Rooting through the depths of Audible Originals early one Saturday, I stumbled across “Bad Appetites” by Jon Athan. By Monday morning, I’m in the final chapters, face scrunching, fingers pausing the track at the end of each segment. I look out the window of the number 16 bus as the narrator lays out the gory details. A number 11 going in the opposite direction coasts by, the advert on its side a pale pink and orange against the standard Lothian maroon.
“Voy: The weight is over”
Ironic.
The last 12-18 months have been a whirlwind online. Every 3rd scroll brings you another video watermarked with the “commission paid” sticker, every 4th is “running not walking”, almost everyone is skinny. Not just slim, there’s an unnatural gleam to it that in todays world, is to die for. Inherently purchasable. The human form, specifically for women, has been commodified beyond recognition, and acts as a status symbol. When I read the blurb of Bad Appetites, it was clear I was about to dive into the undergrowth of this, the weight loss industry baring its fangs. As it turns out, I didn’t know the half of it.
it’s all seen as a sacrifice worth giving to get that ever-changing, inescapable “look”, the pot of gold under the rainbow.
Ozempic hit the global headlines in late 2023, a GLP-1 agonist designed to manage blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics. Its usage changed in the hands of A-list celebrities. You see, the medication also reduces appetite in patients, a side effect which can cause a rapid reduction in weight. The celebrities taking it broadcast almost immediate effects, the trends then trickling down through social media until it reached almost every corner of the internet. Now, its inescapable, advertised to the public through every medium. The afore mentioned Voy bus is just another symptom of the festering illness beneath the pretty colours and graphics. People are, as they always have, profiting from our insecurities.
Bad Appetites by Jon Athan explores just how far you’re expected to go to reach that “dream bod”. We follow Cindy, who describes herself as overweight almost immediately. This fact forms her entire self-identity. She cannot perceive herself outside of her weight. Through Athan’s writing style, we are able to distinguish Cindy as an unreliable narrator, as he portrays her self-loathing in an all consuming manner, almost to the point of narcissism. It is the only thing she thinks about, and she assumes that all of those around her is the same. She believes the ONLY thing they busy themselves with is critiquing her and her body. Whilst at the gym, she is approached by a man who refers to himself as a doctor. He promises her unbelievable wight loss at an unnatural pace if she hands over $1000 for just 30 of his “magic” capsules. Whilst the audience screams for Cindy to see through what is obviously too good to be true, she walks herself to an ATM. She holds very little reservations about handing over the money, and the man she’s buying from seems to expect nothing less. It reflects the beauty industries image of women, they are held so closely to its standards that they are obligated to do anything to reach it. Surgery, filler, “clean girl” morning shed that leave you feeling more product that person, it’s all seen as a sacrifice worth giving to get that ever-changing, inescapable “look”, the pot of gold under the rainbow. The “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” mentality takes a grotesque material form in Athan’s novel.
The plot dissolves to depravity the more it goes on as Cindy is consumed beyond recognition. It is an ugly, snarling story whose message sticks like glue, and whose final 2 chapters you’ll spend the next 10 years of your life clawing to forget.
Bad Appetites is free on Audible. The only thing it will cost is your stomach lining and a sliver of your sanity.
