Skinny Bitch

By: Rory Freedman, Kim Barnouin

Narrated by: Renee Raudman

Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Not your typical boring diet book, this is a tart-tongued, no-holds-barred wakeup call to all women who want to be thin.

With such blunt advice as "soda is liquid Satan" and "you are a total moron if you think the Atkins Diet will make you thin", it's a rallying cry for all savvy women to start eating healthy and looking radiant.

Unlike standard diet books, it actually makes the reader laugh out loud with its truthful, smart-mouthed revelations. Behind all the attitude, however, there is solid guidance.

Skinny Bitch espouses a healthful lifestyle that promotes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and encourages women to get excited about feeling "clean and pure and energized".

©2005 Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"They tell it like it is, and without delicacy." ( Chicago Sun-Times)
"The authors are brazen....They're not trying to win popularity contests...they just want healthy people." ( Associated Press)
"Don't hate them: be them. The authors of Skinny Bitch offer women a no-holds-barred approach to being thin and fabulous." ( Metro)

IGNORE THE TITLE!!

this book was recommended to me by my daughter who was concerned about my health--i HAD (notice past tense!!) all sorts of medical issues which were caused/exacerbated by my lousy life-style. this book turned my life around--this itty-bitty, crappy-named book!! grab your kleenex and read/listen when you can concentrate!! you won't believe you have been so stupid and so blind to what is going on with your food, your life!! this is another book that i give/recommend to EVERYONE! please DO NOT LET THE TITLE and the few very crude comments/references TURN YOU OFF! this is a book with a message everyone should hear. and mothers--do your daughters a favor (and vice-versa!!)--encourage them to read this book.

Offensive on so many levels

I feel like I need to defend myself before even starting this review because this book put me in such a hostile frame of mind. I got this book because I thought it would be a humorous "girlfriend"-type guide to eating healthy. I am a health-minded individual - I've read Dr. Weil and other health experts, work out regularly, and try to eat healthy in spite of an addiction to diet soda. But like everyone else, I need a little motivation every once in a while, and figured this quick little guide would do just the trick. WRONG. To begin with, although I'm no prude by any stretch of the imagination, the language in this book, far from being "sassy and tart-tongued" is profane and offensive. If I want someone to call me nasty names, there are plenty of places that I can go rather than a supposed self help book that I actually PAID for. This book is obviously created to advocate veganism. I believe in the importance of a plant-based diet, and when I do eat fish or chicken, I'm careful to make sure it is free-range, but this book was basically a combination of every PETA brochure that you've ever read. Graphic details of slaughterhouse practices and interviews with factory farm workers comprise the bulk of this book. It basically restates everything that you've ever read in Fast Food Nation, The Jungle, or Vegetarian Times Guide to Vegetarianism, with less intelligence and more profanity. And at least with those other books, you know what you are getting. Despite it's cute-sy title and cover graphics, it is NOT in any way, shape, or form a friendly, uplifting, female friendly guide filled with diet tips, exercise recommendations, and practical advice. It is an ugly, gorey, graphic, nagging, harsh, low-brow venue for the authors to try to bully you into their lifestyle choice.

Loved this book

I'm amazed that anyone is offended by the language in the book. The title has the word "bitch" IN IT (duh).

But truly, the book was inspiring to me. I've been juicing, eating tons of greens and fruits for only 4 days now. I "cheat" for dinner a bit (will slowly work my way into going full-force-health fanatic - if ever. :)...and i feel GREAT. I feel really, really GREAT. My eyes are wide awake and my mid-day headaches stopped immediately. I will take what I want from this book, as I think anyone should from any information source and make my own decisions about my diet. The book instructs "trust only yourself", and I agree.

I do feel the meat industry is much to "in bed" with government policy. I do agree our greed for meat is pushed on us by the meat industry. Our animals ARE treated cruelly (though I still had a BLT yesterday for dinner). I am doing what I can and not feeling guilty about it. I think people are so offended by this book because they can't handle feeling bad about certain truths.

The most important point of the book is that our health is at stake. On that I agree completely. There's nothing like fresh, clean produce and active awareness of one's body's needs, etc.

