Few people, women in particular, dare to step on a scale during the holidays, a time of year when many put on the pounds only to vow to lose the weight in the new year. The annual ritual of weight gain and loss is familiar to many, including Hoboken writer Kate Rockland. She tackles this weighty topic in her new novel, “150 Pounds” (Thomas Dunne Books).
“I think for a lot of women, weight becomes the focal point for everything and a lot of their self-esteem is determined by how much they weigh and how they feel about their weight,” said Rockland last week. “I thought the subject of weight was something that a lot of women would be able to relate to in their lives, so that’s why I decided to write about it in this book.”
Rockland’s novel is filled with wry prose.
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The bloggers meet as guests on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and eventually become friends.
Much of the humorous “150 Pounds,” which Rockland admits can best be described as a “chick lit” novel, centers on the women’s friendship – and their changing waistlines.
Despite Rockland’s seemingly heavy topic, “150 Pounds” is actually a funny, lighthearted read which, she adds, “should definitely be read on a beach.” (Irony of ironies, her publisher is releasing the book in the middle of winter!)
Still, “150 Pounds” is filled with wry prose. As “the face of fat,” Weiner “had to be extremely careful when using a self-deprecating tone…[S]he had to be persistently positive, which could get tiring at times,” Rockland writes.
When responding to one of her regular readers, Weiner replies, “Dear Ashley. I’m delighted you read ‘Fat and Fabulous.’ I can assure you I am fat. Statistically, I am obese. When I walk onto a bus, or sit down on the subway, people glare at me, like I’m supposed to apologize just for living or breathing the same air as them.”
Weight as an ‘accomplishment’
Rockland, whose debut novel “Falling is Like This,” was released last year, admits she has had her own struggles with weight.
“I’ve gained and lost 50 pounds twice in the last two years,” said Rockland, who is the mother of a young son and is now expecting her second child. “I first gained 50 pounds during my pregnancy. Then I lost that 50. Now, with this pregnancy I’ve gained about another 50 pounds.”
Rockland said she has noticed subtle differences in how people treat her at different weights. Friends and relatives, she said, don’t comment on her weight when she’s heavier, but pile on compliments when she takes the weight off.
“I think in our society losing weight is seen as an accomplishment, like getting a Ph.D,” she said. “But gaining weight or being heavy is somehow seen as a lack of control or a loss of control. People who are heavy are perceived to lack discipline and people think that’s why they weigh what they do,” Rockland said.
On her website, www.KateRockland.com, Rockland states that her weight is 150 pounds, hence the novel’s title.
“It was a little harder writing this book than the first one,” she reflected. “The first book, I just wrote, and then I found a publisher that was willing to publish it. This one was more of a challenge because I had a two-book deal, so I actually had to come with something to give to the publisher. So, that meant I had to find a topic that I thought they’d publish and that people would want to read.”
She said she hopes the universal theme of weight and weight gain/loss will resonate with her readers, although she laughed, adding, “I don’t know that I have a ‘following’ yet.”
Rockland is a former teacher at Brandt in Hoboken and former rock music writer whose work appeared in major publications including the New York Times.
The book “150 Pounds” will be released by Thomas Dunne Books in February 2012.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.