions.Thank you for sharing a bit about your life, Chloé! |
6 reviews