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Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Hardcover – June 13, 2017

4.4 out of 5 stars 7,533 ratings

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The New York Times Bestseller

National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist

Lambda Literary Award winner

From Roxane Gay, the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist, a memoir in weight about eating healthier, finding a tolerable form of exercise, and exploring what it means to learn, in the middle of your life, how to take care of yourself and how to feed your hunger.

New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she casts an insightful and critical eye on her childhood, teens, and twenties—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life.

With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and authority that have made her one of the most admired voices of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when the bigger you are, the less you are seen. Hunger is a deeply personal memoir from one of our finest writers, and tells a story that hasn’t yet been told but needs to be.  

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of June 2017: If you’re a woman in America, chances are, no matter your size, you probably have a somewhat fetishistic relationship with food. We obsess over having too much, too little (to a lesser degree); we use terms like stealing a bite and guilty pleasure--things that evoke shame, and are meant to keep our bodies in line. For those that fit that (ever narrowing) bill, congratulations! Clothes are designed to fit you, kale growers love you, and so does society. You bask in its glow. The rest risk being in shadow, which is exactly where Roxane Gay wanted to be. In her brutally honest and brave memoir Hunger, Gay recounts a childhood sexual assault that led her to purposely gain weight in order to be unseen and therefore “safe.” Gay warns at the beginning of the book that if you’re looking for a triumphant weight loss memoir, this is not it. But Hunger is a triumph nonetheless. It’s a story not easily told, but the telling set her free. And through Gay’s experience we learn one of lessons she eventually did, that “all of us have to be more considerate of the realities of the bodies of others,” and more accepting of our own. --Erin Kodicek, The Amazon Book Review

Review

“A gripping book, with vivid details that linger long after its pages stop. . . . Hunger is arresting and candid. At its best, it affords women, in particular, something so many other accounts deny them—the right to take up space they are entitled to, and to define what that means.” — Atlantic

“A work of staggering honesty . . . . Poignantly told.” — New Republic

“The book’s short, sharp chapters come alive in vivid personal anecdotes. . . . And on nearly every page, Gay’s raw, powerful prose plants a flag, facing down decades of shame and self-loathing by reclaiming the body she never should have had to lose.” — Entertainment Weekly

“Bracingly vivid. . . . Remarkable. . . . Undestroyed, unruly, unfettered, Ms. Gay, live your life. We are all better for having you do so in the same ferociously honest fashion that you have written this book.” — Los Angeles Times

“Searing, smart, readable. . . . “Hunger,” like Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me,” interrogates the fortunes of black bodies in public spaces. . . .  Nothing seems gratuitous; a lot seems brave. There is an incantatory element of repetition to “Hunger”: The very short chapters scallop over the reader like waves.” — Newsday

“Luminous. . . . intellectually rigorous and deeply moving.” — The New York Times Book Review

“Her spare prose, written with a raw grace, heightens the emotional resonance of her story, making each observation sharper, each revelation more riveting. . . . It is a thing of raw beauty.” — USA Today

“Powerful. . . . fierce. . . . Gay has a vivid, telegraphic writing style, which serves her well. Repetitive and recursive, it propels the reader forward with unstoppable force.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“This is the book to read this summer . . . she’s such a compelling mind . . . . Anyone who has a body should read this book.” — Isaac Fitzgerald on the TODAY Show

“Unforgettable. . . . Breathtaking. . . . We all need to hear what Gay has to say in these pages. . . . Gay says hers is not a success story because it’s not the weight-loss story our culture demands, but her breaking of her own silence, her movement from shame and self-loathing toward honoring and forgiving and caring for herself, is in itself a profound victory.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Hunger is Gay at her most lacerating and probing. . . . Anyone familiar with Gay’s books or tweets knows she also wields a dagger-sharp wit.” — Boston Globe

“Wrenching, deeply moving. . . a memoir that’s so brave, so raw, it feels as if [Gay]’s entrusting you with her soul.” — Seattle Times

“It is a deeply honest witness, often heartbreaking, and always breathtaking. . . . Gay is one of our most vital essayists and critics.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Searing.” — Miami Herald

