The Strange History of Suzanne Lafleshe ― And Other Stories of Women and Fatness

A daring new anthology of short stories, The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe features women’s stories on the theme of women and fatness, edited by the award-winning scholar on U.S. women’s short story Susan Koppelman. Spanning from the 1890s through the 1990s, this vital collection explores the many psychological and emotional tensions in women’s -relationships to—and perceptions of—their physical selves. Addressing the peculiarities, the delights, and the shames of body politics that reside in the flesh, these stories of bodies that refuse to be contained deftly and astutely comment on popular notions of acceptable body types and behaviors. Whether celebrating bodies deemed transgressive or simply acknowledging that such bodies exist, these diverse literary representations of fatness render the unfettered body brilliantly, -unapologetically visible.