Manstealing for Fat Girls

This off-kilter novel centers on three girls who are definitely not part of the in crowd: one’s fat, one’s a dyke, and one is missing a breast. Nicknamed “Lezzylard” by her classmates, Angie is seduced by the prettiest girl in school, an anorexic who just wants to make imaginary grocery lists. Inez, the school’s pot dealer, can’t shoplift because security guards are mesmerized by her single enormous breast. Shelby and Angie can’t be together, because then everyone will think Angie’s only a dyke because she’s too fat to get a guy. Manstealing for Fat Girls explodes the locus where patriarchal and class violence intersect, while embracing all that is magical — and dangerous — about adolescence. Set in a working class suburb of St. Louis in the 1980s, the book is replete with music and pop culture references of the era, but the bullying, lunch table treachery, and desperate desire to fit in ring true for every generation.Michelle Embree is a professional Tarot card reader and teacher. Her Tarot work is featured monthly in Antigravity Magazine. She is a writer and a performer of spellcraft. She was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in 2006 for her debut novel Manstealing for Fat Girls. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Philosophy and a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Writing.