“This raw and graceful memoir digs deeply into what it means to be comfortable in one’s body. Gay denies that hers is a story of “triumph,” but readers will be hard pressed to find a better word.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A heart-rending debut memoir from the outspoken feminist and essayist. . . . An intense, unsparingly honest portrait of childhood crisis and its enduring aftermath.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Displays bravery, resilience, and naked honesty from the first to last page. . . . Stunning . . . essential reading.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“A work of exceptional courage by a writer of exceptional talent.” — Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Praise for Bad Feminist:“A strikingly fresh cultural critic.” — Ron Charles, Washington Post

“Roxane Gay is the brilliant girl-next-door: your best friend and your sharpest critic. . . . She is by turns provocative, chilling, hilarious; she is also required reading.” — People

“[Gay is] hilarious. But she also confronts more difficult issues of race, sexual assault, body image, and the immigrant experience. She makes herself vulnerable and it’s refreshing.” — Tanvi Misra, Atlantic, "The Best Book I Read This Year"

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 13, 2017
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062362593
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062362599
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.05 x 8.25 inches
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 980L
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 7,533 ratings

About the author

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Roxane Gay
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Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, Harper’s Bazaar, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and New York Times bestselling Hunger: A Memoir of My Body. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
7,533 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this memoir thought-provoking and filled with emotion, with clear and crisp language that makes it an engaging read. The book is praised for its unflinching honesty and graphic portrayal of body image issues, making it relatable to every woman. Customers appreciate the author's vulnerability and resilience throughout the narrative.

315 customers mention "Thought provoking"249 positive66 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking, describing it as a gut-wrenching memoir that is very relatable and filled with emotion.

"...Her words helped me feel connected and empowered while bringing up echoes of my own healing and that which isn’t healed yet...." Read more

"Fascinating. A real insight into body issues that we tend not to think about - unless we are one of those people with real issues...." Read more

"...who has more recently started struggling with their weight it really hit home with me...." Read more

"...A rare, wonderful, poignantly personal memoir that connects her personal struggles and trauma to the larger (pun intended) American obsession with..." Read more

244 customers mention "Readability"222 positive22 negative

Customers find the book engaging and memorable, with one describing it as a masterpiece.

"To say this is an excellent book is insufficient. Roxane Gay’s writing is soulful, complex, unmasking, revealing, painful, and quietly triumphant...." Read more

"...read memoirs, I usually find them boring but this was the perfect pick for my class!..." Read more

"...The book is not a slow read. The chapters are quickly devoured. The sentences short with much repetition. The emotion high." Read more

"...She is a brilliant, well educated, beautiful professional woman - but people tend to focus only on her size...." Read more

182 customers mention "Writing style"145 positive37 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as compelling and perfect, with clear and crisp language that is easy to read. One customer notes that the chapters read like stand-alone essays.

"To say this is an excellent book is insufficient. Roxane Gay’s writing is soulful, complex, unmasking, revealing, painful, and quietly triumphant...." Read more

"...This is beautifully written and gets you thinking about issues at hand when it comes to judging others for anything really...." Read more

"...Many of the chapters read like stand alone essays. For this reason, the memoir is very easy to read...." Read more

"...She is a brilliant, well educated, beautiful professional woman - but people tend to focus only on her size...." Read more

111 customers mention "Honesty"111 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's honesty, describing it as raw and unflinching, with one customer noting how it pulls readers up short with its direct approach.

"...events of her life and where those events have taken her and she's very honest about what she is responsible for, what she is not responsible for,..." Read more

"...She is brutally honest in this memoir, and it is a worthy read...." Read more

"...I may have blocked some of this one out because it's so truthful and honest, and I wasn't in a place - even just a couple of years ago - to be quite..." Read more

"...It gives a clear answer as to why returning to "normal" after sexual and emotional trauma is so very difficult." Read more

57 customers mention "Beauty"57 positive0 negative

Customers find the book beautiful and honest, describing it as graphic and vivid, with one customer noting how it resonates with experiences of being judged harshly based on physical appearance.

