Roxane Gay writes this memoir as a history of her body: how it has grown, the traumas that have been inflicted on it, and how she has lived with it through the years as an obese woman of color in the rural and small-town American Midwest. I listened to this audiobook during my commute, which is not an experience I would recommend. The emotional force of Gay’s narrative voice and the steady cadence are a bit much to handle in traffic. Would definitely opt for the printed form or for listening without divided attention next time around.

The one technical critique of the book I have is that the transitions between subjects and chapters could be abrupt, particularly in the beginning sections of the memoir. I often found myself wondering while listening if I had accidentally checked out an abridged version.