[Strangler Lewis]

For a good novel on the subject of body image, I recommend "The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things," by Carolyn Mackler. The ultimate message that comes through is that fat is a health issue that should be addressed but that you should not let others obsess over what your ideal body type should be. Food should not be a substitue for love or other positive feelings, any more than guys should be--as Mackler so deftly demonstrates in "Guyaholic," her most recent book.

It was a long plane flight.