Dietland - Paperback

by Sarai Walker (Author)

A Best Book of the Year: Entertainment Weekly - Bustle - Women's National Book Association - Kirkus Reviews - BookPage - LitReactor

"Dietland completely blew me away. It's audacious and gutsy and heartbreaking and I want to grab women on the street and shake them until they promise to read it--and also buy copies for their daughters." --Jennifer Weiner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good In Bed and In Her Shoes,

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you're fat, to be noticed is to be judged. With her job answering fan mail for a teen magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. But when a mysterious woman in colorful tights and combat boots begins following her, Plum falls down a rabbit hole into the world of Calliope House -- an underground community of women who reject society's rules -- and is forced to confront the real costs of becoming "beautiful." At the same time, a guerilla group begins terrorizing a world that mistreats women, and Plum becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive.

"A giddy revenge fantasy that will shake up your thinking and burrow under your skin" (Entertainment Weekly), Dietland takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality, and our weight-loss obsession -- with fists flying.

Front Jacket

The diet revolution is here. And it s armed.

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. Or mocked. Or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Only then can her true life as a thin person finally begin.

But when Plum notices she s being followed by a mysterious woman in colorful tights and combat boots, she finds herself falling down a rabbit hole into the world of Calliope House, a community of women who live life on their own terms. Reluctant but intrigued, Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with the real costs of becoming beautiful. At the same time, a dangerous guerrilla group begins to terrorize a world that mistreats women, and as Plum grapples with her personal struggles, she becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive.

Part coming-of-age story, part revenge fantasy, Dietland is a bold, original, and funny debut novel that takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality, and our weight-loss obsession from the inside out and with fists flying.
"

Back Jacket

Praise for Dietland

Dietland is a book I have been waiting for someone to write all my life, and it hit me hard right where I live, right where so many of us have wasted too much time living. It s courageous, compassionate, intelligent, pissed off, and much more fun than it has any right to be. I can think of twenty people I want to buy it for, without even trying.
Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted


Sarai Walker s audacious, hilarious, yet surprisingly touching novel begins by spoofing the weight-loss industry and moves on to a devastating fantasy in which an avenger known as Jennifer targets men who prey on women. Through it all marches Plum, a fat woman who learns to love herself as she is, and whom I loved at all stages of her education. Keenly intelligent, daring, and original, Dietland has something important to say to us all.
Alice Mattison, author of The Book Borrower


Sarai Walker is an immensely talented writer and her debut novel, Dietland filled with wit, wisdom, and wonder is a pleasure.
Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life


The first rule of Dietland is you should definitely talk about Dietland. And I suspect you ll want to. Gather your book clubs, gather all the Jennifers you know! At first you ll think you re reading a familiar story: a woman who works at a women s magazine tries to lose weight. And then POW! Dietland lithely moves in ways and to places you won t expect. Sarai Walker has a wonderfully curious mind, and this is an impressive, ambitious first novel.
Gabrielle Zevin, best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry


Sarai Walker has written a call to arms. Devious, subversive, delightful, Dietland is a Scum Manifesto set to a pop music beat and Plum Kettle is a feminist hero for the modern age.
Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones
"

Author Biography

SARAI WALKER received her M.F.A. in creative writing from Bennington College. Her articles have appeared in national publications, including Seventeen and Mademoiselle, and she served as an editor and writer for Our Bodies, Ourselves. Dietland is her first novel.