Pandora Halfdanarson grew up with “celebrity” in the form of her narcissistic has-been actor dad, and is used to playing supporting roles in her own life – neglected middle child, second wife, step-mom. But in Big Brother, her carefully low-key way of life is threatened when she goes to the airport to pick up her hip jazz pianist brother for a visit and is met by “the creature that had swallowed Edison”.
Having failed to find the fame he believes is his due, Edison has determinedly binge-eaten his way to 386 pounds ( just over 175kg for the metrically minded), thus ensuring that at least he can’t be ignored. Putting her family, her career and even her own health in jeopardy, Pandora stages an intervention to save Edison from committing suicide, one Cinnabon at a time.
I’m liking
Author Lionel Shriver is not one to shy away from tackling tough contemporary issues, as shown by her searing portrayal of a high school shooter in We Need to Talk About Kevin, which scooped her the 2003 Orange Prize. In this book, she has bitten off quite a lot to chew: Western society’s obsession with fat, and the conundrum that no matter how much we have, we’re never satisfied. It’s a credit to Shriver’s witty and engrossing writing that she never sounds preachy.
Things that made me go hmmmm
Shriver has admitted the novel’s subject was partly inspired by her brother’s death from obesity-related causes, although she emphasises that it’s a work of fiction and Edison is nothing like her own sibling.
Even so, it must have made writing some of the ickier passages a little more raw.
The conclusion
I liked it, I wanted more, but I also felt a bit queasy afterwards.
