Going Hungry: Writers on Desire, Self-Denial, and Overcoming Anorexia

This book has been highly recommended to me, and I can't wait to read it. It offers a unique look into eating disorders.

Ms Taylor edited a set of really great, poignant essays which delve in the mindset of Anorexia and attempt (rather successfully) to try to explain why, what, how and the when during different periods of the disease. We all on some subconscious level believe that Anorexia is a disease of white middle class affluent girls and this is simply not true. The editor let everyone talk - it wasn't about whether the individual had overcome the disease or was still in the throes of it but the most important thing was each person spoke. And I learnt - much...

This book has very good and varied views of people who have and will always have this horrible disease. Being a parent of a woman struggling with this now and for the past 16 years it just helps to see that no one is alone and the manifestations are the same all across the board!

In 20th century America and beyond starving yourself has become de rigueur. This svelte woman of today, she is what we gauge our version of attractiveness upon. Unlike the women of the Renaissance who had wide thighs, sturdy hips, and bulbous derrieres, were considered the epitome of attractiveness because they had money to feed themselves, our society doesn't believe that starvation is a blight upon the land. Now society hails to the anorexic. This is the girl who disappears to be seen by her parents, or the CEO who wants to self-improve, as if her career wasn't enough, as she simultaneously destroys her body into oblivion. Compromising what you eat on a day-to-day basis is a form of control and regulation of emotions, eating, dating, or sleep and this is what American society, with its rampant credit card excesses, cadre of kitchen gadgets that are never used, plethora of second homes, all seem to be the standard that needs to be followed rigorously by some, perhaps even excelled to. By not overindulging in food you are proving to the world that you are successful with one thing: your weight. Whether successful or not, model, actress, CEO, women show the world their thin bodies, tiny waists, or constant craving for protein and petite corporate lunches that we, the women of today, are in control. As each new iteration of the DSM IV comes out there is always another definition of psycho-sickness. Now anorexia and its sisters in crime: bulimia and excessive use of laxatives are under attack. The reality of the situation is that until women start to believe that they are beautiful at any size they'll be prey to the commentaries of societal size expectations of women. This book is tightly edited and fantastic situational explanations from various women of all ages. This is a testament to our society. Armchair Interviews says: This book contains essays by 19 authors: Priscilla Becker, Francesca Lia Block, Maya Browne, Jennifer Egan, Clara Elliot, Amanda Fortini, Louise Glück, Latria Graham, Francine du Plessix Gray, Trisha Gura, Sarah Haight, Lisa Halliday, Elizabeth Kadetsky, Maura Kelly, Ilana Kurshan, Joyce Maynard, John Nolan, Rudy Ruiz, and Kate Taylor.

This was an excellent book overall, and a number of the essays (including the editor's own contribution) are genuinely outstanding. My own perspective is that of someone who has not experienced this herself, but is close to those who have--if this is yours as well, and/or if you are perplexed and bewildered by anorexia as a medical phenomenon, this would be the ideal book to read. It includes a number of perspectives, with all the essays well-written, direct, and unsentimental, and yet from this variety some essence of understanding does emerge with regard to what the disease may actually be "about." Very highly recommended.

Anorexia requires withholding--from the self, from others. This book opens up this world of secrets and deceptions. It is ranging and searching--touching on history, ecstasy, motherhood, illness, creativity, and a host of other subjects. The writers have a multitude of experiences and perspectives, and their reasons for denying themselves food are manifold. But each essayist manages to write directly and to illuminate a new aspect of an elusive and epidemic disease. An important, generous, fascinating book.