"...She is a brilliant, well educated, beautiful professional woman - but people tend to focus only on her size...." Read more

"...author says she hates that people feel compelled to do, I did enjoy the close up look at the misery the author went through just so I can be more..." Read more

"...She doesn’t realize her own worth. She is an amazing and beautiful woman who doesn’t deserve to be treated poorly because of her weight. “..." Read more

"This book is a stark and touching personal treatise on body image and how it is impacted by life experience, especially in childhood...." Read more

43 customers mention "Pacing"43 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pacing, finding it relatable to every woman and describing the author as a wonderful and incredibly talented woman.

"...One of my favorite things about this book is that she is very honest about her entire life. She doesn’t hide anything from the reader...." Read more

"...She's a down-to-earth personality that I thoroughly enjoyed hearing. But the book was nothing like I thought it would be...." Read more

"Very good, very honest portrayal of the author. However, if you have personally experienced sexual assault, it is very difficult to read...." Read more

"...precisely because Roxane makes it explicitly clear that this is HER life, HER opinion, HER experience...." Read more

35 customers mention "Rawness"35 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the rawness of the book.

"...She lays out her personal story in this book with such raw, unflinching candor...." Read more

"...I've "hungered" for this type of writing, raw and honest...." Read more

"Hunger is a memoir by Roxane Gay that is raw and honest. When it comes to memoir, I often avoid them...." Read more

"The morning after finishing reading this book, I find myself nearly as raw and filled with emotion as when I finished the likes of classics such as..." Read more

28 customers mention "Vulnerability"28 positive0 negative

Customers praise the memoir's vulnerability and resilience, with one noting how it reveals the author's most authentic self.

"...have been done, and would have made Hunger out to be a much, much stronger book. I hate to give it such a low rating, but I have to...." Read more

"This book is a stark and touching personal treatise on body image and how it is impacted by life experience, especially in childhood...." Read more

"...Your vulnerability is valuable, and I hope other women will be able to use your story for their own process of healing and loving themselves more." Read more

"I am in awe of this woman who has revealed her most vulnerable self and self-history. This memoir is honest, self-reflective, and at times brutal...." Read more

Heartbreaking Story Filled with Strength
4 out of 5 stars
Heartbreaking Story Filled with Strength
What I thought I was going to get was a memoir on food and fat shaming in our society. What I actually got is a journey that broke my heart in so many different ways. This wasn't just about food and how society portrays women. It was about a horrific event that occurs to the author when she was young, how she had nothing and no one to turn to...except food. How food sheltered her and made her feel safe. How that safety hurt more than helped and how she managed to find the strength to push through it all and survive. I could not imagine experiencing what this author did at the age of 12!!! The years after, how she coped, how lonely she felt... completely tore open my heart. How she managed to move forward, even as she ate to feel secure, is nothing short of amazing. The only reason I gave this a 4 instead of 5 stars is that it does become repetitive. I'm in no way discounting her story, her feelings, or what she went through but restating her thoughts over and over in varying ways took away from the book overall.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2025
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I did not know what to expect when reading this memoir. I did not know I would feel so fully the emotional hardship of this author. She paints her story in a way that you can see the shifts in her life the trauma experiences, but also the love in her life.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Roxane Gay was raped when she was 12.

    In reading Roxane's autobiography, I was reminded of another woman's rape words about how she disassociated and felt herself floating above, watching her own rape from the ceiling and these are her words: "I will spend the rest of my life trying to reattach the parts of me that watched from the ceiling that day".

    "Coming back" from rape is a journey, and it is usually punctuated with a lot of self-destruction, and Roxane's story has a lot of that. She often runs towards self-destruction because maybe on the other side of that, there is some kind of familiarity, some kind of safety, some version, perhaps twisted, of love. She writes of "needing to be a victim of some kind over and over. That was something familiar, something I understood" (p.236 of my paperback copy).

    After sexual assault, it seems less harmful for a girl to inflict damage upon herself rather than having others do it. Sexually abused women will almost always have issues revolving around control because they often feel some of their control was relinquished, stolen, or lost in the abuse. And since sexual abuse involves her body in such a direct way, it is natural that control will be often directed there, at her own body.

    In Roxane's novel, An Untamed State, the main character is gang-raped, just like Roxane. Instead of binge-eating, however, she does NOT eat, saying she wants to feel "empty", because if there is nothing there, if she is nothing, then, naturally, there's NOTHING LEFT TO HURT.

