With pathos, perception and remarkable candor, Amy Wilensky looks back at her childhood and the consequences of her sister Alison's metamorphosis from a charming eight-year-old little girl to an obese teenager. This poignant memoir examines the relationship between sisters seen through the experiences they shared, as Amy watched the person she considered her "Irish twin" suffer through a compromised existence for decades. Alison's years of obesity ultimately lead to her transformation through gastric bi-pass surgery to a svelte, attractive woman just like her sister. The Weight of It is a revealing portrait of what it is like to be fat in America, a testament not only to the possibilities of modern medicine, but above all, to the unmistakable power of sisterly love.