Ann Pai

This book is an amazing accomplishment of which author Ann Pai should be very, very proud. She shares the story of her elder sister's death due to complications from morbid obesity, and deftly braids this narrative with two additional, separate-yet-harmonious narratives. One of these is the chronologically-ordered tale of her youth and growing up with her complex/occasionally thorny sister. The other is a deeply personal, internal narrative that at first I assumed to be the author taking on the private, inner voice of her sister. (I was wrong.) All 3 of these dovetail beautifully to create a book that manages to transcend the entire genre of health/weight loss/self-help books. That's sayin' somethin'.

Ms. Pai writes briefly about her work as a technical writer, and this is one of the reasons her work *shines*. She demonstrates a natural ability to take concepts and topics of a traditionally difficult-to-comprehend nature (particularly those from a medical standpoint) and write about them succinctly, and in ways so emotionally effective that the reader can be left gasping for breath. I pride myself on my ability to comprehend and communicate, particularly in a written format. But I told more than a few loved ones that in this book I found not only things written well that I wouldn't even begin to know how to describe properly...but also things written well that had never even occurred to me, before. Above all, the book is absent the false cheer "Rah, Rah!" attitude of too many health-related memoirs and yet it remains steeped in deep, abiding kindness. Simple, yet elusive, kindness. Lovely.

I struggled with whether to give this book 4 or 5 stars, for one simple reason: the author indulges in lengthy passages of scenic (and similar) description, with an obvious fascination for color. It is here that I frequently found myself losing steam. At the time of my writing this review, there is just one 'negative' review at 2 stars, in which the reviewer states that the book is both too descriptive and too sad. I can't disagree - it is both incredibly descriptive and incredibly sad. Potential readers should be prepared for both. I wish this book had been snapped up by a savvy publishing house and treated to some compassionate editorial surgery by someone both gentle and experienced.

But for its minor flaws, this book is a powerhouse and deserves a much wider audience. I applaud the author for her incredibly moving tribute to her beloved sister, Joyce. I also thank her for voicing things beautifully and tenderly that have made me see many things anew. I consider "My Other Body" one of the definitive books of the genre, and I've read more than a few.

Edited to add: I wish I had known enough about this book and the author beforehand to have ordered it directly from her website. Ms. Pai took the initiative to get her heartfelt story published on her own (!), and all of this merits as much direct support of Ms. Pai as possible.… (més)