    Both these approaches--overeating and undereating--are flip sides of the same control coin. And it is a message to her potential perpetrators, and it is this: "I've ruined myself before giving anyone else the chance to EVER AGAIN".

    Before he organized his gang rape of Roxane, "Christopher" was someone Roxane wanted love from. She writes on p. 49: "Christopher wanted to use me. I wanted him to love me. I wanted him to fill the loneliness, to ease the ache of being awkward". This is the TRAP girls fall into, desperately wanting love or validation from an incapable boy, and they are often PUSHED into this trap. They are pushed by the media, by fairy tales, and they are often unaware that these guys are playing games.

    After the rape, Roxane writes that she became "hyperconscious of how I take up space" (p. 172). This can be a result of sexual assault, regardless of body size. Many sexually assaulted women become hyper-vigilant and PTSD-ing in public because they know how quickly aggression can happen.

    Unexamined, sexual assault creates a low bar for future relationships. When Roxane gets older, she often does not wait to get to know someone before jumping into a relationship, which often happens when sexually abused young women start having relationships. She writes of a new relationship that she jumps into that "we did not yet know the worst things about each other" (p. 235).

    There should be a WAIT before you really know someone. And usually before a couple has sufficiently waited, they have bonded in "love" or more likely lust, and now feel close. BUT YET they don't really know each other, and, most likely, just know the best versions of each other: the desirable sheen.

    There's always something sacred to the sexually assaulted woman, but it usually isn't sex. Roxane writes about the meaning of hugs for her: "A hug means something to me; it is an act of profound intimacy" (p.258).

    She also writes of her perceived "inability to overcome my past" (p. 260). For me, seeing how rape is related to blurrier sexually coercive situations, including medical coercion, actually helps, because then rape becomes not an isolated incident, but weaved into the sorry-state of today's sneak-driven society.

    Sexual assault is hard to crawl back from and there are some harsh reviewers here, their dismissive attitudes can come abusively close to the perpetrator's energy. Treat Roxane, and all the "Roxanes" with thinner bodies, kindly, respectfully, because that's only the beginning of the way back from abuse for all of society. Because, until that day, and I am not optimistic that that day will come, I will feel as Roxane feels: "angry when I think about how my sexuality has been shaped" (p. 246) AND....

    ..."weary of all our sad stories--not hearing them, but that we have these stories to tell, and that there are so many" (p.247).
    19 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2019
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    That is my own measly opinion, of course. I think this book left people confused on either end of the spectrum, in different ways. I've read 1-star ratings calling it boring, disappointing, circular, with no light at the end of the tunnel; the memoir of a very unlikable human being who gets nowhere in this book.

    Like it's meant to be some kind of fairy tale, or the lesson to be learned is meant to leave the reader feeling accomplished and good. Like wisdom always feels good or something.

    Or the 5-star ratings that praise this as though it's this suspenseful and emotionally captivating read—which I personally feel is misleading and such a misrepresentation of why this book exists.

    "LOVE IT!!!" feels cheap. Calling this book amazing feels like a lie.

    When I started reading Hunger, I knew I was going into a memoir that was probably going to feel very uncomfortable; both in just reading about the real trauma a real person had experienced, and the fact that I have also suffered trauma. I am also obese and have experienced the fear of losing weight for the same reasons the author has and does. I get it and I felt myself bearing down and then a dull sense of disturbance fill my stomach as I got closer to what I knew lived in the pages of this memoir.

    I read a life that seemed very similar to mine; at a certain point I even felt a sting of annoyance that someone wrote down my story and got the success that I probably could've had a long time ago. I lived this life, in my own ways—so much of it was terribly familiar to me. Some moments mirrored my own, and some situations I couldn't even begin to imagine myself in.

    I'm wondering if those who got nothing out of this really missed the point of what Roxane's memoir is. She's not here to teach us a moral, or to leave us feeling empowered in our obesity, or giving anyone a sense of moral high ground.

    This memoir reads as a practice in pure catharsis—an attempt at validating her own traumas and seeing how it latched onto her and changed her perception of herself. It's not about the reader and really whatever they're hoping to get out of it; Roxane is showing us the very experiences that closely reflect those similar to her.

