Results Not Typical - Catherine Ryan Howard (2011)

Slimmit International Global Incorporated are famous for their slogans "Where You're Fat and We Know It!" and "Where the Fat IS Your Fault!" They claim to have slimmed five million people with their weight loss system and believe that they're making the world a more attractive place one fatty at a time. But when someone steals their revolutionary weight loss product, Lipid Loser, the real secret behind their success threatens to be exposed. With all the key company staff members involved, the race is on to retrieve the Lipid Loser and save Slimmit from total disaster. If their secrets get out, their competitors will put them out of business. If the government finds out, they'll all go to jail. And if their clients find out? Well, as Slimmit's Slimming Specialists know all too well, there's only one thing worse than a hungry, sugar-crazed, carb addict - an angry one. Will the secret behind Slimmit's success survive the day, or will their long-suffering slimmers finally discover the truth? When I read the blurb for Results Not Typical, I was slightly concerned that the corporate element of the book was going to alienate me as a reader and that I'd find it hard to get into the story because of that - but as soon as I started reading, I gobbled the book up (no pun intended). It's a delightfully satirical tale, with a fresh perspective on the well-established theme of weight loss, and a quirky writing style. Just like its title, this book is anything but typical and if you want to take a chance on something completely different, this is the story to choose. (SBB)

Irish author Catherine Ryan Howard follows up her Mousetrapped memoir about working at Disney World with her debut novel that takes a satirical look at the dieting industry. The summary of Results Not Typical says: "Through their Ultimate Weight Loss Diet Solution Zone System, Slimmit International Global Incorporated claim they're making the world a more attractive place one fatty at a time. Their slogans 'Where You're Fat and We Know It!' and 'Where the Fat IS Your Fault!' are recognised around the globe, the counter in the lobby says five million slimmed and their share price is as high as their energy levels. But today the theft of their latest revolutionary product, Lipid Loser, will threaten to expose the real secret behind Slimmit's success... As director of security, hunky Aaron Green is held responsible and threatened with losing his job. Spying an opportunity to get back into Aaron's pants, Marianne Brand, head of Slimming Operations, offers to help him track down the intruder - but what she's really hoping to find is her missing Much, Much More Muffin, a secret prototype she believes the intruder ate. Meanwhile Slimmit CEO Nicola Darcy struggles to stay conscious in the three layers of constricting underwear she needs to hide her new muffin top, while her daughter Emmy - deemed 'unacceptably beyond corporate Appearance Policy parameters' - pushes paper in Slimmit's basement and dreams of a skinny life, one she hopes her secret membership of Fat Club, Slimmit's main competitor, will eventually bring her. The race is on to retrieve the Lipid Loser and save Slimmit from total disaster. If their secrets get out, their competitors will put them out of business. If the government finds out, they'll all go to jail. And if their clients find out... Well, as Slimmit's Slimming Specialists know all too well, there's only one thing worse than a hungry, sugar-crazed, carb addict - an angry one. Will the secret behind Slimmit's success survive the day, or will their long-suffering slimmers finally discover the truth?" Results Not Typical is out in October.

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