I'm Not the New Me by Wendy McClure Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of I'm Not the New Me
Book Review: Another Urban Hipster's Search for...What is she searching for?
Summary: 2 Stars
Depsite its autobiographical nature, "I'm Not The New Me" is really just another piece of chick lit. It's another Gen-X hipster writing witty, sarcastic and cynical stuff on life in the big city. The only difference is that this woman is fat and trying not to be. At first I sympathized, I really did. She struggled so hard to lose weight. She wanted that magnet! Then the book stopped being about weight loss. It was about her relationships (that all seemed to fail), her blog, and eventually became a book about writing a book and was hardly about weight loss at all. I suppose it was for the best considering McClure's desire to "lose weight" rather than "be healthy". She struggled for her magnet while smoking, drinking heavily, and not always exercising regularly. In other words, she was really making no effort to improve her lifestyle, just trying to be thinner.
I was originally a fan of the Pound site, but once I read this book, I was very put off by Wendy McClure and her observations. The book had its amusing points, but in the end, felt like an ego trip.
Book Review: A winning memoir!
Summary: 4 Stars
Wendy McClure's memoir is a funny, heartfelt story about modern life as a twenty- or thirty-something. McClure happens to be larger than the average/ideal/typical/whatever single female. She's a girl who sits in a bar, waiting for friends, and gets told by an older, drunk man that she would be much happier and fulfilled if only she could buckle down and lose thirty pounds. When she does decide to lose weight, her goals include being able to shop in any store she wants, to be judged on something other than her looks, to blend in like any other smart, funny, single woman.
While a weight loss journey is what ties the entire narrative together, the success of the book rests on McClure's spot-on observations and humor. I enjoyed my time with Wendy, and I'd love to read more about her life. Don't miss out on her book of kooky Weight Watcher's recipe cards: The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan.
Book Review: smart, funny, relevant -- what more could you want?
Summary: 3 Stars
this book is freaking hilarious. i related to it very much, and left me with plenty to think about on my own road to self-acceptance. while some lament the blogger-turned-author trend, i tend to embrace it. i really don't care how mcclure entered the literary world, i'm just glad she's here, giving us someone intelligent and funny to read on the topic of weight issues. she needs to write more of them, and we need more writers like her.Book Review: Refreshingly honest, poignant and comforting
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first book I've read in which the author does not have a goal to make sure she's living happily everafter by the end of the book. Finally! Wendy McClure writes the truth of her life, from her actual weight numbers to experiences as a child watching her mother battle her own weight issues. Wendy's story is parallel to my own and I'm sure thousands of other womens' stories across the world as well. It is nice to finally come across an author with whom I can truly relate. Laugh with her as she points out the differences of Weight Watchers from decades ago to now. Cry with her as, like so many of us, she stumbles into love and out of it. Wendy McClure writes her real journey and manages to be funny all at the same time. I highly recommend "I'm Not the New Me!"Book Review: stop encouraging authors who write books like this
Summary: 1 Stars
blogging has created a monster; droves upon droves of people who think that they are somehow important, interesting, different, and worthy of the attention they get from bored and lonely internet people. this wouldn't be a huge deal if it was confined to the internet, but these people are starting to write semi-autobiographical novels.
wendy mcclure can definitely be funny-- in fact, if she had chosen to write a book where the main character wasn't HER, i'd be totally into it. but as a fellow fat person and a person who has tried weight watchers (and as a person with a 10 year old online journal), i can see right through her. i know what she's leaving out. her fat shame is obvious on every page and i know what details she's leaving out, what details she's including. and, frankly, she's just not that interesting. she's nowhere near as interesting as a character that she invented could be, and there's the problem.
of course you should write what you know. of course every character you write about is YOU, partially, or at least someone you know. but there are ways to create a character with you in her who isn't just you, who doesn't live your normal boring life, who isn't just you with a fantasy life, and who isn't embarrassingly free of flaws and negative qualities like a character would have to be when you're just writing about yourself.
and as a side note i thought the way she talked about her mother was really gross. you can be crude and funny and candid without insulting the people you want to capture !