    Yes, it is redundant because trauma doesn't just go away. Trauma follows and manifests over and over again, however the brain makes it until the person is able to resolve it. That resolution, though?—sometimes it never shows up. Sometimes, trauma looks like decades of just eating, chatting online, the same list of stupid choices, failed jobs and grades, evictions, severed relationships, and the same relationships that hurt someone the first time the trauma happened.

    Years upon years of the same BS, neverending. Always going. And for an obese person—an obese woman of color—Roxane Gay's memoir is chronic and endemic, and it's deeply disturbing and can feel the reader with hopelessness.

    Some readers found this book boring because it just repeated the same things over and over. They lost interest. They ask, "What is in this for me? I want my money back! DO NOT READ, EVERYONE."

    If this book is anything, it is a practice in empathy for those whose lives have been debilitated and left in Limbo by the foul choices of others—even children, as Roxane Gay had been victim to. And in saying that, I will say that from my perspective, the people complaining about how bored they were and how disappointed that they didn't get any helpful advice or "wisdom" out of this memoir completely failed in that practice.

    Welcome to trauma. Welcome to sexual trauma. Welcome to rape. Welcome to PTSD. Welcome to eating disorders. And welcome to all of those things, wrapped up into a life that spent years being unresolved, misunderstood, unnoticed, invalidated, and left to rot—all because anyone could see was that Roxane Gay was fat.
    215 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2024
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    To say this is an excellent book is insufficient. Roxane Gay’s writing is soulful, complex, unmasking, revealing, painful, and quietly triumphant. There are so many places where her truth aligns with my own truth and her honesty goes deeper than my own. Her words helped me feel connected and empowered while bringing up echoes of my own healing and that which isn’t healed yet. I am beyond grateful that she said the words and shared the experiences that are said and known to those of us who are people of size. I am reminded that I am not alone and that everyone’s journey and life are theirs alone.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2024
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    This is another one I had to purchase for a college course and I am glad I did! I do not read memoirs, I usually find them boring but this was the perfect pick for my class! It opens your mind to body negativity and the effects it can have on people and the last trauma! This is beautifully written and gets you thinking about issues at hand when it comes to judging others for anything really. This is the story of someone who struggled with eating issues and body shaming and negativity from others and it is sad to read some of the things she had to go through in her life. I would recommend to anyone who has lasting trauma to help them through or someone who needs a new perspective on this issue.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Bambichops
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2019
    I can imagine looking back in 20 years and remembering the week I first read this book. It’s incredible; honest, raw and extremely thought provoking. After more than 30 years of analysing what I thought was everything there was to think and know about the female body this has given me new insights into alternative ways of thinking and framing how to be in this world. I would recommend everyone to read this.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Johanna Steinböck
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping!
    Reviewed in Germany on August 19, 2019
    I read this book within 2 days. It is written in such a raw and painfully honest way that makes it impossibly to stop reading. Roxane Gay shares her very personal story and addresses the topics of sexual abuse, race- and gender-equality, loneliness and obesity in today's society. She gives insight into her most intimate experiences as a black, morbidly obese, and traumatized, but extremely strong and intelligent woman.
    I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in topics such as gender equality, human rights, racism, feminism, (sexual) abuse and trauma, eating disorders, society, etc.
  • Alfredo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ok
    Reviewed in Italy on February 29, 2024
    Tutto ok
    Report
  • Taylor
    5.0 out of 5 stars Body Positivity 100%
    Reviewed in Canada on January 19, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Read this memoir for Uni, and I will vouch to you this is an AMAZING book. Not only does Gay talk about her upbringing, her adult life, but also to breakdown what it’s like to be fat AND love yourself in this hostile fatphobic world. She also talks about weight, the problems with BMI scales, body image, disordered eating, and survivorship.

    Shipping was fast, book came brand new. The book is currently on my “best books” shelf.
  • Shine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Honest account of what it means to be human
    Reviewed in India on July 18, 2023
    Fantastic book. Reading Roxanne’s memoir seemed like travelling through my own mind. Her dichotomies are so relatable. I’m not fat but I didn’t feel any different from her. Quite like her we too are prisoners of our own expectations. The book pushes us in a corner to think, really think if we want to curtail our happiness to accommodate unrealistic standards set by a group of people.