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beaniebaby3000's review
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
noahsentireass's review
5.0
I was very lucky to find Susan Stinson’s email on the internet as this wonderful little book is extremely out of print. She was so kind and sent me a personalized copy (thank you again and always, I will cherish it forever!).
She remarked to me that she wrote much of the work in the 80s when she was first coming into herself as a fat lesbian. I believe she meant to apologize to me for whatever language or nuances were outdated. I didn’t feel the dating with the exception of a few details like available technology—instead, I saw myself in every single page.
If you are so lucky as to stumble upon a copy, READ THIS WORK.
Stay fat, stay gay. ❤️
She remarked to me that she wrote much of the work in the 80s when she was first coming into herself as a fat lesbian. I believe she meant to apologize to me for whatever language or nuances were outdated. I didn’t feel the dating with the exception of a few details like available technology—instead, I saw myself in every single page.
If you are so lucky as to stumble upon a copy, READ THIS WORK.
Stay fat, stay gay. ❤️
melanie_page's review
5.0
This book was gifted to me, which makes me immediately biased because Stinson’s kindness touched my heart. I knew the book was out of print, but Stinson noted that the book is rare; thus I can’t convince you to read the beautiful pages because you won’t find them. It’s not even on Amazon. I feel delighted that Susan Stinson trusted me with her work.
This 44-page collection has poetry, essays, and very short fiction and includes an introduction by Elena Dykewomon and gorgeous cover art done in charcoal (1985) by Don Stinson.
Stinson celebrates the folds of her fat body in a way that leads the reader to reexamine her own fat and not only accept it, but see beauty. The word “soft” appears frequently, and the more I read it, the more softened I felt toward my own body. Stinson evokes whales and their mighty, thick tongues. She explores the geography of the desert southwest in the United States and how it grows and ripples. She also recounts personal stories, such as the time a boy threw a dart at her belly. The dart stuck in, and when Stinson’s mother took her to the doctor’s for fear of tetanus, the doctor remarked this little girl in front of him was too fat to sustain damage.
Stinson’s work is what I really want to find during my 2017 goal to read more fat fiction. Her sentences don’t simply disregard fat, but celebrate it. I may applaud a book with a fat character who doesn’t make a big deal out of her fat body — simply because this is so much better than books in which women diet or date their way into self-worth — but I know writers have a long, long way to go to get to where Susan Stinson was in 1993 when she published Belly Songs. I’ll leave you with a short poem:
Fat girls let your shirts ride up
Lie down on the cold spring dirt
and get mud on your fat backs
I love it. ❤ If the name Susan Stinson sounds familiar, you may remember my review of her novel Fat Girl Dances with Rocks from earlier this year.
This 44-page collection has poetry, essays, and very short fiction and includes an introduction by Elena Dykewomon and gorgeous cover art done in charcoal (1985) by Don Stinson.
Stinson celebrates the folds of her fat body in a way that leads the reader to reexamine her own fat and not only accept it, but see beauty. The word “soft” appears frequently, and the more I read it, the more softened I felt toward my own body. Stinson evokes whales and their mighty, thick tongues. She explores the geography of the desert southwest in the United States and how it grows and ripples. She also recounts personal stories, such as the time a boy threw a dart at her belly. The dart stuck in, and when Stinson’s mother took her to the doctor’s for fear of tetanus, the doctor remarked this little girl in front of him was too fat to sustain damage.
Stinson’s work is what I really want to find during my 2017 goal to read more fat fiction. Her sentences don’t simply disregard fat, but celebrate it. I may applaud a book with a fat character who doesn’t make a big deal out of her fat body — simply because this is so much better than books in which women diet or date their way into self-worth — but I know writers have a long, long way to go to get to where Susan Stinson was in 1993 when she published Belly Songs. I’ll leave you with a short poem:
Fat girls let your shirts ride up
Lie down on the cold spring dirt
and get mud on your fat backs
I love it. ❤ If the name Susan Stinson sounds familiar, you may remember my review of her novel Fat Girl Dances with Rocks from earlier this year.
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