“This collection of beautifully crafted personal essays . . . demonstrates the author’s mastery over his chosen genre. Always engrossing, the pieces convey emotional pain leavened with humor and are written with piercing honesty.”—Publishers Weekly
“Gutkind strides openly into any subject. His essays combine humor, pathos, confession, insight. They attract for their openness and style. . . . Entertaining reading, any one of the essays could also serve as a model for exemplary nonfiction, lending the volume to use as a text for classes or individual study in contemporary writing.”—University Press Book Reviews
“Gutkind’s writing is deceptively simple. It’s a clean, sleek style, with sentences as black-and-white as the cover photo. But they pack a wallop.”—Naples (FL) Daily News
“Lee Gutkind writes, ‘Trusting other people is the easy part.’ But the truth is, whether he’s writing of Plantar’s warts, coffee in a Pittsburgh diner, or even divorce and fatherhood, Lee Gutkind is the one it’s easy to trust. He takes care with the word in all its glory."—Bret Lott, author of Jewel and Fathers, Sons, and Brothers
“Forever Fat is a deeply moving account of one man’s physical and spiritual transformation, where the words, 'Never, never, never give in' have particular resonance for anyone who has tried to piece together the truth of one’s life on the page, against the doubting voices that surround us.”—Terry Tempest Williams, author of Leap and Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
“A book about identity, the cruel threats one’s family can make to one’s sense of self, and the courage and clarity of vision it takes to transcend the injury. The essays are brimming with dramatic intensity, astute observation, wit, and narrative skill.”—Lee Martin, author of From Our House
