(5 stars) For me, Shadow on a Tightrope, was a book that was one of the first pegs in revamping my thinking about weight, weightloss, the weightloss industry and the thoughts I had about being fat. For me, the book was a revelation. When I first found this book, it was after years of being a fat kid and teenager. It was after I first developed bulimia and other disordered eating. When I picked this up in the early 1990's, there didn't appear to be any fat revolutionaries around me anywhere and all I knew was that I should hate myself and my body, simply because I was fat. I need to emphasize the word HATE, because it was always as if I was at war with my own body. I wanted to erase my flesh in any and all ways possible. This book was the beginning of me seeing that a) I was not alone and b) there was no reason for me to hate myself, because the world could do that for me. This book might shock some people, but all the better. This book is not a "feel sorry for me because I'm fat" book. This book is about empowerment and the articles/stories in it invite the readers to ask why in the world are we hell bent on destroying our lives for want of thin. I highly recommend this book to anyone, fat or thin or in between. ( )