Rating:  Summary: A Remarkable Book Review: Stick Figure is a remarkable book, both deeply disturbing and humorous in turn. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Gottlieb's story is the voice in which it is told. The author is an intelligent, perceptive and fiesty eleven-year-old that tells things exactly as they are. These qualities are the source of many funny episodes as Lori, in demanding the same verbal honesty from others, exposes the hypocrisy of adults around her. Sadly though, they also, I suspect, contribute to her undoing. Reading everything from her mother's magazines to Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Lori seeks to emulate her older role models and becomes so obsessed with dieting and looking thin, she ends up in the hospital. Fortunately for her, and for us, she recovers and lives to tell her story. I enjoyed this book immensely.
Rating:  Summary: A little disappointing Review: Perhaps I was spoiled by Jenifer Shute's remarkable "Life-Size" (now, strangely, out-of-print), but I found this novel - ostensibly a diary the author kept when she was 11 and had a "brief" bout of anorexia - disappointing. Shute's novel was a horrifying descent into the madness that accompanied anorexia; it also hinted at (but did not directly state) that some form of childhood abuse had occurred and contributed to the condition. In this novel, the storyline tends to "bob along the surface" more, not really sinking as deeply into the protagonist's psyche. There were a lot of similar "symptoms" to those seen in Shute's book; this could be explained by a commonality of symptoms across anorexia. But I almost felt like I wasn't reading the actual-factural diary of an 11 year old but rather a book loosely based upon Shute's novel. This book is billed as an "adult" novel (and ok, it has 2 or 3 words in it I might not want an under-14 seeing), but the whole tone is rather juvenile. I don't mean that it's a problem the protagonist sounds juvenile (she is supposed to be 11). But the book seems to wrap things up too neatly. The anorexia seems to come on fast (all of a sudden, this girl decides she won't eat because "grownup women diet") and the solution seems awfully pat. My experience from knowing people with eating disorders is that it remains a lifelong struggle, not something that can be cured by realizing there are people worse off than you. This book might be ok for teenagers; I found it kind of weak.
Rating:  Summary: VERY REALISTIC, GREAT BIOGRAPHY Review: I think that this book is one of the best books I have ever read.It really showed you what it is like for her, or any girl, with anorexia.I think that it was very realistic.Lori shows that you don't have to weigh 60 pounds to be considered to look good.All you have to do is realize you are who you are.
Rating:  Summary: Pretty Good Book Review: Okay, this book, was really good. There were a few things I did not like about it though. Like, why are "shrinks" so stupid, it was clearly the mothers fault for the girls anorexia. This book has made me cry everytime I read it, and I've only owned it for about 2 weeks. I love it. It's so true, trust me, I know how she felt.
Rating:  Summary: MORE HILARIOUS THAN BRIDGET JONES! Review: STICK FIGURE has to be one of the funniest books I've ever read. Neither stylish nor self-conscious, Lori's humor has you laughing out loud...to the point that you almost feel guilty! On the outside, her book looks like an innocent, normal little memoir, but once you delve inside, Lori's biting sense of humor is immediately infectious--you won't be able to put this book down!
Rating:  Summary: Powerfully Humorous, Sadly Real Review: Very moving! Thank you, for providing some insight to how EDs develope. It helped me understand what several of my friends are either going through or have gone through. I'm sure your book will help a lot of people. Not only is it an intense story, but the style is excellent. Great job, Lori!
Rating:  Summary: Invisible Enemies are the Hardest to Fight Review: This book made my eyes teary more than once. I saw myself in it and it was very upsetting. I am a recovering anorexic and every page of this book seemed like a page out of my own life as a young girl. This book was written from the point of view of a 11 year old girl, that must be taken into account when people try to comment on the style of the author. This book is most powerful because we see anorexia through the eyes of a young girl, and we feel for her. If you are like me and have experience, personal or otherwise, with this disease, this book is very emotional. I think this is a wonderful book. It gives real insight into the mind of the youngest victims of this horrible illness. It's hard to imagine what it's like to be fighting a losing battle to stay alive when it's your mind that is the main enemy. If you know anyone with anorexia, read this book, it will help you understand the seemingly un-understandable battle they fight.
Rating:  Summary: A review of my former self Review: Illusive, trenchant and morbid, this diary-style book reminds us of the times in everyone's childhood when the past reaches out to embrace the potential future that awaits us all. Thin? Kate Jackson-thin? There but for the grace of God go I, says a thin (no pun intended) voice in the back of our heads, where the voices come from during that cold, dark night of the soul. The dead voices of late-70's Beverly Hills come to life in this fascinating tale of transformation (รก la Kafka) from adolescent figurine to entomologically unrecognizable cipher, bound in a thin wrapper of social cellophane and painted with a thin veneer of sombre reality. The pun on the word "former" in the title is well-placed, as the reader is forced to observe himself (or indeed, herself) through the funhouse mirror. No lecher, I! You cannot be reflecting ME? And yet, *you* are, with perhaps more cruel honesty than I feel I could normally accept: somehow, this is reassuring, although not entirely comforting. This book needs no comment: it needs to be read, and then nothing further can or should be discussed (ever?). It speaks for itself, and for a generation left adrift by television and neural input far beyond frequencies captured by conventional satellite.
Rating:  Summary: Not Your Ordinary Memoir Review: At turns poignant, humorous, and viciously irrevant, Stick Figure stands out from other books of its type. The author looks at herself with honesty and humor, taking you through the process of her eating disorder from her precocious childhood perspective. A must read!
Rating:  Summary: A Diary Everyone Should Read Review: This is the first book I've read on eating disorders that actually puts you in the mind-set of someone as they become anorexic. It's harrowing and sometimes humorous, but always painfully human. The diary form makes it all the more immediate-I read the whole book in one sitting. The writing style is crisp and never weepy. Men and women alike should read this book. I felt like I was finally able to understand how this can happen to anyone. But especially to teenaged girls.
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