13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl (Awad) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl...then take off on your own:

1. Did 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl make you laugh or cry...or both? What specific passages/chapters do you find humorous or painful? Which ones make you angry?

2. What is the picture Mona Awad paints of society's obsession with body shape? What is acceptably thin according to social current norms? Can one ever be "thin enough"? What does she have to say about other women's attitudes, clothing sizes (Addition Elle), even the regime of gym sign-up sheets?

3. How does Lizzie see herself? Do you relate to her struggle? In other words, are you overweight...maybe just a tad? How 'bout those five extra lbs? They could probably come off, right? Do you feel the societal pressure on women to look good?

4. Young Lizzie tells us, "Later on I'm going to be really f------ beautiful.... I'll be hungry and angry all my life but I'll also have a hell of a time." By the final story, Lizzie has transformed herself. In what way does her achievement feel less than wonderful?

5. In one story, Lizzie and Mel agree with one another that "the universe is against us, which makes sense." Why does it make sense?

   In the very next breath, Lizzie says that she and Mel "get another McFlurry and talk about how fat we are for a while." Given the prior statement, does that make sense? Why would the two indulge in the very thing that puts them in in opposition to "the universe"? Do you understand why they turn to more food?

6. At some point, Lizzie reflects on her relationship with her overweight mother. How does she think her mother affected her sense of self?

7. Consider doing some research on the current science of obesity, particularly and the role that hormones play in signalling appetite and satiety (ghrelin and leptin, for instance). How do Awad's stories about Lizzie's struggle for thinness dovetail with the new (or not so new) understanding of obesity?

(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, use these, online of off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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