Book Review: Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas

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“They say health is a human right. The problem is, not everyone sees fat people as human.”

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At over 300 pounds, Emmett Truesdale carries more than physical weight; he’s burdened by childhood trauma, the daily mortification of his dead-end retail job, a lifetime of failed relationships, and the indignity of not fitting the ideal masculine mold. He’s trapped, and no amount of diet or exercise can free him from himself or his painful reality. Desperate for change, he joins a new clinical trial, the treatment and results of which are at once appalling and phenomenal: as Emmett sheds pounds at warp speed, every aspect of his existence instantaneously improves. The downside? Negative side effects, including blackouts and overpowering cravings. And when formerly cruel people disappear and rumors of a cannibalistic killer circulate, Emmett fears his saving grace may be transforming him into a monster. But how can he stop when people are finally treating him like a fellow human being?

Nothing Tastes as Good is an addictive, devastating, gore-splattered exploration of weight both literal and figurative, as well as humanity’s unremitting hypocrisy. The structure is masterful and satisfying, as is the primary dilemma: how can one exist or live authentically in a world that not only orchestrates defeat, but defers responsibility and delights in failure? Continue on when nothing is ever good enough, when fat is “disgusting” and downsizing automatically equates to arrogance and conceit, eliciting unrelenting taunts and savagery? When losing weight has to be done the “right way” (e.g., not with medication or outside help) and key contributing factors are rooted in purposeful dissemination of harmful, artificial substances passed off as “food”?

Relationships are a key focus: family members, friends, romantic partners, medical professionals, coworkers, customers, and strangers all contribute to and magnify the issues at hand. The scenes involving Emmett and his stepfather, Hank, in particular, are extremely difficult to endure, leading the reader to deeply feel and understand Emmett’s deep-seated anguish and dysfunction, producing a fraught and surreal story of abuse, addiction, blood, and body image; shame, desire, resentment, and self-loathing; fatphobia, predation, manipulation, and lies; and disgust, desperation, vengeance, and consequences — one with shocking reveals and brutal realities where murder proves less troubling than weight gain. 

Who are the real monsters? Those who are overweight and might suffer from related, “expensive” diseases, and who, so isolated and forlorn, at times find their sole source of acceptance and support via social media hoards who would as easily shower them with love as vitriol? What of those who act hatefully — tossing barbed insults, denying claims, and manufacturing camouflaged poisons — or those who create drugs to combat the obesity epidemic (which opens an entirely different can of worms)?

It’s a twisty, slippery, sinister slope that comes back to money and a deceptive, superficial society that prioritizes profit and appearance over people and health: a tainted, evil, irredeemable place where inhumanity reigns and victims bear both brunt and blame. A truly horrifying, utterly believable, distressingly realistic account that chills straight to the bone and a fantastic look into the mind of one vulnerable man, leaving the profoundly unsettled reader to ponder: if these injustices are created and perpetuated by humankind, how can one ever win, and what’s the point? What is wrong with us, and is there any hope?

🖤Amanda

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