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The Weight of It: A Story of Two Sisters

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Author: Amy Wilensky
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$23.00~~
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Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.9

ISBN: 0805073124
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.398
EAN: 9780805073126
ASIN: 0805073124

Publication Date: February 5, 2004
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Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read - Recycle - Reuse!

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
divbA deeply affecting memoir about the bond between two sisters#8212;and the 150 pounds that nearly separated them/bbrbrAs young girls, a year apart in age, Alison and Amy Wilensky were almost indistinguishable. And they were inseparable: growing up in a comfortable Boston suburb, they were never far from each other#8217;s side, wearing matching dresses, playing the same games, eating the same food. But Alison began gaining weight in elementary school and by the time she was sixteen was morbidly obese. The sisters remained close, but over the years the daily indignities and affronts endured by Alison took their toll, reshaping her identity indelibly and affecting the sisters#8217; relationship in unanticipated ways.brbrIn her late twenties, Alison underwent gastric bypass surgery, in the wake of which she lost more than 150 pounds and achieved the shape she#8217;d dreamed of for so much of her life. It wasn#8217;t just her body that was transformed: every significant relationship in her life was profoundly altered. brbriThe Weight of It /iis a universal story of how we discover what makes us who we are, and how we become the people we want to be. Amy Wilensky is uniquely equipped to write this book, and she does so with fine perception, insight, and compassion. brbr/div

Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...

1 out of 5 stars

yuck. September 12, 2008
Wilensky writes "It's not fair to criticize what you don't understand" (p. 86), and yet she still wrote this book.br /br /I found this story off-putting on a number of levels. The author's affinity for a few snazzy smart sounding words that fall disjointedly in the text mars the story itself: apocalypse (x2), insouciance, eschew/ing/s/ed (x5), "the entire oeuvre of Marguerite Dumas", and "on an even numbered day" (x2). With so many words available I found the repetition baffling. To be clear, I am neither an author or associated with publishing houses, but between word choices and the editing itself, it left a great deal to be desired.br /br /I found the continual references to all-things-prestiege off-putting as well. It was wearying to read the continual references to Martha's Vineyard, Brown, RISD, Vassar, Nantucket, Armani, prep schools, etc. and I couldn't quite make the connection between Wilensky's upper crust background and the specifics of her sister's story except that both existed in the author's life. And what a Rhode Island restaurant recommendation has to do with her sister's morbid obesity is still a mystery. br /br /I really really wanted to like this book but, I'm sorry to say, I really really didn't. To me it read as an insensitively pretentious, tediously self-involved 'here's how my fat sister affected me' diatribe, with a few statistics thrown in to give it an authoritative voice. br /br /I absolutely believe that Wilensky adores Alison and Alison, her, but if I was Alison I would be mortified that this made it to press.

1 out of 5 stars

Not really about anything December 1, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book isn't really about anything. It is mostly little details about various events in the lives of the two sisters, with no actual point or meaning. There is in fact very little about weight loss, weight loss surgery, or the changes that took place in the girl's life after she had the surgery. Most of the book is dedicated to endless details about parties that the sisters held and shopping trips they took. There is also a one-and-a-half page quote from Alice in Wonderland. There are far too many trivial details and far too little actual interesting content regarding what Allison went through.br /What's more, this book isn't even in the first person. It's by the SISTER of someone who had weight loss surgery, so really has no idea what the experience is like. When I saw the book I bought it, curious as to how a story of human tragedy and triumph can be interesting when told from the point of view of someone who wasn't even there. Now I know: it can't.

3 out of 5 stars

There is a fascinating book here, but not on weight issues June 12, 2004
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Amy's sister Alison certainly sounds like a person that would be fascinating to know...immensely creative, complicated and colorful. I enjoyed reading about her very much. However, the subject of her weight gain and loss is not nearly enough to carry this book. It might have been, if she herself had written the book, but reading about someone's else's weight issues from a sister's perspective is not, frankly, that interesting. I'm not saying that Amy Wilensky is not a skilled writer, for she certainly is, and I loved a lot of the little details included here, but I think she would have done better to write a general family memoir or a portrait of her sister overall.pI also found upon finishing the book that I didn't really completely get her perspective and feelings about her sister pinned down. The book starts with a scene on an airplane where her sister Alison is portroyed quite negatively, and scattered throughout the book are other scenes like this. Sometimes they seem to be out of the narrative flow and I am not sure why they are included in the way they are...they seem a little mean-spirited alongside the more balanced parts of her characterization of Alison. I think perhaps Amy's feelings are still a bit in flux about her sister, and this book may have been better written with the perspective of a few more years.pI would not discourage buying or reading this book, and in fact I am quite eager to read Amy's other book, Passing for Normal, but I would not buy it if you are mainly interesting in reading about weight issues or weight loss surgery.

5 out of 5 stars

I loved this book. May 11, 2004
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

I am buying copies for all of my friends! The Weight of It is simply a beautifully written book that was difficult to put down. Wilensky examines herself, her family and her loving, imperfect relationship with her sister in a voice that is compelling, funny and fiercely smart. The author's exploration of her sibling relationship is flawed, complex and heartfelt, just as any balanced examination of a such a relationship must be. The story is peppered with poignant thoughts and facts about obesity, prejudice, gastric bypass surgery, sisterhood and identity. Throughout the book, Wilensky drives home an interesting, sad truth; obesity, like alcaholism, affects the entire family. After reading this book, I have more compassion for both the overweight and their families, and I know more about gastric bypass surgery as well. Any person who has struggled with his or her own weight, or who has pondered the causes and effects of obesity, will find this book fascinating.

3 out of 5 stars

just ok. April 14, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

As a memoir, I got that Amy was writing about HER experience, and her own identity in relation to her sister. But somehow, I still needed to see more about her sister, Alison. I read the book jacket again after I finished the book, and ultimately I think it missed the mark: the jacket writes about the stranger that Alison became post-op, but its hardly what was covered in the book. Indeed, we learn very little about Alison at all, and Amy appears guarded in discussing the relationship, almost clinical in her description of their relationship. There are some strong moments, but very little tenderness, and a lot of the drama falls flat.

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