A Book Review

STACKED
A 32DDD REPORTS FROM THE FRONT

Susan Seligson

A hilarious and compelling inquiry into American breast obsession—by a journalist who knows.

What is it about breasts—or if, you prefer, bazoombas, melons, Dolly Partons, or breastasauri—that inspires such fascination? No one is even sure why women have breasts when not pregnant or nursing, but start a conversation about them, Susan Seligson discovered, and every woman, man, child, and drag queen has something to say.

In Stacked, this intrepid 32DDD writer takes us on a journey through a culture where breasts have come to stand for all that is woman. Seligson introduces us to the proud owners of the worlds largest augmented breasts; crusaders for the right to parade bare-chested in public; and women pining for larger breasts or smaller ones, who may resort to surgery or stranger fixes (breast-enhancing gum? giant suction cups?) to get the breasts of their dreams. She relates the history of the bra and takes us on a quest for the perfect one. She explores the thinking of surgeons who do hundreds of breast implants a year, academics suspicious of our changing standards of femininity, and the editor of Busty Beauties magazine.

And she writes throughout with the wisdom and humor of a woman who knows what it is to wield body parts so powerful they can make men crash cars.

Susan Seligson is a journalist and the author of Going with the Grain; she has also coauthored four children�s books with her husband, cartoonist Howie Schneider. She has written for the New York Times Magazine, Salon.com, Atlantic Monthly, Redbook, the Boston Globe Magazine, Outside, and Allure, among others, and currently writes an award-winning humor column for the Provincetown Banner. She lives in North Truro, MA.

Praise for Going with the Grain: A Wandering Bread Lover Takes a Bite Out of Life:

Seligson is a deliciously entertaining guide. Her palpable enthusiasm translates into stories spiced with rich detail and witty commentary.�—Christian Science Monitor

Fascinating�funny�[Seligson] keeps her attention focused outward, driven by a curiosity about places and people, what makes them work and what matters to them. She seems to be interested in everything�Just as others become Seligson�s invaluable guides into the world of bread, she becomes ours.�—Boston Globe

Serious stuff, but Seligson leavens this offering with keen observations and a wicked sense of humor�As smart and evocative as it often is laugh-out-loud funny.�—Publishers Weekly (starred review)