Kirkus Review

At first glance this might appear an implausible anthology idea--but the upshot is a deliciously varied and diverting set of 15 yarns, from H. G. Wells to the present, examining obesity in all its ghastly guises. The famous entries: Wells' ""The Truth About Pyecraft""; ""The Man Who Ate the World,"" one of Frederik Pohl's celebrated stories about a chronically over-productive world in which poverty means endless, grinding consumption; ""Abercrombie Station,"" Jack Vance's space station where the grossly overweight float free of gravity, opprobrium, and social restraint; and Stephen King's ""Quitters, Inc.,"" which tells how to give up smoking and lose weight--or else. Some of the less well-known but equally yummy tales just might put you off your victuals permanently: a hilariously sickening eating contest (T. Coraghessan Boyle); a robot family chef determined to starve its flabby charges (Robert Silverberg); a ladies' club whose members fatten up their husbands for the dinner table (John Anthony West); a despised fat girl who consigns her enemies to a world of lollipop trees and chocolate rivers (William Tenn); a painter whose foody murals are subliminally enhanced by restaurateurs to whip patrons into a frenzy of feeding (Scott Sanders); and finger-lickin' goodies from Orson Scott Card, R. A. Lafferty, and others. Simply scrumptious--however familiar some items on the menu. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.