Rob Grant’s Fat News Posted by John Hoare on 7th September 2006, 07:56 How many more times can we use that joke? I think we’ve got about 27 left before it stops being funny. Especially considering how we now tag news stories. Anyway, an extended synopsis for the book has shown up on Amazon: Rob Grant’s new novel is a revalation [sic]. After INCOMPETENCE we would all have expected a killingly funny satire. And in its satire of our obsession with body image, of how the media makes us what we are FAT is certainly that. But in its depiction of Grenville, a fat man at his wits end with the need to be thin; of Hayleigh, a teenage girl obsessed with her terror of being fat and of Jeremy, the self-absorbed, self-adoring ‘conceptualist’ employed to promote the government’s new ‘Fat Farms’ Rob Grant has given us, yes a very, very funny book, but also an immensely moving and personal novel about how we all feel about our bodies. As Grenville deals with the humilation and daily indignity of being fat, as Hayleigh struggles to deal with her anorexia and as Jeremy comes to terms with the dangerous lies at the centre of the governments new health regime FAT takes us on a hilarious and thought-provoking journey through our all-consuming obession with fat. This is a hilariously moving, movingly hilarious novel and marks a massive step-change in Rob Grant’s growth as a writer. Here is a hugely commerical new voice in mainstream, high concept, high in poly-saturates, commercial fiction. It’s also safe to say that with this new novel, he’s writing about what he knows… Can you say “hype”? Which we’ve just, erm, spread. Shit. It does sound interesting, though. As for the release date – fuck Amazon. Fuck them to hell. They desperately need to clean up their database. At a guess, one of those December dates is actually supposed to be for the hardback – Play would seem to bear this out, although they give December 21st, rather than the 26th or 28th. So it would seem that our best guess for now is for the release of the hardback sometime this December, with the paperback coming next June. Although I would hardly be surprised if that changed completely. We’ll try and find out the real release date for you – I would kinda like to read this book before I snuff it.
Ironically, the severe lateness of this book has actually done a lot to keep it topical. What with Jamie Twat twatting on about school dinners, and twats saying we’re all getting too fat, this could end up looking like a very observant piece of satire. Luck, there.
>What with Jamie Twat twatting on about school dinners, and twats saying we’re all getting too fat Oh, come on. I’m not the greatest fan of Jamie Twat, but you must admit that his campaign gave a lot of support to a worthy cause. My school dinners were appalling, so anything that can be done to give children a nutritious meal is good.
You’re right, Tanya, but I really dislike the smug tone he adopts in almost every programme I see him in. It’s like he’s installed himself as the sole arbiter of GOOD FOOD, when really he’s just a self interested idiot who can fuck off and stop using children’s dinners to forward his worthless career. School dinners really do need to be addressed, but not in the way he’s doing it.
To be fair, he’s managed to do what *nobody* else has done in the area of school dinners. I find him irritating and obnoxious, but you’ve got to give him credit for what he’s achieved. It’s not like anyone was anywhere *close* to providing the impetus for the government to sort it out. It’s sad that the government listens to rubbish celebrities instead of decent pressure groups, but that’s not his fault.
Don’t you just love December 26th release dates, well any post-Crimbo December dates? I mean what the FUCK, it’s like saying ‘You want to buy this as a Christmas gift? Well you can fuck off, this is out the day AFTER Christmas Day! So there. You penis.’ > It’s sad that the government listens to rubbish celebrities instead of decent pressure groups, but that’s not his fault. This is because once a celebrity gets involved the public actually become aware of something. Oh, and Rob’s book sounds quite good. I thought of him when I saw the BBC3 show ‘Fuck Off, I’m Fat’ (Dwarf connection in that it was Ricky Grover (cue the cast saying ‘Ricky’ in a deep voice) presenting)
Amazon are just weird. What the bloody hell is this supposed to be? A hardcover Smeg Outs? What are you on about, man?
It’s also safe to say that with this new novel, he’s writing about what he knows… So it’s not just US making those jokes, then…
That line has been around for ages – pretty much since it was first announced. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob Grant himself wrote it.
