So the brash diet book Skinny Bitch shot up the bestseller lists last week, after the surrealistically uninteresting Victoria Beckham was spied carrying it around. (The woman also known as Posh Spice is so free of any substance, she seems almost spectral. Until I actually meet her, I'm convinced she's a hologram.)

I won't be reading Skinny Bitch. I love meat and I have a freakishly high metabolism. Plus I only take Posh's recommendations on historical fiction.

But I can guess why everyone's snatching it up: The obesity crisis is so grim - one-third of us obese, two-thirds overweight - that if anyone can inject humor into the discussion, things might seem a little less dire. Most everyone agrees that America needs to lose weight - and lots of it. Our life expectancy now lags behind 41 other countries.

And yet ... I'm conflicted. Not every overweight person should lose weight. My trip this past weekend to Minneapolis was bookended by the downside - and the upside - of fat. I'll explain...

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