Eat Only When You're Hungry

A Novel

By: Lindsay Hunter

Narrated by: David LeDoux

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

One of Nylon's "50 Books We Can't Wait To Read In 2017"

One of Chicago Reader's "Books We Can't Wait To Read In 2017"

A father searches for his addict son while grappling with his own choices as a parent (and as a user of sorts)

In Lindsay Hunter’s achingly funny, fiercely honest second novel, Eat Only When You’re Hungry, we meet Greg—an overweight fifty-eight-year-old and the father of Greg Junior, GJ, who has been missing for three weeks. GJ’s been an addict his whole adult life, disappearing for days at a time, but for some reason this absence feels different, and Greg has convinced himself that he’s the only one who can find his son. So he rents an RV and drives from his home in West Virginia to the outskirts of Orlando, Florida, the last place GJ was seen. As we travel down the streets of the bizarroland that is Florida, the urgency to find GJ slowly recedes into the background, and the truths about Greg’s mistakes—as a father, a husband, a man—are uncovered.

In Eat Only When You’re Hungry, Hunter elicits complex sympathy for her characters, asking the listener to take a closer look at the way we think about addiction—why we demonize the junkie but turn a blind eye to drinking a little too much or eating too much—and the fallout of failing ourselves.

©2017 Lindsay Hunter (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"A novel of staggering vision and tremendous heart. On full display here are Hunter’s nonpareil technique, her skillful excavation of her characters’ interior landscapes — a digging done both ruthlessly and yet with abundant mercy — and her inspired inventiveness at the level of language . . . All of which is to say that Eat Only When You’re Hungry is in every way majestic: stunningly detailed, formidably written, and profoundly affecting." —Vincent Scarpa, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Hunter delves closely into Greg's world as he travels from West Virginia to Florida in a rented RV, and also delves into the troubled lives of his family members, with an honesty that is both harsh and tender. Eat Only When You're Hungry does many things—it's a painfully vivid family portrait, a road novel, and a novel about addiction in its many forms—and it does them all wonderfully, with a stunning emotional impact." —Isaac Fitzgerald, Buzzfeed

"Hunter's absurd Floridian landscapes and darkly tender moments are keen and hilarious, exposing the complexities of addiction and an overweight man with a weak heart but unfailing love." —Booklist

Deeply Human

This is a darkly funny, richly literary story that recognizes some of the most mundane things that happen to people and makes them interesting and thought provoking in a way I would’ve never imagined independently. Hunter puts our insecurities and emotional survival to the forefront here through the spirit of the characters in this novel. I couldn’t help but relate in small ways with various characters. That was my favorite part about this novel, the human element.

There is a ton about addiction and dealing with a loved one who suffers from severe polysubstance addiction. The main character Greg is divorced, overweight, and struggling himself in so many ways but decides to take a road trip to look for his missing son (GJ) who is an extreme addict. While Greg is looking for his son, the reader learns a lot about Greg himself and his own problems. Like many real life family addiction situations, Greg loves his son but is so burnt out from the continuous fall out of his sons use that he doesn’t even know what to do for himself much less his son.

Hunter’s mind works in a way that others don’t when exploring the human experience. Hunter’s work in this book reminds me of one of my favorite writers AM Homes, so if you are a fan of hers then pick up this book. To be honest though, while I liked this book, I loved Hunter’s previous book, Ugly Girls. So in comparing Hunter’s own work is why I will likely give it 4 stars instead of 5 stars. Ugly Girls has the human elements Eat Only When You’re Hungry has, but also contains more tension and violence which gives it more action and made it more appealing to me. Honestly, the stars don’t mean much. If you want to read a book that will make you laugh and feel uncomfortable at the same time then give it a try.

Reads like a plot for an independent movie

I enjoy this style of writing, specific and honest. It’s one of those “raw” storylines that makes you think about things a little bit deeper. All of the characters seemed like real humans, not just characters.

My biggest critique would be that there were possibly too many similes and metaphors, every single thing doesn’t need to be compared to something else.

Huh?

Maybe I was too distracted to fully take this in.....but I really feel as if this story lacked everything! Boring and uneventful.