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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
''I ask a young 200-kilo patient what he snacks on. 'Nothing,' he says. I look him in the eye. Nothing? He nods. I ask him about his chronic skin infections, his diabetes. He tears up: 'I eat hot chips and fried dim sims and drink three bottles of Coke every afternoon. The truth is I'm addicted to eating. I'm addicted.' He punches his thigh.'
'In Fat City, Karen Hitchcock unpicks the idea of obesity as a disease. In a riveting blend of story and analysis, she explores chemistry, psychology and the impulse to excess to explain the West's growing obesity epidemic.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Down and Out in Fat City
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: Sūdō Journal , August no. 4 2022; (p. 79-87) 'I first read Fat City in 2013. At the time it was an article by Dr Karen Hitchcock in The Monthly but since then it has been republished in stand-alone format by Black Inc. In it, Hitchcock drew on her work with morbidly obese1 patients in order to address the question of who is responsible for the spread of obesity in contemporary society. I clicked a Facebook link, read the article numbly and clicked out feeling uncomfortable. Hitchcock claimed she didn’t dislike fat people, yet reading her article made me feel ashamed. I couldn’t explain why, so I pushed my embarassment down. No one else seemed to have read it that way, and I suspected the response to giving voice to my feelings would be, “Yes, but you are fat. You’re being oversensitive.” I tried to forget it, but the article continued to haunt me, even influencing my choice for an honours research topic.' (Introduction) -
Review : Fat City
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Good Reading , March 2016;
— Review of Fat City 2015 single work essay
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Review : Fat City
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Good Reading , March 2016;
— Review of Fat City 2015 single work essay -
Down and Out in Fat City
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: Sūdō Journal , August no. 4 2022; (p. 79-87) 'I first read Fat City in 2013. At the time it was an article by Dr Karen Hitchcock in The Monthly but since then it has been republished in stand-alone format by Black Inc. In it, Hitchcock drew on her work with morbidly obese1 patients in order to address the question of who is responsible for the spread of obesity in contemporary society. I clicked a Facebook link, read the article numbly and clicked out feeling uncomfortable. Hitchcock claimed she didn’t dislike fat people, yet reading her article made me feel ashamed. I couldn’t explain why, so I pushed my embarassment down. No one else seemed to have read it that way, and I suspected the response to giving voice to my feelings would be, “Yes, but you are fat. You’re being oversensitive.” I tried to forget it, but the article continued to haunt me, even influencing my choice for an honours research topic.' (Introduction)
Last amended 24 Jul 2015 08:19:46
