Marisa Meltzer, THIS IS BIG

Marisa Meltzer is the author of This Is Big: How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World (and Me). She co-authored How Sassy Changed My Life and also Girl Power, and is a contributor to New York Magazine and The New York Times. Her work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Elle, and Teen Vogue. The inspiration for her newest book, This Is Big, was sparked when she read The New York Times obituary of Jean Nidetch, the founder of Weight Watchers. Part biography and part memoir, Marisa combines two compelling stories: her own journey with weight and body image, and her immersion into the world of Weight Watchers to research Jean's fascinating life and entrepreneurial impact. Marisa and I talked about our personal relationships to dieting, eating habits as a product of our society, and the complicated influence food has on girls and young women in particular. I think this conversation and her book will resonate strongly with a lot of people because it explores how nuanced transformation - physical and emotional - really is.

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