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Review of Prisoner 521 by M.A. Kos

Hell, as seen in Dante's Inferno, is used as a literary device by authors time after time. The author Dan Brown even wrote 'Inferno', which he has now followed up with 'Origin.'

'Prisoner 521' is the story of a morbidly obese man's metaphorical journey through the nine circles of Dante's Hell. What makes this book different is that it talks about a morbidly obese man's relationship with food - gluttony - and how that contributes to his descent into hell.

In M.A.Kos's book 'Prisoner 521', the writer details the life story of Jack, who weighs as much as 600 pounds at one point, with searing psychological insight into the way he thinks that makes you look deep within your soul at your own reactions to the morbidly obese.

The first chapter 'Sin' was delightfully original and described the obese man's relationship with food. The last line of the chapter 'Your food, just like your family, can make or break you.' lays the ground for what was to come in the rest of the novel.

In the second chapter, 'The Fall', 'Jack' who is the protagonist of this novel talks into a camera and tells his story. He starts with his childhood - abusive mom, alcoholic dad, but he does it without trying to seek pity. He seems to have accepted and understood the role they have played in his decline. He talks about his feelings, or rather, a lack of them when his mother died. That scene reminded me of 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus.

In the next chapter, Jack talks about the odd jobs he's held and his difficulty finding blue-collar jobs due to his appearance. Then, he describes his experience at 'coitus'. Yeah! Just like the geeks in Big Bang Theory, he doesn't call it sex, or even intercourse. It's heartbreaking when the woman doesn't want anyone to know about it and he perfectly understands.

He quotes the Fat Bastard saying “I can’t stop eating. I eat because I am unhappy; I am unhappy because I eat.” and talks about the 'circle of gluttony'.

He then talks about his business venture, and the downward spiral his life takes after that. As the cliche goes, it is darkest before dawn. And Jack finds that his life is going to look up very soon.

How he makes money, wins his true love, manages his 'weight' issues, and makes peace with his past forms the rest of the story.

 Jack, is painfully honest, witty, and well-read. 

This reminds me of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TedX talk on 'The danger of a single story'.
Jack, being a 500-600 pound man has the danger of being viewed only as a morbidly obese man. He can be labeled that for life and learn to live with the label. This book reveals to the world that Jack is so much more than the single story of obesity that you see when you lay eyes on him. He is a wise, funny, self-aware, self-deprecating good human being, who is probably pretty hard on himself and fights to get out of the circumstances he is in. 

Yes, Jack is our hero. Heroes truly come in all shapes and sizes.I recommend this read to people of all sizes. 'Skinny' ones so that they know what it's like to be 600 pounds, the obese and the morbidly obese, who can get consoled that they are not alone...and know that they can have a happy ending.

 It also serves as a warning to those who are in the BMI of 40 and above to take stock of their food choices and exercise their way to good health.

 It is available for free on KindleUnlimited

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