If you've ever attended a Weight Watchers (now known only as WW) meeting, you understand the feeling of support and camaraderie that comes with having a group of like-minded peers behind you as you try to lose weight.  It's powerful.  Long before health experts understood the importance of weight loss support groups, there was Jean Nidetch.  A Brooklyn housewife who weighed more than she wanted to, Jean searched for a program that could help her slim down.  When a city-sponsored nutrition course helped her lose 70 lbs, her friends begged her to teach them how to achieve the same results.  In 1961, she started gathering these women in her home for sessions of instruction, discussion, and support. Weight Watchers—a company that would sell for $17 million in 1978—was born.

Like other WW attendees, I had heard the basic story of Jean's home-grown idea that turned into a formidable enterprise.  I knew little else about her, however, until I picked up This is Big by Marisa Meltzer.  Having struggled with her weight since childhood, the New York City journalist decided to give Weight Watchers a try.  Not only did she investigate the program, but she also started researching the life of its founder.  What results is a deeply personal but very readable account of Meltzer's struggles with her own weight, her experience as a Weight Watchers member, and a balanced recounting of Jean's life and how it changed in unexpected ways as her company became increasingly popular and profitable.  The book is funny, insightful, honest, and relatable.  As one who, like Meltzer, is often guilty of the "crime of appetite" (7), I devoured This is Big in almost one sitting.  Although it deals with weighty issues, the book really is that engaging.  I came out of it feeling understood and with a deeper respect for Jean Nidetch.  Despite a fanaticism that caused problems in her personal life, her entrepreneurship led to the development of a revolutionary company that was changing lives in the 60s and is still doing so today.  No matter what you may think of counting points, weight loss programs, and the whole dieting industry, you can't read This is Big without being a little bit in awe of what Jean Nidetch accomplished with her ingenuity, exuberance, and her deep desire to help other people.  Her story really is rather remarkable.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other weight loss memoirs, although I've never read another specifically about Weight Watchers)