The Metamorphoses of Fat: A History of Obesity

In The Metamorphoses of Fat, Georges Vigarello maps the evolution of Western ideas about fat and fat people from the Middle Ages to the present, focusing on the formative influence of science, fashion, fitness crazes, and public health campaigns. While hefty bodies were once a sign of power, today those who struggle to lose weight are considered poor in character and weak in mind. Vigarello traces the eventual equation of fatness with infirmity and examines the way we have come to define ourselves and others in terms of body type.

Tracing the link between changing attitudes toward body size and modern conceptions of class, society, and self.