About the Book

The time for BIG & Fabulous, The Life and Times of Brenda Cankles is now! The emphasis is on positive body image, Big & Fabulous is a truly entertaining story that’s strongly written, funny, insightful and bitingly smart. Inside it’s covers, readers will find no shortage of acidly hilarious accounts of the highs and lows of living life inside a big and fabulous body.

Imperfect, impervious and improving Brenda Cankles is an unlikely heroine. Unfazed by the enduring censure of society, she is determined to realize the fabulous life that she has always believed is her destiny.

Brenda’s story – written in unflinching first person – is utterly unvarnished. Here, find a fantastically real person, sometimes struggling to fit in, but mostly giving the rest of the world the mother-lovin’ bird. From her clunky childhood, through her stumbling yet optimistic adolescence to her full figured and unapologetic emergence into adulthood. Brenda is a special brand of warrior. She is big, bold and beautiful. While the quirky cast of characters who surround her is eternally insistent that Brenda live her life in the background and fit into society’s mold, she will have none of it.

Author, Randi Sherman’s experience as a stand-up comedienne is evident as she delivers, BIG & Fabulous, The Life and Times of Brenda Cankles, the hilarious, often laugh-out-loud novel about the inner most thoughts Brenda Cankles, a very real character who is confident and brave enough to expect the world to accept her on her terms.

BIG & Fabulous, The Life and Times of Brenda Cankles is Sherman’s fifth novel, her fourth THE LOBBY has won 17 Awards for Humor and General Fiction.

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Excerpt

DEAR SOCIETY,

We have a big job ahead of us. In elementary school, I will be "the fat kid" with a wild imagination. In high school, I'll try to fit in but won't. I will be an outcast, considered lumbering and awkward. No one, including my family, will expect much from me because I won't be like the other girls. Being a big and a boldand a brashgirl, I will bethe focus of your attention as you advise me to stifle myself, adjust my enthusiasm, and be grateful for any attention I receive.

To the bullies and doubters, let me be thefirst tothankyou in advance for continually reminding me that I have the potential to end up as someone's dusty spinster aunt who shares a can of bargain tuna with seventeen cats, or that weird neighbor you see but try desperately to avoid.

Although it's hard to believe, I will cherish our relationship because you, Society, will never ignore me. I don't know what I will do or have done to garner so much of your attention and devotion. I'm sure you have other and more important things to do, like creating jobs, housing the homeless, raising money to cure cancer, and feeding the hungry. But, no, you will dedicate television shows and magazine articles to me, and spend your valuable time and energy comparing what it is that you consider "perfect" to my reality and encourage me to change into someone "typical." I know it will be exhausting for you.

I have to admit that there will be times when my self-esteem will be tested. Other times, I'll be a non-believer, and want to give up, possibly disappointing you.

Because of your often obsessive yet unwavering attention and dedication to making me aware of my shortcomings or, worse, your condescending and hollow and self-serving attempts to encourage me to accept my "inadequacies" and situation - you will present me with a challenge. It will take all of my strength and determination, but I will dig deep within myself to realize I have the potential to be fabulous.

Like fine wine, opera, and stinky cheese, I am valuable, an acquired taste, and, like all treasures, I should be appreciated and celebrated.

Like it or not, whether you intend it or not, I just might turn out to be a wise, compassionate, creative, funny, generous, and a kind person. You see, I have the ability to learn and grow.

Yes, I am big and I am bold, and I accept your challenge. Be forewarned. I will be a force to be reckoned with because I am special. I am beautiful and I am a superhero. Now, get the fuck off my cape. I have things to do.

Sincerely,

BrendaMerleCankles, "The Big One"

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About the Author

Randi M Sherman is the award winning author of humorous fiction books.

With an eye for detail, an ear for well-tuned dialogue and an incredible grasp of the obvious, all honed while performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles and improvisational theater in San Francisco, Sherman adds just enough bawdiness to deliver character-driven contemporary novels that will have the reader laughing, thinking and connecting with the characters in her books.

A native Californian, Randi makes her home in California's wine country. Trying her hand at country living Randi describes herself the Eva Gabor of the Sonoma/Napa area.

Randi earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Chapman University.

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