This collection of short stories by Peter Carey is set in a post-Marxist utopia in which obesity is frowned upon and considered counterrevolutionary. Titled The Fat Man in History (1993), Carey asks a number of important questions relevant to the book's setting. Such as: What would happen, a number of the stories question, if the fat men that remain strike back at society and its leaders? "If it were possible to win a new body by lottery," the books synopsis reads, "what kind of people would choose ugliness?" In other words, the majority of the stories pose a moral dilemma to its readers.
At release, The Fat Man in History received mostly positive, albeit unspectacular reviews. Writes Kirkus Reviews: "Carey has both a true imagination and an effective voice--and this intriguing collection indicates that there may be better, more substantial fiction to come." Another reviewer called the book "a wonderful satire" and said that Carey's prose were "excellent." Still, The Fat Man in History is not an exceptionally popular book -- especially in countries outside of Australia.