I hope my review helps. I definitely recommend this book. It speaks very basic, crucial truths that everyone should start becoming aware of or reminded of.

thank you!

Not Exactly What I Expected

This is a well written, very informative book. And I very much appreciate the fact that the authors suggest specific brands that they think taste great.

However (and I can’t believe I’m saying this), I am turned-off by the unending profanity and coarse language. I’m not typically offended by foul language, I’m not opposed to dropping the F-Bomb when appropriate.

But while listening to this book I felt like the authors either need a thesaurus or they had been hanging with frat boys who are majoring in creative swearing or they spend a LOT of time at the gym with body builders who swear and insult each other to motivate!

The publisher reviews call the style blunt, smart mouthed, tart, and laugh out loud. But hearing that something tastes so good my pubes will fall out or nothing is better than taking a big steaming sh** or you’re an effing idiot if you believe whatever, was way over done and took away some of the credibility and listening enjoyment.

Good book, good research. Hard for some to follow.

Excellent book, but it may not be for everyone. It's language is a bit raw, but no worse than the average cable comedy routine, and it tries to be funny more than insulting. My daughter hears worse in high school every day.

The premise is that a vegan, organic, whole foods lifestyle will make you skinnier and healthier. To quote the book's favorite expression: Duh. The plan would undoubtedly work, for anyone who wanted to try it. The research in the book is good, and well-vetted--no junk science--but it only gives one side of each argument. It attempts to persuade, not to provide a balanced scientific explanation.

The chapters on the horrors of meat production are a little graphic, though to me it seems odd that people are disturbed by the book rather than what the book reveals. It was not as graphic as I feared, but it was not easy listening. PG-13, I'd say, but borderline.

Overall: good book, fun tone, good advice. Not for everyone. But it would definitely work, and unlike many modern diet plans, it would certainly not hurt you in other ways. And the book is easier to follow now than it would have been just five years ago, with all the vegan foods and options available these days--the book gives advice on many of these.

I bought this for my teen, and listened first. I'd say the language is no worse than what she hears at school and on cable. The graphic stuff won't surprise her. She's already vegetarian, so she's heard it before. But if your teen is squeamish or sensitive, it might be a bit much.

Really bad

I thought that this was going to be a funny and good weight loss book. Needless to say, I was dismayed when I was preached at about how I should become vegan because of the horrible practices of the meat industry (with rather graphic stories). I would not be so annoyed about it if the author was not so preachy and condescending. I really hated this book.

I stopped drinking soda immediately after

Not only did I stop with the diet soda but all meat too. Wasn't too hard after listening to this book. I recommend it! Don't let the name turn you off.

For a vegan "beginner"

The title is deceiving as this book mostly discusses the virtues of being vegan. I was a vegan prior to reading this book and so didn't learn much from it. I don't agree with their view that "fake" meat products are ok. Narrator is a bit annoying and she sounds condescending at times. It's an easy listen and I'd recommend it for any vegetarian wannabes or vegetarians needing a reason to go vegan.

GREAT !!!!!!! Funny and Informative reading

Very good book. Informative, and a great help in anyone trying to change, or adjust a BAD diet. Also information concering the Government Agencies, and their money grabbing ways of damaging the health of Americans. That part is SCARRY, but a good information guide.

THANK YOU

Political Pocket Book

This book is awful. The profanity is completely unnecessary and in fact discredits any factual information attempted to be provided. The author takes hits on America and every food industry that exists. It also accuses America of ruining the health of other countries just to make money. The author doesn't provide any new information about anything and in some cases provides only half truths. In addition to scaring a listener into becoming a vegetarian, she gives diet "tips" that have been proven to be unhealthy. In the attempts to sell the listener on the concept of "fake meat" (her words, not mine), she totally ignores that most of it is frozen and subject to the same processing that she is so against in other foods. She spends about ten minutes on the attributes of exercise, which is essential to all "skinny bitches" and clearly focuses on a vegetarian diet, using examples that are marginally logical at best. The book is not encouraging. It is a four hour lecture that, at the end, makes you feel like you're a penny waiting for change. The book lacks inspiration and creativity. I believe it is only a best seller because the book jacket promises what the actual content never delivers.