This is Big - How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World (and Me)

Summary

'A life-changing book' Viv Groskop

Marisa Meltzer was put on her first diet aged five: it was the beginning of a fraught relationship with food.

Jean Nidetch was a housewife from Queens who defiantly lost 70 pounds after she was mistaken for being pregnant. Taking everything she learned from this experience, in 1963 she founded Weight Watchers, a company that has shaped decades of diet culture.

When Marisa reads Jean's obituary, she feels a moment of intense connection. Curious about the woman and her legacy, she signs up for a year of Weight Watchers; counting points, weighing in and listening to her fellow members struggle with their bodies.

This is Big is a biography of an idiosyncratic entrepreneur whose impact is still felt strongly today. It is a history of dieting and body politics for anyone who has agonised over their weight or defiantly tried not to do so. And it is Marisa's funny and thoughtful journey towards a different way to live in the world.

'This is the anti-diet book I've been waiting for' Daisy Buchanan

Product details

• Authors: Marisa Meltzer
• Publisher: Vintage UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 04.11.2021
• EAN: 9781784708429
• ISBN: 978-1-78470-842-9
• No. of pages: 352
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 198 mm x 15 mm
• Subjects: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs, Biography: business & industry, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Business, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies, Memoirs, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Feminism & Feminist Theory, HEALTH & FITNESS / Diet & Nutrition / Weight Loss, Diets & dieting, Feminism & feminist theory, Social and cultural history, Gender studies: women, Diets and dieting, nutrition, Biography: business and industry, Feminism and feminist theory, Gender studies: women and girls