Me Massive

In Me Massive, a collection of six original personal essays and eight scenic vignettes, the author explores the complications that confront a Former Fat Girl. Toburen examines what happens when our bodies become the criterion by which we are judged, and how, eventually, we start to judge ourselves by the standard others set. Woven throughout the collection is the story of Toburen's parents' marriage, from their early love affair to their eventual divorce, which leads her to forgive damage done to her as a result of events that shaped lives before she was even born. Ultimately, this chronicle of weight loss explores how the author's effort to lose weight is an attempt to control emotional losses, how reshaping her body is part of an effort to shape a new life and forge a new kind of love. The essays are a chronicle not just of loss then, but of gain.