The Round World
Life at the Intersection of Love, Sex, and Fat
Imagine being adored for a quality you might dislike about yourself.
Imagine growing up in a world where what you think is most beautiful
is considered most grotesque.
Imagine a place where fatness is beautiful, powerful, and sexual. A place called the Round World.
The Round World is the first book to crack open the taboo of fatness from the perspective of the people who find it erotic and who seek fat people as romantic partners. In sharing stories of himself and others in a personal and conversational style, author Dan Oliverio paints a vivid picture of how “chubby chasers” see the world and how living inside a taboo where the standards of beauty seem upside-down affects love, sex, dating, and relationships.
In a greater sense, this book is not just about fat. It’s about people making peace with their bodies and their desires. It’s about granting to ourselves and by extension to others the freedom to be who we’ve always been, and the freedom to love what we’ve always loved.
Praise for The Round World
“The Round World does more than just provide an authoritative look into the world of people attracted to fatness, it seeks to look at the role of shame, public scrutiny and self-acceptance in the way we define sexual attraction. Dan Oliverio wrote a beautiful love letter to the aesthetics of fatness while also providing a keen analysis of why and how we can fall in love with things society tells us aren’t attractive… This book helped me feel beautiful and understand the power and attraction of my fat body.”
— Guy Branum, Writer/Comedian, Chelsea Lately, Last Comic Standing
“The Round World is a fresh perspective of new information I hadn’t considered in my work as a sex therapist. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to heighten their understanding of making unconventional desires more conventional.”
— Kristie Overstreet LMHC, LPC, CST, CAP, Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Sex Therapist
“Dan Oliverio … challenges us to take a long hard look at our deep seated beliefs and biases around size and shape. He encourages us to open our minds and perhaps our hearts…. Dan skillfully explores topics such as weight stigma, health-ism, the world of chasers and chubs, fat admirers and big beautiful women and we are taken along with the humanity of it all … this book gives us all tools to be more compassionate and accepting as we live alongside people of all shapes and sizes, sexual preferences and life stories.”
— Dr. Fiona Holland, Senior Lecturer, Psychology Dept. and Body Image Researcher, University of Derby, UK
“… an artfully and expertly written book that delves into the minds of those that find fat as being attractive, desirable and SEXY. Dan leads you through a journey of discovery; discovery of your feelings and beliefs about Fat and fat people. He gives you the opportunity to look at and recognize your biases and prejudices along with understanding the desires and passions that you may feel for a partner with a fat body. Open yourself to finding what The Round World can teach you.”
— Darliene Howell, Board of Directors, National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)
What’s in this book
The Round World is the first book to explore what it’s like for those of us who see fat people as powerfully erotic and beautiful and who seek them as romantic partners.
In coming to terms with the nature of such desires and relationships, we’ll look at issues such as body image, self-esteem, prejudice, sexuality, identity, adoration, and objectification. I’ll share stories about myself and others who live in the Round World in a conversational style. I’ll also propose models for the way we see the world and our relationships—how we succeed and why we sometimes fail at them. Our relationships face unique challenges because they operate inside a taboo where the standards of beauty, power, and attraction seem upside-down.
The Round World is presented as a sort of travelogue, recounting a journey to a place where the inhabitants find that being fat enhances love, sex, and relationships. Our trip is comprised of five parts:
In Section 1, “The World Is Wide,” I’ll talk about what it’s like to have an attraction that is at odds with a taboo and my own journey towards helping people embrace their bodies and their desires. We’ll also start to look at the stereotypes of man/woman relationships and how they get collapsed with fat/thin stereotypes. Though everything in The Round World applies to people of any gender or sexual orientation, we can sometimes see the issues of fat/thin relationships more clearly by looking at same-sex relationships, which are free from the bias of male/female gender politics.
Section 2, “You Don’t Know Fat,” focuses on what each of us thinks about fat individually and as a society. It examines the facts, prejudices, and medical issues around fatness, and gives the reader a chance to locate his or her perspective on the Fat Map. I don’t think you can fully appreciate what being with a fat partner means to someone like me until you distinguish what fat people mean to you.
In Section 3, “Love and Sex in a Big Fat World,” I’ll describe the various dating scenes in the Round World, along with the unique challenges faced by fat people and their admirers. We’ll examine exactly what so-called chubby chasers find sexy about Fat and the roles that fat people and their admirers find themselves in. We’ll see how these interactions often revolve around shame, guilt, and objectification, and how to avoid these pitfalls to create successful
relationships. 
Section 4, “Gainers, Encouragers, and the Drive to Get Fatter,” journeys into the kinky side of Fat and the sexual ecstasy that many men and women find in becoming fat or in helping a partner to attain their goal of becoming fat. Again, their hearts and relationships are explored through personal stories and given shape in psychological models that offer freedom from judgment and new insights into sexuality in general.
Finally, in Section 5, “Life Beyond the Round World,” I’ll talk about what life in the Round World has to say to those who aren’t fat and don’t share a sexual attraction to fatness. There are those of us who live in a taboo conversation, whether it’s the taboo of fatness, race, gender, religion, money, or any taboo topic. We’ll talk about our stories, our monsters, and how conversations about any taboo share common elements that keep us from connecting with people outside and inside our communities. In understanding how the Taboo Conversation works, we can instead have authentic conversations to discover new allies and form deeper bonds with those who matter most to us—in and out of the Round World.
