FATTY FATTY BOOM BOOM: A MEMOIR OF FOOD, FAT AND FAMILY by Rabia Chaudry
This memoir details Chaudry's life, first in her native Pakistan and then in her adopted United States, with particular focus on her lifelong relationship with food.
Fatty Fatty Boom Boom is a memoir by lawyer, advocate and author Rabia Chaudry, who is probably best known for her advocacy work on the Adnan Syed case featured in season 1 of the Serial podcast, and Chaudry’s own podcast Undisclosed. This memoir details her life, first in her native Pakistan and then in her adopted United States, with particular focus on her lifelong relationship with food.
I have to be upfront from the start: I consider Rabia a friend, having first met her at a fundraiser for Adnan Syed in Baltimore in 2016, then visiting her at home with her family in early 2020. However, I promise this is an honest review of the book (which for me was an audiobook).
Rabia comes from a culture where food is a central tenet to family, hosting and overall living. It is true to say, though, that as a child, Rabia developed a relationship with food - both in terms of what she ate and how much - that was negative and impacted her until she was well into her 40’s. That’s not to say that Rabia wasn’t a natural beauty - knowing her with and without weight, I think she is stunningly beautiful. And although she was overweight (medically considered obese), I would not have said she was a size which drew my attention. Maybe I just don’t look for those characteristics in people.
I found this story to be incredibly sad, because I could hear the judgement of herself in Rabia’s voice. I don’t think she is fatphobic, I just think she was unhappy in her body. Towards the end of the book, Rabia says as much but at no time did I think Rabia was judging others or their weight.
I wish I could say the same for members of her extended family. Rabia may not say so or even feel so, but some of the commentary she was subjected to by family was horrible, and no doubt contributed to her negative view of herself. Most of this commentary wasn’t helpful nor intended to support her to lose weight - it was just mean. I found that particularly heartbreaking. I also found I related to it, having been subjected to more than a few comments about my body and weight over the years.
That said, one of the highlights of this memoir is the vivid detail in which Rabia describes Pakistan and her early life there, as well as visits back. I haven’t been there but it sounds wonderful.
Readers/listeners should be warned: this book does describe (in a limited way) violence against women, in particular domestic violence perpetrated by Rabia’s first husband. I knew she had been married before and there had been violence but hearing it described was difficult to listen to.
On the whole I enjoyed Fatty Fatty Boom Boom. Rabia is a gifted writer and narrator and her story is more than worthy of being told. I know there are some critics of the book that feels it is “fattist” or anti-fat. I didn’t feel that way, though Rabia’s path to self-acceptance was a long one. I genuinely felt her wrath for fat was directed only at herself and her own self-worth, not others. I felt genuine empathy for the lack of self-esteem she felt surrounding her appearance - I don’t think many women would not have experienced that, at some stage (and no doubt plenty of men, too). I particularly enjoyed hearing about the cultural side of Rabia’s life - I learned a few things as I listened, both about Pakistani culture, Islam and Rabia herself. That’s always a plus with a book!