REVIEWS
October j, 2007
2
Star Tech
The "Skinny" on America’s Newest Diet
Book
Erin Etheridge
StafFWriter
Photographed m May
in the anns of Victoria
Beckham, also known
as Posh Spice and the
wife of soccer star David
Beckham, Skinny Bitch is
the most recent diet book
to evoke a torrent of con
troversy.
The work, co
authored by the Los
Angeles duo Kim
Bamouin and Rory
Freeman and published
by Running Press, has
come under scrutiny for
its "raucous, profanity-
laced" language, writes
Motoko Rich of the New
York Times.
Released in December
2005, Skinny Bitch has
more than 245,000 cop
ies in circulation and
has reached No. 1 on
the New York Times
best-seller list, writes
Rich in his article "Book
serves attitude, no meat,"
which appeared in the
September 26^ edition of
The News & Observer.
The book, marketed as
a "no-nonsense, tough-
love guide for savvy
girls," is in my opinion
one of the most self-dep-
recating diet books of our
time. Referring to soda
as "liquid Satan" and cof
fee as a drink "for puss
ies," Skinny Bitch's con
descending tone is sup
posed to incite its readers
to create a new healthy
lifestyle for themselves.
However, after examin
ing the book myself, I
feel no need to follow its
advice.
Bamouin and
Freeman's work begins
with an appealing intro
duction. TT^e co-authors
state, "You don't need
to starve yourself to get
skirmy. You don't need
to spend all day at the
gym to get skimy. It's
time to strut... down
the street like you're in
an episode of Charlie's
Angels with some really
cool song playing in the
background."
Reader beware: this
positive fagade does not
last long.
As early as the first
chapter, I found myself
lost in a work whose
focus, healthy eating
and a concern for ani
mal rights, is buried
between comments such
as "Cigarettes are for
losers. They are so 1989
and totally uncool."
Bamouin and Freeman
go on to describe the
effect of excessive drink
ing to be "bloated fat
pig syndrome" and any
fat-free or low-fat food
item as a "chemical shit
storm."
What then, one might
ask, is the message of
such a work? I believe
that Rich siams it up best:
"hard core vegan, with a
good helping of animal
rights rhetoric that might
be more familiar to the
Birkenstock brigade than
your average diet-seek
ing book buyer."
This description is
quite appropriate, con
sidering that Bamouin
"holds a Masters of
Science degree in Holistic
Medicine" and Freedman
is an animal-rights advo
cate, states the work's
website, http://www.
skirmybitch.com, as well
as Rich's article. Before
pursuing these careers,
Bamouin was a model
and Freedman an agent
for Ford Models, one of
the nation's most presti
gious modeling agencies,
cites the book's website.
Rich says in his article
that "Bamouin did much
of the research on the
Intemet and used books
she had studied in her
nutrition course." He
also states that once the
manuscript was com
plete, Bamouin and
Freeman asked Amy Joy
Lanou, a "senior nutri
tion scientist for the
Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine, an
advocacy and research
group that promotes a
diet free of animal prod
ucts," to review what
they had written.
In response to the
amount of negative criti
cism surrounding Skinny
Bitch, Freedman states,
"They're [customers]
mad that they spent $14
on a book that was not
what they thought, but
they're not mad that
chickens are having
beaks chopped off their
faces?"
In response, David
Steinberger, the chief
executive of Perseus
Books Group, of which
Rurming Press is an
imprint, remarks that
"Sidnny Bitch has a
straightforward message
that some people may
find tough to take."
Both co-authors add,
"There is a common mis
conception that Skinny
Bitch is all about depriva
tion. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
We devised the Skinny
Bitch plan so we could
have our cake and eat it!"
However, to sell
over a quarter of a mil
lion copies, praise for
the work has to come
from somewhere. The
New York Times Book
Review calls tiie book
"a funny, foul-mouthed
ode," while iVillage, an
online health resource
for women, describes the
attitude of Skinny Bitch as
"part best-friend counsel,
part drill-sergeant abuse
and a dash of sailor
mouth."
Since tiie success of
"Skinny" cont. on pg. 4
Is the gas-guzzler lov
ing United States ready
to embrace an eight foot
long car? Makers of the
Smart Fortwo, which is
set to arrive in the U.S. in
early 2008, certainly hope
so.
The car weighs only
1,800 pounds and is
shorter by over three
feet than the tiny Mini
Cooper. Measuring eight
feet, eight inches long
and five feet wide, the
Smart Fortwo (produced
in France by Mercedes
Car Group) is, appropri
ately enough, a two-seat-
er sporty roadster. The
car has been on a fifty-
dty tour in the United
States this year and is
already turning heads.
The Smart Fortwo
may prove to be a fun
first car or a sleek dty
cruiser; its base price is
$12,000. Providing over
forty miles per gallon, it
certainly is economical as
well. Buyers may opt to
spend $14,000 and enjoy
air conditioning, alloy
wheels and a panoramic
roof. Want the whole
package? Spring for the
convertible—it includes a
better sound system and
a six-disc CD changer, all
for about $17,000.
While the price and
gas mileage soimd ideal,
some people might
hesitate to purchase the
car because of one fac
tor: size. The car's U.S.
crash test results will be
annoimced this fall. The
Smart Fortwo is expected
to eam four out of a pos
sible five stars. Safety
features include an inter
nal steel safety "cage,"
multiple air bags, and
intelligent seat belts that
Chelsea
McGlaughlin
StafFWriter
detect motion changes.
Safety precautions and
all, I have a feeling that a
collision between a Smart
Fortwo and a Range
Rover might not end up
so well for the Fortwo
(and its passengers).
Unique features
include interchangeable
body panels to change
color and style and a
choice of automatic or
manual shift styles. The
70-horsepower, three-
cylinder engine may
not win many races, but
it promises to be a fun
drive.
Visit the following
websites for more infor
mation about the 2008
Smart Fortwo:
http://autos.aol.com/arti-
cle/general/v2/_a/is-the-
smart-for-you/2007091815
4709990001
http://www.smartcaro-
famerica.com/smart_
info_station/latest_news/
smart_usa_20061113197/
http://www.usa.smart.
com/
A Smart Fortwo; Small and
affordable
If you have any
suggestions of new
technological treats^^
you can contact
the columnist at
mcglaugh@meredith.
edu