More, Please by Emma Specter Summary
Overview of More, Please
In "More, Please," Emma Specter fearlessly explores food, fatphobia, and binge-eating through memoir and reporting. TIME's must-read of 2024 challenges diet culture with what New Yorker's Helen Rosner calls "tender, funny, angry, and sharp as hell" - essential reading for anyone with a body.
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The Hunger That Defines Us
Emma Specter's memoir opens with a piercing confession about beauty's inheritance. Her conventionally attractive mother-with wide-set eyes, straight nose, and perfect blond bob-looms as both inspiration and impossible standard. At sixteen, discovering her mother's old press passes triggered a panic in Emma, suddenly hyper-aware of her aquiline nose, thin lips, and fleshy thighs. This moment crystallized a lifelong struggle with body image that would shape her relationships with food, love, and ultimately herself. In an era where celebrities flaunt Ozempic-induced transformations and "thin is in" dominates cultural conversation once again, Specter offers a radical alternative: what if we stopped organizing our lives around self-denial? What if hunger could be welcomed rather than feared? Our mothers cast long shadows over how we see ourselves. Though Emma's mother never explicitly told her to lose weight, meaningful looks over dinner communicated volumes. Their relationship with food was complicated from the beginning-Emma's first experiences of physical satiety came through breastfeeding, establishing a pattern of guilt around nourishment that would follow her for decades. The intergenerational nature of disordered eating becomes painfully clear when Emma describes bonding with female relatives through diet talk, performing self-deprecation as protection. Her mother, born in 1955-the same year the first McDonald's opened and impossibly lean models began gracing Vogue-survived decades of fad diets. How could she possibly have raised a daughter with body confidence when 76 percent of parents insult their own bodies in front of their children?
From Teenage Obsession to Weight Watchers
Food as Comfort and Shame
Hollywood Binges and Hidden Struggles
Queer Awakening and Self-Discovery
Learning to Live with Hunger
Embracing Appetite and Love
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"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
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