Preamble
You know, writing book reviews make me feel uncomfortable. I'm just not qualified to do them. With that aside, I'm also kind of emotional about this book. Why? Because, prior to reading this, I was a big fan of Carnie's. I had high expectations of the messages that she would convey to people who admire her. I was hoping that she would use her visibility to talk to people about what's important. I'll be ranting later more on my thoughts. Up front though.....Warning: My personal feelings will skew my rating of this book.

Who Is Carnie Wilson?
Carnie is the oldest daughter of Beach Boy legend, Brian Wilson. Born in 1968, she also made a mark for herself two other ways. First, by being part of the pop group, Wilson Phillips and second by hosting her own talk show, Carnie.

What Is This Book About?
This book is a combination autobiography/self-help medical article around bariatric treatment of obesity. Carnie's story of obesity and her challenge to "cure" herself takes up 3/4 of the book. The last 1/4 is dedicated to answering FAQ's about obesity and bariatric treatment.

You learn a great deal about Carnie's life. You find out from the very beginning that she started out life overweight and that the set up of her family dynamics didn't lend itself to healthy eating habits.

Her father Brian, who was (and still to this day) is a recluse who split with her mother early on. Not having a strong, father influence around definitely caused Carnie to have self-esteem issues.

Her mother Marilyn, tried the best she could. She did things like send Carnie to fat camps, locked the refrigerator door, and placed her into several counseling situations.

Nothing seemed to help Carnie. Every time she pinned her hopes on something helping her ignore food (i.e. a boyfriend, a career), things would spiral even more out of control.

It wasn't until she lost everything professionally that her manager Mickey Shapiro, who also has in interest in Spotlight Health, suggested that Carnie looked into bariatric treatment.

Carnie does the right thing and does her research. She weighs the pros and cons and decides to move forward.

Her story takes us through the entire surgery and the aftermath. How she dealt with both the physical and emotional affects of losing weight.

The Good
A lot has been said about bariatric treatment for obesity. I think that Carnie's book does a great job at fairly presenting the good and bad of altering the insides of your body to lose weight. Is it for people who need to lose that last 20 pounds? Of course not. It's for people who need a tool to live, people who are nearing death's door because of the diseases they've inherited with obesity - diabetes, high blood pressure, etc....

The FAQ's were extremely factual and presented in a logical manner. For the person who isn't medically astute, it adresses questions in a manner in which the normal Joe understands.

I think that if Carnie's book would have stuck to this formula, I would have rated higher and recommended it. Books like this should be read by lots of people.

The Bad
Carnie spends a great deal of time justifying her overinflated ego.

Truly, as someone who has been a fan of her and specifically, her songwriting and singing abilities from the Wilson Phillips days, I was traumatized (but not in a life-altering way) by her change in tune.

One of the reasons that I used to admire her so much is that she seemed to focus solely on what counted - which was a person's heart and mind. I thought that this was so refreshing because here was a woman who thought this way plus she had the most gorgeous voice. Chynna and Wendy paled in comparison to Carnie's talent.

In one breath, she tells you that seeking this type of treatment is very personal. In the next breath, she belittles people who choose to remain overweight and who don't take advantage of this tool.

Weight is a very sensitive issue for me. For all of my life, I have been conditioned (by my family) to think that a person's worth (mine specifically) is based solely on their body weight. Society continues to reward those individuals who look like Calista Flockhart and make fun of those who look like Camryn Manheim.

I was thrilled when Carnie lost the weight. Not because it made her look more attractive (because really, I didn't think it did ALL that for her), but because she regained a lot of her health that she had lost over the years.

I really wanted her to aim the book in this manner. I wanted her to be positive about the health aspects. Instead, she turned it into, I'm now a beauty queen lookalike - don't you want to be one too? soapbox.

The End
If you're looking for an introduction into the bariatric treatment of obesity and like to read about a celebrity's perspective about it, you'll enjoy this book.

If you're a fan of Carnie's and have only mediocre interest in bariatric treatment, I think you'll find this book disappointing.

Recommended: No