Hello fellow readers. I'm looking for fictional stories, where the protagonist is male and quite fat or obese.
A few key points:
– the genre doesn't matter as long as it is a fictional story for adult readers (but I mostly enjoy thriller, fantasy and sci-fy stories so far)
– it is not necessary, that the main plot revolves around the character's obesity, but it should be a reoccuring theme in some way
– the character should not be dumb or too naiive and should be not a kid or a teenager
Last I read the soilder son triology by Robin Hobb and enjoyed it quite much.
Edit: If you read the book and could give me a very brief overview regarding the main theme/plot (but no spoilers pls), I'd be thankful. But ofc that's not necessary.
by KhandiSun
16 Comments
Before and After by Andrew Shanahan
The Slough House series, Jackson Lamb
Maybe:
Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout
Think 1950s NYC version of Sherlock Holmes who is obese enough that he has a specially made chair.
There’s like 30 of them.
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Memory Man by David Baldacci
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Ai summary:
The story is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans, with its unique dialect and colorful inhabitants serving as a backdrop for Ignatius’s misadventures.
After a series of mishaps, Ignatius is forced to get a job, leading to a chaotic series of events involving his mother, a stripper, a police officer, and other bizarre characters.
The novel explores themes of societal decline, the clash between the medieval and modern worlds, and the absurdity of human behavior, with a notable subplot examining racial prejudice in the South.
Seconding Nero Wolfe. These are detective stories that were written between the 1930s and 1970s. Wolfe is a brilliant private detective but he’s also a cranky eccentric recluse and loves his creature comforts. He’s got a comfy house, a greenhouse full of orchids, and hired one of his best friends to be his personal chef. He only does the detective stuff because it pays well and lets him afford his lifestyle.
The stories are told in the first person perspective by his gumshoe Archie, who does all the legwork and dangerous stuff and brings the facts back to Wolfe so he can solve the cases.
Imagine if Mycroft Holmes was the detective instead of Sherlock, and punt it forward in time about half a century.
Because of the era in which they were written you’ll find some casual sexism and occasional race slurs. This is vintage fiction, not modern stuff written about the past. If you can tolerate it they are otherwise an absolute joy and proved to me that there can be some overlap between hardboiled and cozy mysteries.
Mystery novels by John Dickson Carr featuring the detective Dr. Gideon Fell. Dr Fell is described as morbidly obese and walks with the aid of two canes. Carr was famous for the impossible crime or “locked room” murder.
*Tuf Voyaging* by George RR Martin. Enjoyable science fiction collection/fix up novel. And a potentially rare vegetarian obese male protagonist.
Mark Vorkosigan is a secondary protagonist in Mirror Dance, part of the wonderful Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. He is the secret clone brother of the main series protagonist, Miles. He was cloned in order to assassinate and replace Miles, who comes from an important political family. His natural body size is fat, but he has been forced to remain thin throughout his life so as to “match” Miles.
However, over the course of the book, he gets fatter and fatter. He also shows up as a secondary character in later books in the series, still fat.
It’s nice to have read other books in the series before Mirror Dance, but not necessary. (They are great, though!)
Heft by Liz Moore.
I was really touched by the characters in this book, especially Arthur Opp, the protagonist. Highly recommend!
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
The Master And Commander books by Patrick O’Brian! It’s a twenty-book series set in and around the Napoleonic Wars. The two protagonists are Jack Aubrey, who starts off as a Royal Navy lieutenant given his first command, and Stephen Maturin, a scientist and spy who becomes a ship’s doctor.
Jack is fat. It comes up pretty often: Stephen hectors him about it, and he keeps gaining and losing huge amount of weight as his voyages take him to and away from different food supplies. He’s also a smart, sensitive guy, popular with women, and a very active, swashbuckling action hero.
If you like the first book, there are nineteen more after it.
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx – an obese man moves to Newfoundland, begins to write for the local paper, and slowly gains confidence and makes friends
OS Card has a short story called Fat Farm.
Intro to the plot vis Wikipedia:
Martin Barth is a very rich man with a serious overeating problem. When his obesity interferes with his enjoyment of his lifestyle, he goes to a secret clinic, gets himself cloned and then transfers his memories into the clone.
Thinner by Stephen King as Richard Bachman is a classic. About an obese man who’s cursed when he kills a Romani man’s daughter.