Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs: Summary and book reviews of Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs by Cheryl Peck, plus links to an excerpt from Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs and a biography of Cheryl Peck.
Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs
by Cheryl Peck
Paperback: Jan 2004,
224 pages.
A gay Erma Bombeck meets A Girl Named Zippy in this delightful debut about the misadventures of a woman of size. Cheryl Peck has stories to tell--about her cats, about her family, and about what it's like to be a gay woman of size living in the heartland. There's the story of the time she hit her kid sister in the head with a rock. Then there's the time her father gave her swimming lessons--by throwing her into the water. When she came shrieking and spluttering to the surface, he said, "Good--she can swim." There are the reasons 300 pound Cheryl has become an inspirational goddess in her gym. There are universal stories about a daughter's love for her mother and father. She unfolds all these stories with a healthy sense of humor and intelligent wit in a book that reads like fiction and explores the themes of family, growing up, love, and loss. The stories in this collection are about seemingly unremarkable events that make a life--but like fat girls sitting on lawn chairs, these are events that don't let go.
From the Author
Every now and again I would go out to dinner with a big group of friends. While we ate we would swap stories about our lives, or loves and our cats. My friends would say to me, "Why don't you write your stories down?" So I tried. None of them came out quite the way I originally told them, but several of them were written to be read aloud and all of them were written to entertain.
The truth is I was a miserable child. I don't remember why any more, but I have learned a great deal about attitude along this journey. This book is the reverse of many childhood recollections: other writers have gone back to the past to uncover the ugly truths about their lives, while I have had to go back to retrieve the humor and the almost storybook "normalness" that I fought so hard against most of my life.
Publishers Weekly
... these warmhearted reminiscences cover everything from Peck's childhood to her experiences as a gay woman of size....the author's self-deprecating wit and ability to see the drama in everyday situations make this collection so inviting.
Booklist - Whitney Scott
Peck's short essays are, for the most part, tongue-in-cheek and ironic. Some, however, are serious and even moving...Whether reading Peck on the lure of gardening (an occasion signaled by pet cat Babycakes' shedding each spring) or on building a boat with her father, most readers will find this enjoyable first book worth their attention.
Susan Jane Gilman, author of Kiss My Tiara
The literary equivalent of chocolate kisses…yummy, vital, and nearly impossible to put down.
Judy Boliver, The Hornet Bookstore, Sacramento, CA
Man, I laughed out loud! I am so dang tired this morning--I stayed up till 230 to finish the book and then I was late to work as I re-read my favorite part.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Sandi Shaw
The complilation of short stories has the reader experiencing every emotion possible. When you are through with a story you also wonder what this very creative writer is all about. However, I am one of the lucky ones, I know the writer and have... Read More
Rated of 5
by Anonymous
There was absolutely no reason for me to read a book like this.Here I am a macho hetro male unable to put the thing down to watch the Hockey game.Thus I assume that absolutely anyone may become mesmirised by Ms. Pecks stories
This witty and lovingly told memoir takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period--people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards.
Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface in another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.
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Susan Jane Gilman, author of Kiss My Tiara
of 5
by Sandi Shaw
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