''Dietland'' is the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

Sarai Walker Sarai Walker is a writer whose book '' Dietland'' was identified as one of ''Entertainment Weekly''s 10 Best books of 2015, and has subsequently been turned into a TV series. She has published articles in ''The New York Times'', The Washington Pos ...

that was first published on May 26, 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The novel explores the beauty industry and society's obsession with

weight loss Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat ( adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other co ...

. A television adaptation of the novel by

Marti Noxon Martha Mills Noxon (born August 25, 1964) is an American television and film writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her work as a screenwriter and executive producer on the supernatural drama series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ...

premiered on June 4, 2018, on AMC; Joy Nash plays the role of the lead character, Plum.

Synopsis

The novel follows Plum Kettle, a 300-pound

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...

hired to respond to the hundreds of emails written to the editor of popular

teen magazine Teen magazines are magazines aimed at teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts. The teen magazine industry ...

''Daisy Chain''. Plum fantasizes about being thin and after years of failed diet plans, schedules an appointment for

weight loss surgery Bariatric surgery (or weight loss surgery) includes a variety of procedures performed on people who are obese. Long term weight loss through the standard of care procedures ( Roux en-Y bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and biliopancreatic diversio ...

. While awaiting her surgery date, Plum finds herself recruited by an underground feminist

cabal A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state, or another community, often by intrigue and usually unbeknownst to those who are outside their group. T ...

known as "Calliope House". Meanwhile, a guerrilla group known as "Jennifer" begins carrying out increasingly violent acts of vigilante justice against those who mistreat women, and Plum soon finds herself at the center of a sinister plot.

Development

Sarai Walker was inspired to write ''Dietland'' after watching the 1999 film ''

Fight Club ''Fight Club'' is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is d ...

''. "I came out thinking that I had to write the female version," Walker said in an interview with Yahoo! Beauty, explaining that it was the film's "social construction of masculinity, of gender, which makes it fascinating from a feminist perspective." Walker's experience working for teen and women's magazines also inspired much of the novel, with the protagonist of ''Dietland'' also being a teen magazine writer.

Themes

Critics have called ''Dietland'' a "subversive" and "feminist" novel, dealing with themes of

body shaming Body shaming is the action or inaction of subjecting someone to humiliation and criticism for their bodily features. The scope of body shaming is wide, and can include, although is not limited to fat-shaming, shaming for thinness, small breasts, ...

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...

and hypersexualization. A central theme of the book is fat- and

self-acceptance Self-acceptance is acceptance of self. Definition Self-acceptance can be defined as: * the awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, * the realistic (yet subjective) appraisal of one's talents, capabilities, and general worth, and, * feelings ...

, with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s Arwa Mahdawi noting that: "Plum's self-hatred transforms into self-acceptance. She goes from rejecting her fatness to embracing it."

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's Annalisa Quinn noted however that: "the novel doesn't rest with a predictable message of sugary self-acceptance: ''Dietland'' swerves suddenly and powerfully from

chick lit Chick lit is a term used to describe a type of popular fiction targeted at younger women. Widely used in the 1990s and 2000s, the term has fallen out of fashion with publishers while writers and critics have rejected its inherent sexism. Novels id ...

to revenge fantasy."

Reception

''Dietland'' was selected as one of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

''s 10 Best Books of 2015. The magazine gave the novel an "A" grade, calling it "a thrilling, incendiary manifesto disguised as a beach read." '' Kirkus Reviews'' described ''Dietland'' as "hilarious, surreal, and bracingly original," concluding: "Part ''Fight Club'', part feminist manifesto, an offbeat and genre-bending novel that aims high—and delivers." ''The Guardian''s Lydia Kiesling was not impressed by the book's "structural oddities" but noted that "its message resonates", saying: "It's vanishingly rare...to see a novel that looks like the much-maligned "

" – and sometimes reads like it – so gleefully censorious of

rape culture Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-s ...

References

External links

SaraiWalker.com: Dietland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietland 2015 American novels Feminist novels Houghton Mifflin books American novels adapted into television shows 2015 debut novels Fat acceptance movement