This is Big

New York Times journalist Marisa Meltzer takes a long, hard look at weight and feminism through the life of Jean Nidetch, the trailblazing founder of Weight Watchers

‘A life-changing book’ Viv Groskop

Marisa Meltzer was put on her first diet aged five- it was the beginning of a fraught relationship with food.

Jean Nidetch was a housewife from Queens who defiantly lost 70 pounds after she was mistaken for being pregnant. Taking everything she learned from this experience, in 1963 she founded Weight Watchers, a company that has shaped decades of diet culture.

When Marisa reads Jean’s obituary, she feels a moment of intense connection. Curious about the woman and her legacy, she signs up for a year of Weight Watchers; counting points, weighing in and listening to her fellow members struggle with their bodies.

This is Big is a biography of an idiosyncratic entrepreneur whose impact is still felt strongly today. It is a history of dieting and body politics for anyone who has agonised over their weight or defiantly tried not to do so. And it is Marisa’s funny and thoughtful journey towards a different way to live in the world.

‘This is the anti-diet book I’ve been waiting for’ Daisy Buchanan

Author Biography

Marisa Meltzer is a journalist based in New York who writes the ‘Me Time’ column for The New York Times Style section and has contributed to The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, and Vogue among numerous other major national publications. The author of two previous books, How Sassy Changed My Life and Girl Power, she lives in Brooklyn, NY and was born in Northern California.