Thinner Than Thou

Tomorrow, today's cult of the body, which says we must he thin, young, and perfect, has become the only religion. Reverend Earl preaches the heaven of the Afterfat and promises to personally supervise the fat congregants at his luxurious spa, Sylphania. Health clubs have replaced houses of worship. "Convents" hold anorexic, bulimic, and obese teens who are learning the "right" ways to eat--and think. Middle-aged Jeremy succumbs to Sylphania's siren song, only to discover that the glamorous brochures conceal a concentration camp. Annie, an anorexic, and her massive friend vow to escape from their convent-prison. Annie's twin siblings and her boyfriend search for her through a bizarre landscape of obese strippers, competitive eating contests, and an underground railroad of religions that remember when people worshipped gods instead of flesh.

Kit Reed has received a Guggenheim fellowship and an Aspen Institute Rockefeller Fellowship. Her books include Weird Women, Wired Women; Seven for the Apocalypse; Magic Time. Her short fiction has been published everywhere from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction to The Yale Review.
Reed has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, and collections of her short fiction have been finalists for the James W. Tiptree Award. Kit Reed lives in Middletown, CT and teaches at Wesleyan University.

Praise for Thinner Than Thou:

"Health clubs replace houses of worship in Reed's not-so-science-fiction novel Thinner Than Thou."--Vanity Fair

"A clever what-if, Reed's tale is provocative as well as amusing."--People

"Sink your teeth into this delicious story, a wild, irresistible ride through a not implausible dystopic future."-M. G. Lord, New York Times bestselling author of Forever Barbie


"'Super-Size Me' meets 'Soylent Green.'"--Entertaintment Weekly

"A mordant vision of a brave new world where religion is rooted in the worship of one's body as a sacred temple utterly free from the fleshy sins of flab. Reed serves a feast of entertaining food for thought."--The Associated Press

"A compelling novel [that] captures the pain, emptiness, and absurdity of the quest for physical perfection but opens the possibility of liberation from this tyranny. This provocative and engaging book is a must-read for anyone concerned about our culture's increasing obsession with physical appearance."-Ruth Striegel-Moore, co-author of Eating Disorders: Innovative Directions in Research and Practice


"In a world of Dr Atkins, facelifts, botox and eating disorders, this nightmare vision hits the pressure points like acupuncture. Multi-faceted, witty, and endlessly inventive."--Geoff Ryman


"This satire on the Obese Society, the slimming industry and materialistic religion is Reed at her mordant best."--Michael Moorcock

"Darkly humorous and unsettling, this is an important book that warns us where society's chpressure to be young, thin, and beautiful could lead."--Romantic Times

"Stinging and mordantly witty."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"My first reaction after reading the book was to think, 'How horrifying!' My second thought, almost immediately following the first, was: 'That future is not very far off.'"--The Chicago Sun-Times

"Serves up its hard truths and caustic commentary with large helpings of humor and intelligence. Thinner Than Thou is highly recommended to all, including readers with eating disorders-but then, is there anyone in this culture who doesn't have issues with food?"
--Pamela Sargent on Scifi.com