Total Page : 192
Publisher : William Morrow
Publication Date : 2009 09 01
>> A Book Meant To Be Skimmed
I was looking forward to reading this book just based upon the blurb because I had never heard of the author or her story before Finally I thought a person who s going to discuss what it s actually like to be a large person in today s society But I have no idea if this book actually contains that information because I got bogged down right in the beginning chapters The author just babbles and babbles There s wheat in among the chaff but I don t know if it is worth the effort to wade through her gushing about her wonderful this or that or how this thing or that thing is so meaningful to her or how wonderful her friends are yadda yadda yadda
A conscious decision was apparently made by the powers that be to write the book in Ruby s voice interspersed by bouquet letters praising her what she s accomplished and how she s helped others All very nice I m sure but I get the feeling that in real life she would be a rather fatiguing person to be around way too much high drama
I know alot of people are going to disagree with this review and that s okay I obviously didn t get the same thing out of this book that they did I ve never been a big fan of motivational books so perhaps that has colored my review I promise to make a good faith attempt to skim the book to see if I can glean any useful gems but as a plus size woman this book failed to make a connection with me
>> Poignant and a Little Sad
Ruby s Diary offers a further look into the life of Ruby Gettinger star of the well received TV Show Ruby This is the tale of a woman who at one time in her life weighed over 700lbs and has made it her goal to weigh 150lbs Currently at the end of last season s tv show she has hovered somewhere around 350lbs which is indeed an admirable turn around of a life that was headed toward an early end
The book/diary is much like the TV show It is very difficult not to like and even deeply admire Ruby She is an attractive articulate and kind woman People around Ruby have many wonderful adjectives to describe her A beautiful friend full of life happy an inspiration Ruby is indeed all of those things and more
Yet reading the book much like watching the TV show it is difficult not to wander into the area of disbelief Ruby reports constantly being asked How did this happen How did you come to weigh 700lbs and very seldom does she give an answer beyond I don t know Ruby claims not to remember her childhood and there is a common belief that there is some tragedy there that is a root cause
Even beyond that however reading the book I often feel like Ruby s nutritionist who it appears simply lays it on the line and says No No No Ruby If you gained all this weight then you were NOT following the meal plan No your scale is NOT broken No you are not following the plan as dictated My disbelief goes even futher you have all these devoted friends and family Ruby Your Mother Georgia Jeff how could they not have attempted to step in at 500 550 or 600lbs The only person in Ruby s life who seems to have attempted such an action is an ex boyfriend who told her that he could not remain with her if she continued down the path Unfortunately his break up of the relationship is seen more as a I won t be with you if you are fat explanation rather than one as a man refusing to accept and participate in what was obviously deeply addictive and destructive behaviors
After reading the journal my questions continue If your High School and college years truly were so happy why did the weight continue to rise Why Why Why Really it is not so much that I feel Ruby is lying to me when she says I don t know more a sense that Ruby is lying to herself Much like Oprah I continue to ask What were you feeding Ruby
Ruby very often compares her eating obsession to alcohol or drug addictions and that is probably a fair correlation as in my experience with addicts the pretense world of everything is happy and I love the world is quite common From watching the show and reading this journal I m not sure I can be as confident of her success as some When I watch and read her words I get the sense of a woman who is truly lost and in deep denial and sadly still just hiding it behind a wide smile
Still a very fascinating read and I wish the best for her
>> Ruby s Diary
I love Ruby I love the show I was hoping to hear something anything that hasn t already been on the show It was basically an overview of what I have already seen on the show I wouldn t recommend buying it although I will pass it around to my friends
