A Little Extra: A Collection of Personal Essays

After losing over a hundred pounds, between the years of 2010 and 2015 and having two invasive revisionary plastic surgeries, I wrote this book of personal essays to explore how trauma—both externalized and internalized—shapes and misshapes the body. As individuals living in a western, consumer-driven culture, we have become adept at scrutinizing our bodies—to the point of self-immolation. In this way, our bodies have become fragmented. In this collection, I am building a narrative 'body.' The text explores body issues and anxieties in an attempt to rebuild the marginalized body through voice. Each personal essay is thematically bound to a body part. In the essays, fragmentation and objectification meet connectivity and the wholeness that can be found in the interstices.