Lynne Murray: What's New?

I greet you from the world of research about the supernatural, as my current novel concerns ghosts—also size acceptance and humor, of course. As far as the real world—it's like one of the good news/bad news jokes these days.

I'll start with one item of bad news (which unfortunately is hard to escape). It's quite a challenge to get through a day without running into scare headlines promoting the Diet Industry Full Employment Act, also known as the Obesity Epidemic. If you're thinking about buying it, you should be aware that it doesn't come with an Owner's Manual, so I wrote one: The Care and Feeding of Your New Obesity Epidemic.

Now for some good news—and there's quite a lot:

I was delighted to see the paperback edition of Paul Campos' book, now re-titled The Diet Myth (formerly The Obesity Myth); it's reviewed here.

J. Eric Oliver, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago has written a riveting book, Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic, on some sources of the current hysteria over fat in America—and who is profiting from thinking of this as a disease. Oliver has dug up some fascinating information, such as the history of one man, who maybe primarily responsible for the whole "epidemic" idea. More details in my review of Oliver's excellent book.

Another refreshing development is a healthy crop of memoirs and guides that are being published by and for people of size. I've done a round-up review of the latest in First Person Fat.

I promise to do my best to update this page more often than I have in the past. And for those people who are kind enough to ask, I will update and email you the minute I get any good publishing news.

In the meantime, I'm still writing the web log every week or so about books read past and present, and I've also done a bit of guest blogging at Laurie Toby Edison and Debbie Notkin's Body Impolitic, which has been great fun.

I've been writing some shorter pieces lately. Kinder? Gentler? I don't know. But for me short humor emerges from the brain almost intact, which is a pretty scary metaphor if you saw the film Alien. The recent death of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin started me thinking about the alligator in my life. So here's a true story entitled My Pet Alligator. I'll post more soon in a new section, Short Takes.

Sue Trowbridge, who valiantly maintains this page for me and often discovers cultural trends I might otherwise have missed, provided this link:
Fat! Fit? Fabulous!
to what some very positive people are doing. Major applause for all concerned!

Lynne

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