What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a novel by author Peter Hedges, which also became a major motion picture by Paramount Pictures, starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Lewis. In this novel, Gilbert Grape, the fourth child of Albert and Bonnie Grape, narrates the story. Gilbert takes readers into the lives of his family and the other people living in the small town of Endora, Iowa.

As the story unfolds, the readers learn about the many secrets that the family has or "the skeletons that they have in their closet." Gilbert has an obese mother that is a recluse and a father that committed suicide in the basement of the house when Gilbert was seven years old. Gilbert has two older sisters, an older brother, a younger sister and a younger brother. His younger brother, Arnie, is also retarded. While all the children have the same mother and father, each of the Grape children has their own personality and plays their own role in the family.

Gilbert takes the readers through the lives and roles that the various members of the Grape family and the residences of Endora play. He also reveals how the "modern" ways clash with the old ways of the small town. Gilbert also tells the story of how he struggles with doing what is right for his family and living his own life.

The novel describes the trials and tribulations that Gilbert's family goes through, including the suicide of their father, the obesity, and reclusiveness of their mother and caring for their retarded brother and each other. As in the case with every family, Gilbert's family has a certain dynamic, secrets, a way of handling and not handling things, traditions, and rituals. All of these patterns unfold as Gilbert tells his story.