Just a little over three weeks until my next book, Unshrinking, is out, on Tuesday January 9. (No worries if you’re not up for book news and sundry—feel free to delete this, which is likely the penultimate time I’ll make a book post.) I’ll be real: I’m getting very nervous. But it’s such a privilege to have gotten to write a book like this, exploring the fatphobia that’s long dogged me, and its intersection with the misogyny that’s been a decade-long preoccupation. So I’m trying to feel grateful rather than anxious or try to read the tea leaves—well, too much, anyway.
Help?
That being said, I’d be so appreciative if any of you, my loyal readers, would be willing to help make this book’s message as far-reaching as it can be, so we can continue having the vital conversations about these topics that I hope this book contributes to. In that spirit, here are a few things you can do to help me get the good word out, and send the message to booksellers and news outlets that this book deserves to take up space, just like we all do.
Pre-order, if you have the time and means and inclination (and haven’t already, obviously). You can do so from your local independent bookseller (my recommendation) or, if that’s what’s accessible to you, the bad place too of course. You can also get the audiobook at Audible or Libro.fm. (And I narrate it!) Pre-orders are essential to ensuing a trade book like this one gets stocked in bookstores, is remotely well-placed there, and is covered and reviewed in the media. I know wanting to sell books can sound crass, but it simply matters for moving the needle in this conversation.
Oh, and speaking of pre-orders, here’s the UK and the Australian version for my international (and hometown) readers.
If pre-ordering isn’t in your budget, you can order a copy from your local library instead—and, if they have one on order already, you can put it on reserve there.
Leave a goodreads review (whenever—and I know some of you will be receiving advanced copies this week) and/or an amazon review (no matter where you buy it from, after it’s been published). This is SO incredibly helpful. Ratings without reviews are great too, if that’s what you have the bandwidth for. Finally, simply marking the book as “want to read” on goodreads is also super-helpful. (Since I’m expecting the book to get some horrible reviews, and some fatphobic trolling—as well as good-faith, fruitful disagreement, of course—this is all deeply appreciated.)
Tell your friends, family members, students, or book clubs if you think they might be interested. And, hey, if you’re interested in getting me to zoom into a class or a book club or similar, let me know, and I’ll try my very best to make it happen.
Post about the book on social media, if you’d like to. Goodness, this is so helpful! You can tag me too, and I will be forever grateful.
No pressure to do any of these things, of course—but they do help a great deal, and I figure it doesn’t hurt to ask here (as opposed to most other places on the internet). And look at how pretty she is! My copies arrived just yesterday. (You can’t objectify a book, fortunately.)
A Book Tour
Friends, I’ve never done this before—my first book was too academic, and my second was published in 2020, and well, you remember how that went—but I’m going on a little book tour, with some pretty amazing interlocutors who I can’t wait to be in conversation with. Here are my dates, and I’d be thrilled to see and/or meet any of you if you feel like attending. Please help me avoid this fate! Which does keep me up at night. All of these events are free and open to the public.
Tuesday January 9, 2023
Buffalo Street Books, with Adrienne Bitar
2pm ET, Ithaca, NY
Wednesday January 10, 2023
eCornell keynote, “Fatphobia: Our Bodies are Not the Problem”
1pm ET, online event (open to all who register, not just Cornell folks)
Thursday January 11, 2023
Family Action Network (event link coming soon), with Roxane Gay
8pm ET/7pm CT, online event (with a special “after hours” meeting with me and Roxane for those who purchase a copy of the book from their partner bookseller, The Book Stall)
Saturday January 12, 2023
171 Cedar Arts Center (in conjunction with Card Carrying Books and Gifts)
Corning, NY, evening (more details and event link coming soon)
Monday January 22, 2023
Harvard Book Store, with Sally Haslanger
7pm ET, Cambridge, MA
Wednesday January 24, 2023
Montclair Public Library, with Kate Tuttle
6.30pm ET, Montclair, NJ
Friday January 26, 2023
Community Bookstore, with Virginia Sole-Smith
7pm ET, Brooklyn, NY
Saturday January 27, 2023
Politics and Prose Bookstore, with Emily Esfahani Smith
3pm ET, Washington, DC
A few more to come, hopefully, including some international dates! I also have to figure out what on earth I am wearing. Maybe this dress?
Another Review
Finally, I’m happy to say that Unshrinking received a starred review from Booklist, another early reviewer. Here’s Rebecca Hopman’s incredibly generous review:
Philosopher Manne is unapologetic in this brilliant takedown of fatphobia. “Our bodies are not the problem,” she writes, asserting that the true problem is the structural fatphobia that oppresses people whose bodies do not conform to arbitrary standards. Combining rigorous research, well-reasoned arguments, and lucid prose, Manne examines how fatphobia shows up in every facet of life: home, school, work, the doctor’s office, and in public. From a young age, fat people are shamed by both complete strangers and close friends and relatives, who routinely thinsplain, gaslight, and otherwise police fat bodies. Manne makes it clear that fatphobia often intersects with racism, transphobia, ableism, misogyny, and classism. She writes movingly about her own struggles with fatphobia and coming to terms with her body and weaves in the experiences of many well-known fat activists, providing readers with a host of voices to seek out at greater length. Manne’s book is wide-ranging, accessible, and engaging. She ends with a compelling call to dismantle fatphobia and embrace all bodies as they are. “Your body is for you. We are not responsible for pleasing others.” An essential addition to the growing body of literature on the experiences of fat people and fighting fatphobia.
Hopman adds that the book is of YA as well as general interest, since “teens facing fatphobia or struggling with body image will find comfort and strength in Manne’s message.”
Readers, do you have any questions about Unshrinking? About my mini-book tour? Any words of wisdom or encouragement for dealing with the pre-publication jitters? (A nice problem to have, I know, but still unfortunately a real one.)
Please come west, Ms. Professor.
California is not a cultural wasteland.
You would be welcomed with open arms.
So exciting!! I'll come on the 24th or 26th for sure :)