Read: Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia

January 14, 2010

Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia held an interesting premise – the tale of anorexia as told by both  mother and daughter. The mother, Sheila, was a food writer, sampling foods from various eating establishments across the Bay Area while her daughter Lisa struggled with her weight and self-esteem.

However, it wasn’t what I expected. I was constantly frustrated throughout the book, which Sheila’s dominating voice looms over. It didn’t start out too well – her introduction was lengthy and rambling, and the first half of the book largely talks about Sheila and her career as a food writer – more suited perhaps for a different kind of book (a food memoir perhaps?) . There was too much information about her life – while potentially interesting – in a book that is touted to be one of anorexia. For instance, she talks about her expose of a renowned San Jose restaurant using pork in place of veal. Kudos to her of course, but how is that really related to the story at hand? I found myself constantly thinking that while I read (skimmed really) Sheila’s story.

As a result, Lisa didn’t get a fair say. She would get a page here, a page there, while Sheila would get the next 5 or more pages. It got worse when Sheila sometimes commented on what Lisa had to say. For example, after Lisa mentioned a relative who had weight issues, Sheila writes: “I’m thrilled that Lisa can be so clear-sighted, now at twenty-four, about someone else.”

When Lisa is finally given a chance with more than a single page, it’s undeniable that this book would do so much better if she were allowed to tell more of her story. For it is her story of anorexia and bulimia.

“I felt weak for thinking about food and more so for wanting it, even a measly apple. And yet, the more I tried to avoid wanting the apple, the sharper the desire became. Sometimes I would make contracts with myself, like: “You can have this apple if you go for a walk.” When I was exercising every day, I’d say, “Because you had this Pria bar, you can’t have any more carbohydrates today and you have to add ten minutes to your cardio.”

And Lisa’s story is a terrifying one: “I knew I was hurting myself but I couldn’t get out of it. I could barely stand and my stomach was constantly growling. But I got used to the emptiness, and when I didn’t hear a grumble I assumed I had gained weight. Finally, I was the thinnest among my friends. What I was doing was working.”

I do realise that having an anorexic/bulimic daughter will affect the whole family but I just felt that this book was too skewed towards the mother’s point of view. While I love reading about food and have indeed read quite a few books by food critics such as Ruth Reichl, Gael Greene, Mimi Sheraton, this isn’t a food memoir. I also realised that Sheila might be trying to show the contradiction of her foodie life with her daughter’s, but there were too many excess details that didn’t contribute to the story of anorexia. The book does get better when Lisa is given a chance to tell her story, which is not often enough! As a result, the book is very unbalanced, and I constantly felt quite peeved by that.

This is my fifth read for the Women Unbound Challenge.

Source: Library

Written by olduvai Posted in Reading Challenges, review, women unbound Tagged with non-fiction