Nancy Makin

The author had a top weight of 703 lbs. She lost the majority (over 500 lbs) of that weight and recounts her story here in hopes of inspiring other people.

It was a decent story. The author started the story as a child and worked her way forward, but there were large gaps in time in her story. I listened to the audio, so sometimes lost where we were: what age she was, what weight. I found her childhood particularly interesting. She never really said how she lost all the weight, but I still show more found the perspective interesting. She didn’t leave her house for years; when she did, they needed special equipment to get her out and to the hospital. The comments and stares are things you don’t think about. Even how to do so many things that so many of us take for granted. When she did leave her house, her son would stand in such a way to try to block people’s stares. There are just so many things we take for granted. show less

Despite its title, this memoir tells the reader little about how Makin lost more than 500 pounds, much less how she gained it in the first place. I can understand not wanting to sensationalize her story, but the reader might be forgiven for expecting some answers to the how and the why and the what. As it is, Makin tells of a rather turbulent childhood, fraught relationship with her parents, teen motherhood and marriage, and all of a sudden she weighs 700 pounds. She pays lip service to her show more personal responsibility for the damage she does to herself (including being a 3-pack a day smoker at one point) but she seems more inclined to blame other people and bad circumstances for the worst of it.

Other problems I had with this (audio)book:

- According to Makin, most of the doctors and other "experts" (you can see her rolling her eyes) she came into contact with were all stupid and unhelpful
- Throughout the portion about her childhood, her mother is made out to be an evil witch and her father the understanding and loving parent, but later on she and her mother are basically chummy with a normal mother/daughter relationship and her father is no where to be found. I hate holes in stories like that.
- The reader of the audio had a really annoying, breathy voice.
- The reader also mispronounced words a lot - my favorite was "mis-shapen" pronounced "mis-happen."
- Makin talks about how she deflected her pain with humor but all the examples of her humor were awful and there is nothing worse than listening to more than 8 hours of the story of a person who thinks she's funny, when she's just not.

And what I found most hypocritical and obnoxious:
Makin traveled to Chicago to appear on Oprah as part of a show about successful weight loss. She is riding in a limo with other guests while they discuss their food plans and exercise regimens. Because, I'm sorry, don't we all know that eating healthy and exercising is really the key to healthy, sustained weight loss? Well, Makin takes these people to task in her book about how they will probably fall off the wagon because they are so worried about what they eat and how they exercise, whereas she knows the real secret is accepting oneself and being content. How she knows these people haven't discovered the same secret is beyond me, but the judgmental and critical tone she uses -she who has been the victim of judgement and criticism her whole life! - was just beyond the pale. Infuriating.

So, yeah, not recommended. show less

Nancy, the 4th of 6 girls, grew up in a traditional home in Seattle as the daughter of an engineering father who worked for Boeing and a stay-at-home mother. Florence Makin was an extremely religious woman and certainly held all of the power in the Makin family. She singlehandedly decided that they would sell their home and move the family to a religious cult's compound in the wilds of Canada. Here the girls would be separated from their parents and each other and would live in dorms with show more others their own age. Nancy, only aged 9 at this time, despised the camp, the clothing (not a bit of skin was allowed to show except for the face and hands), the constant chores, hours-long religious services and near starvation from spartan meals. Here is where Nancy began to steal and hoard food, something she would do for many years. After several months Mrs. Makin decided that this life was not what she had expected and moved her family to Grand Rapids. Nancy immediately began to gain weight as she gorged herself on anything she could get her hands on. As a result she was bullied and tormented at school which only served to make Nancy try to find even more solace in food. Florence sent Nancy back to the cult as a 'vacation' to visit a sister who had remained there as a novitiate but the vacation turned into months as Mrs. Makin had never intended for Nancy to return home. After her sister realized just how unhappy Nancy had become she drove her home to Grand Rapids and the unwelcoming arms of her mother. Nancy had lost weight on her extended 'vacation' and now at age 15 she discovered boys. By age 16 she was married and the mother of a beautiful son, Christopher. The marriage faltered and Nancy's comfort became food once again.

As the pounds continued to grow on Nancy's short frame she became housebound and rarely saw anyone except for family members who would bring her the things she needed. A life-threatening illness hospitalized her for nearly a month and at nearly 500 pounds Nancy could barely move. After her return home to her apartment Nancy continued to gain weight finally topping the scale at 703 pounds. She knew she was headed to an early death but felt powerless and overwhelmed. One Chrismas an older sister delivered a used computer to Nancy who initially protested that she would never use it. Curiosity won out and Nancy found herself immediately drawn to the 'outside world' that she had closed herself off from for many years. She joined political chat rooms, politics being a great love of hers, and was amazed at her acceptance as an intelligent, quick-witted person. Soon she found that food did not hold the allure for her that it once did as she spent hours with her new 'friends'. As the weight began to leave her body Nancy began to venture out into the world again reveling in her family and friends.

Nancy is quite an amazing woman who writes quite an unflattering, no-holds-barred, memoir of her difficult life. Reading of her difficulty with the most mundane tasks that we all take for granted is astounding. To not even be able to fit in an automobile, to have people be too frightened to get on an elevator with you, to feel your heart pound as you try to catch your breath after walking 2 feet, and all the while knowing that you did it to yourself is so sad. She has lost the weight and had pounds of loose flesh surgically removed from her body during several painful operations. Her goal is to reach out to those people who are now where she once was and to let them know that there is hope and that everyone needs to accept themselves for what is inside and embrace life. show less

A slow start, but a great read once I got into it. Malkin is in a very different place than I am but I could see shades of myself in her. I like to think I caught myself in time, and I hope I did. I totally understand the role of the web in a WLJ - I don't think I'd be where I am today without it. It's never easy - but it makes it somewhat easier to have resources at hand.