The Golden Cage: The Enigma of Anorexia Nervosa, with a New Foreword by Catherine Steiner-Adair, Ed.D.

I was looking to find the personality behind anorexia before I recognized that my 7-year-old niece was well on her way in terms of personality. (If the anoretic in a large family is known as the snitch, no-one would recognize that in the usual small family.) I've read any number of books about anorexia, but none more sympathetic from an outsiders view. Unfortunately, most books on the subject are written by anoretics. It's a stretch to believe that they can be objective about their own condition. But they have lived it. There are never solid comments such as "no sense of humor" or having a "tiny little voice". These are physical manifestations that can be easily recognized. I think that's important.

empathic portrayal of anorexia nervosa by a pioneer in the field; it has human descriptives of everything characterized scientifically in textbooks and journals.

This book was extremely informative about the underlying causes of eating disorders. It gave me a better understanding for how they can develop in the home, how parental pressures at a young age can have a huge influence, and also supports the fact that you don't have to have a tragic up bringing to be subject to an eating disorder.

A remarkable description of the basic personality and family mechanisms involved in teenage mental disorders and their anorectic expression.