About the book
The Round World
Life at the Intersection of Love, Sex, and Fat
Imagine being adored for a quality you might dislike about yourself.
Imagine growing up in a world where what you think is most beautiful is considered most grotesque.
Imagine a place where being fat is beautiful, powerful, and sexual. A place called the Round World.
The Round World is the first book to crack open the taboo of fatness from the perspective of the people who find it erotic and who seek fat people as romantic partners. In sharing stories of himself and others in a personal and conversational style, author Dan Oliverio paints a vivid picture of how “chubby chasers” see the world and how living inside a taboo where the standards of beauty seem upside-down affects love, sex, dating, and relationships.
In a greater sense, this book is not just about fat. It’s about people making peace with their bodies and their desires. It’s about granting to ourselves and by extension to others the freedom to be who we’ve always been, and the freedom to love what we’ve always loved.
Praise for The Round World
“The Round World does more than just provide an authoritative look into the world of people attracted to fatness, it seeks to look at the role of shame, public scrutiny and self-acceptance in the way we define sexual attraction. Dan Oliverio wrote a beautiful love letter to the aesthetics of fatness while also providing a keen analysis of why and how we can fall in love with things society tells us aren’t attractive… This book helped me feel beautiful and understand the power and attraction of my fat body.”
— Guy Branum, Writer/Comedian, Chelsea Lately, Last Comic Standing
“The Round World is a fresh perspective of new information I hadn’t considered in my work as a sex therapist. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to heighten their understanding of making unconventional desires more conventional.”
— Kristie Overstreet LMHC, LPC, CST, CAP, Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Sex Therapist
“Dan Oliverio … challenges us to take a long hard look at our deep seated beliefs and biases around size and shape. He encourages us to open our minds and perhaps our hearts…. Dan skillfully explores topics such as weight stigma, health-ism, the world of chasers and chubs, fat admirers and big beautiful women and we are taken along with the humanity of it all … this book gives us all tools to be more compassionate and accepting as we live alongside people of all shapes and sizes, sexual preferences and life stories.”
— Dr. Fiona Holland, Senior Lecturer, Psychology Dept. and Body Image Researcher, University of Derby, UK
“… an artfully and expertly written book that delves into the minds of those that find fat as being attractive, desirable and SEXY. Dan leads you through a journey of discovery; discovery of your feelings and beliefs about Fat and fat people. He gives you the opportunity to look at and recognize your biases and prejudices along with understanding the desires and passions that you may feel for a partner with a fat body. Open yourself to finding what The Round World can teach you.”
— Darliene Howell, Board of Directors, National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)
What’s in this book
The Round World is the first book to explore what it’s like for those of us who see fat people as powerfully erotic and beautiful and who seek them as romantic partners.
In coming to terms with the nature of such desires and relationships, we’ll look at issues such as body image, self-esteem, prejudice, sexuality, identity, adoration, and objectification. I’ll share stories about myself and others who live in the Round World in a conversational style. I’ll also propose models for the way we see the world and our relationships—how we succeed and why we sometimes fail at them. Our relationships face unique challenges because they operate inside a taboo where the standards of beauty, power, and attraction seem upside-down.
The Round World is presented as a sort of travelogue, recounting a journey to a place where the inhabitants find that being fat enhances love, sex, and relationships. Our trip is comprised of five parts:
In Section 1, “The World Is Wide,” I’ll talk about what it’s like to have an attraction that is at odds with a taboo and my own journey towards helping people embrace their bodies and their desires. We’ll also start to look at the stereotypes of man/woman relationships and how they get collapsed with fat/thin stereotypes. Though everything in The Round World applies to people of any gender or sexual orientation, we can sometimes see the issues of fat/thin relationships more clearly by looking at same-sex relationships, which are free from the bias of male/female gender politics.
Section 2, “You Don’t Know Fat,” focuses on what each of us thinks about fatness individually and as a society. It examines the facts, prejudices, and medical issues around being fat, and gives the reader a chance to locate their perspective on the Fat Map. I don’t think you can fully appreciate what being with a fat partner means to someone like me until you distinguish what fat people mean to you.
In Section 3, “Love and Sex in a Big Fat World,” I’ll describe the various dating scenes in the Round World, along with the unique challenges faced by fat people and their admirers. We’ll examine exactly what so-called chubby chasers find sexy about fatness and the roles that fat people and their admirers find themselves in. We’ll see how these interactions often revolve around shame, guilt, and objectification, and how to avoid these pitfalls to create successful relationships.
Section 4, “Gainers, Encouragers, and the Drive to Get Fatter,” journeys into the kinky side of fatness and the sexual ecstasy that many men and women find in becoming fat or in helping a partner to attain their goal of being fat. Again, their hearts and relationships are explored through personal stories and given shape in psychological models that offer freedom from judgment and new insights into sexuality in general..
Finally, in Section 5, “Life Beyond the Round World,” I’ll talk about what life in the Round World has to say to those who aren’t fat and don’t share a sexual attraction to fat people. There are those of us who live in a taboo conversation, whether it’s the taboo of fatness, race, gender, religion, money, or any taboo topic. We’ll talk about our stories, our monsters, and how conversations about any taboo share common elements that keep us from connecting with people outside and inside our communities. In understanding how the Taboo Conversation works, we can instead have authentic conversations to discover new allies and form deeper bonds with those who matter most to us—in and out of the Round World.