Step Talk

This book is so wonderful! It's like sitting under a shade tree during the summer and eating a fudgepop while watching the poolboy at work.

I really liked the book for many reasons. The main character, Cannie, is not one of those slender, goddesses of the romance novel covers that it shares the shelf with. She is realistic. Overweight, poor self-image, trying to heal a broken heart (and nationwide embarassment), smart, sarcastic, and the fat-women's revolutionary leader. She's also in pain, loves her dog and her newly lesbian (and somewhat pushy) mother. Everything about this book is out of the ordinary...which is what makes it so great.

Cannie's journey through the insecurities of being young, newly single, and fat (a lot like me a while back!) through great triumphs and unimaginable pain to self-acceptance and (gasp!) self-respect calls attention to the struggles that are being dealt with every day by each of us in our own ways. Every person will identify with this book in one way or another.

The bit characters in the book are a bit cliche sometimes, but that also lends to the fact that there really are people in our own lives who are uninspiring, unoriginal, and, frankly, un-EVERYTHING. The main characters feel like they could be the people in the cubicle next to you, or in that wierd house down the street that never cuts their lawns, the person you sit next to in the doctor's office waiting room, or that chick on the Harley that cuts you off on your way to the grocery store. Haven't you ever wondered who they are or how they came to be in the same place at the same time as you (or flip the bird to you with such panache)?

Highly recommended - I'm on my third time reading it.