Fatty Fatty Boom Boom

Starred review from July 11, 2022
Chaudry, cohost of the Undisclosed podcast, celebrates and complicates food and culture with this engrossing account of how both shaped her. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1974, and raised in the U.S. by Muslim immigrant parents, Chaudry was subject to myths of American nutritional supremacy that favored processed foods, as well as baby formula over breast milk. “The abundance of America strained at our skin and clothing,” writes Chaudry, “and our relatives were torn between embarrassment... and mild jealousy.” Internalizing her Pakistani family’s comments that her weight made her undesirable, Rabia married an abusive man and suffered years of disordered eating. A trip to Pakistan, where she eats naan pakora (“a big fluffy carb stuffed with deep fried carbs”) and spends time with relatives who support rather than shame her, becomes a turning point. As she traces her path toward a healthier relationship with food, Chaudry refreshingly eschews conventional narratives about weight loss, as well as fat acceptance (“Don’t make me feel terrible... for not being able to feel great no matter what,” she says to internet scolds), concluding, “I will never deprive myself of the joy of food.” That joy is contagious in descriptions of Pakistani street burgers, the rainbow hues of Punjabi daal, and 50 pages worth of delectable recipes. Victory is sweet and savory in this ebullient tale of self-acceptance.

October 1, 2022

Chaudry (Adnan's Story), a podcaster, executive producer, and lawyer most known for being an Adnan Syed advocate, pens a delightful and entertaining memoir of her childhood and early adulthood journey with her weight and nutrition habits, both gains and losses. She details her and her family's immigrant story, their extended family in Pakistan, and their misconceptions of and unexpected delight in aspects of American life and food (they hated the "unseasoned kebab meat" that is the American hamburger). She writes mouth-watering descriptions of the foods of her Pakistani heritage and her adopted American life that gave her joy and brought her family together. She also includes recipes at the end of the book for some of the dishes she raves about, which is a treat for readers. Her hilarious anecdotes about her large and supportive family are relatable to any reader with zany relatives, and she fills out the narrative with descriptions of Pakistani culture, traditions, and her highs and lows as she emerges as the advocate and self-assured figure she is today. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Lindy West and Frank Bruni's Born Round.--Amanda Ray

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2023

Author and narrator Chaudry (Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After "Serial") recounts a life spent both loving and hating her relationship with food and her own body. With dry wit and refreshing candor, Chaudry discusses her origins as the scrawny child of recent immigrants from Pakistan to the United States, who became a chubby devotee of fast food and convenience packaging. She describes return visits to Pakistan, where she encountered body shaming but also forged a profound love for the dishes of her culture. Chaudry's narration offers up raw honesty when she recounts the way she would turn to food for emotional comfort, her many attempts to control binge eating, and the impact of negative body image on her self-esteem. She equally conveys the joy of creating connections through food: sharing street food with her Pakistani relatives, learning about the cultures of her Indian and Sri Lankan college friends via their cuisines, and snuggling over cups of chai with her second husband. VERDICT Recommended for fans of memoirs that combine food and culture like Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart and Michael W. Twitty's The Cooking Gene.--Natalie Marshall

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2022
An attorney known for her advocacy for Adnan Syed and the resulting podcast (Serial), book (Adnan's Story, 2016), and documentary (The Case Against Adnan Syed), Chaudry shares this candid and bighearted story about her lifelong love/hate relationships with food and her body. Soon after she was born, Chaudry and her parents left Pakistan for the U.S. While America is billed as a land of abundance and superior food options, Chaudry's working parents nonetheless relied on fast food and other quick, processed options without realizing how unhealthy they were. Chaudry began gaining weight early and before long was sneaking snacks, eating second dinners in her bedroom, and craving McDonald's. But she also craved her mother's cooking and learned to appreciate trips back to Pakistan even as her extended family relentlessly teased her about her body. Later, terror about not finding a husband landed her in an abusive marriage to the first man who showed interest. On this long road to repairing her self-esteem and her relationship with food, Chaudry is totally engaging, a perfect host. And after her descriptions of food, readers will be very happy to see recipes included at the end. Utterly delicious!

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Starred review from September 1, 2022
The highs and lows of a lifelong love affair with food. Chaudry, a podcaster, lawyer, and author of Adnan's Story, which was adapted as a documentary for HBO, is a gifted storyteller and cultural commentator with a special knack for food writing, as quickly becomes clear in this unblinking account of the high price paid for the pleasures of eating. The author begins in Lahore, Pakistan, where her veterinarian father and school administrator mother married and started their family, moving suddenly to the U.S. while she was still an infant. Jaundiced and scrawny at birth, she was given half-and-half in her baby bottle and frozen butter when she began teething. "You won't believe me when I tell you this, but as God is my witness, I can still taste the salty, cold butter in my mouth melting into heavenly pools," writes the author. "You have to wonder exactly how many sticks of butter I consumed to leave an indelible mark on my memory. Too many is the only right answer." This tone of rueful candor continues as she tracks her expanding body into adulthood, with desperate recourse to fad diets, CrossFit, a gastric sleeve operation, and more along the way. The tortures of immigrant life in suburban Maryland; blissful return visits to Pakistan; the hilariously horrible wedding of her aunt, and the equally horrible but not so funny occasion of her own--every episode glitters. Whether she's describing a mad motorcycle mission to score Lahore street food with her overweight uncles, the acquisition of the "freshman 25" with new friends at college, or sharing ice cream in bed with her sweet second husband, Chaudry eloquently portrays the role of food in love and friendship. At the same time, she doesn't flinch from reporting the humiliations heaped on the overweight at every turn. She also includes a selection of enticing recipes. The literary equivalent of chaat masala fries: spicy, heady, sour, and uniquely delicious.

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