Rating: 
Summary: Exactly what I needed. Brutal Honesty.
Review: I am a cynic. I hate pop-psychology books, books that narrow things down to being about one simple issue, or books that profess to have "the cure" or "the answer." This book is none of those! The sheer brutal honesty is compelling and extremely refreshing. Marya's writing is incredibly eloquent. It is like every word is chosen very carefully, and every single one hits the nail on the head. I was so moved by this book that in the middle I was able to get up, fix myself a NORMAL meal, eat it, and keep it down. Only those of you with eating disorders understand how moved that is. I wish there were more books with this effect. This book holds a wisdom so deep, and so from the heart. It does not preach. It made me look at my life, and see how it's almost as if I had the disorder long before the behaviors. I think it is an excellent book for friends and family, to really see inside a sufferer's head. And even with all that, if only for that single meal I kept down, it was well worth it. I CAN do it. Thank you Marya!
Rating:
Summary: Brutal Honesty
Review: I was able to see the author speak in Wisconsin and was moved. Finally an honest account of eating disorders--the control, the pain, and the addiction. I was happy to see that she did not seek to find answers for all those who are victims of ed's but rather give her personal account of her life with an eating disorder. This book in the ONLY book, I could identify with as a person struggling with the addiction of an ED. I may not agree with everything she stated but I did not have to because it was her story. Yet I finally read something which moved me and spoke the honest to God truth of the self-destruction without the medical professionals which claim to know the "why's". I recommend this book to the sufferers, the friends and families who really want to know what goes on inside the mind of the person with the eating disorder. All I can say is--THANK YOU!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Intense, but true
Review: This was a great book! It really made sense how a person can "develop" an eating disorder. Hornbacher really analyzes her psyche and doesn't pull any punches. I couldn't put this book down!
Rating:
Summary: Frightening Account of an Eating Disorder
Review: What many people don't realize about Eating Disorders, is that an anoretic or bulimic can't just start eating "normally" again and make everything better. An alcoholic might be able to give up drinking, but one doesn't need alcohol to live. One will DIE without food. People who develop a fear of food, or an addiction to food, will be in a lifetime of recovery. What I loved so much about this book is the no- holds-barred way that Marya Hornbacher tells her story. She does not sugarcoat or glamorize her experience, nor does she resort to boring statistics to fill space. This is the most unbiased, graphic re-telling of an eating disorder that I have ever read. I have nothing but admiration of Ms. Hornbacher for her utmost honesty in writing this book. She does not ask the reader to take her side, nor does she ask for the reader's opinion. She just unflinchingly tells her story. And what a story it is! This book is NOT a cure for an eating disorder. But maybe one girl will read this book and realize that it hits just a little too close to home. Maybe someone who has been struggling with an eating disorder for years will come to realize that there is someone else out there who feels all of the same empty feelings. In any case, this book can save lives. I cried my eyes out reading Wasted and I will admit that it is very difficult to get through (especially if you are recovering from, or currently dealing with an eating disorder.) I feel confident saying, however, that this is the most worthwhile book I've read in a long time and hands down, the best that I have ever read on eating disorders.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: I picked up this book, as one suffering from anorexia myself, to read all about basically me, or the mirror image of me. I think many people with Eating Disorders are incredibly fascinated with all the books out there regarding the subject, and I thought Wasted would be another book I added to my shelf after accumilating tips and ideas and inspiration, no matter how sick it sounds, to continue my self-destructing "disorder." However, perhaps I get to be another trite adolescent verging on adulthood, claiming to say "It changed my life." And, no matter how much I would like to say the opposite, it is indeed true. Wasted, as ever raw to grain as one can get in a book about ED's was a valuable read to those who live in the hell of en eating disorder, as well as for the ones who have no idea WHY ANYBODY WOULD DO THIS TO THEMSELVES! It was a journey to read this book, it was a journey that forced me to look into my own past and conjur up some of the very familiar causes and faults that contributed to my ED. This book is poetic in its own right, and gets to the nitty griity of an ED and the sneaky misery of pain that twists itself through the mind of a person with anorexia. I highly recommend this book for those who dont understand an ED and for those who need some kind of their own savior to get over their ED, or basically...themselves.
Rating: 
Summary: A woman's fear
Review: Marya Hornbacher's "Wasted" is a scary look into the a woman's life struggle with one of the nation's greatest diseases: bulimia and anorexia. Her fear is palpable. Comparing thinness to elegance and the ideal desire is something any woman in the world can relate to. Her ironic love for food and struggle to part with it takes you, as a reader and as a woman, through a struggle that becomes your own. It raises the questions of how normal any of us really are and how far from it we can all get. By the time Marya got to college, she was, in fact, close to being completely wasted, far from the reaches of what is considered normal. Five different hospitalizations hadn't helped her and her fear was getting stronger and hiding deeper. As soon as her conditions got better, she'd go right back down again, worse than she was before. The constant roller coaster that becomes her life is what keeps the reader at the edge of their seat waiting for the glimpse of hope to come to light. Her talent as a writer is what keeps her going and what shows us the dark world she has been through and continues to struggle against. Her story of losing every part of life that was her own and regaining every sense of it, is one that after putting the book down is not forgotten.
Rating: 
Summary: Please Be Careful
Review: First of all, I would like to say that I really loved Marya's very candid and real way of writing. She didn't candy-coat or tip-toe --- she told the truth. And she told it very well. My warning though is that, as someone who has struggled for a long time with an eating disorder myself, many of us with ED's have considered "Wasted" to be a how-to guide for starting/maintaining an ED. Be careful. If you are vulnerable even a little bit, please save this read for a later, more stable time in your life/recovery. I do think it is a good eye-opener for parents and other loved ones of someone battling an ED. Not only does it supply the many, many twisted and secretive symptomatic behaviors we tend to engage in, but it also gives a very honest look at the emotions and issues behind the disorder. It's not about the food, or the weight, or the size. It's just a mask for something much more severe. We've had to resort to using our bodies to communicate instead of our voices. We lost our voice somewhere along the way, and the body became our target.
I don't feel the book itself is inherently bad or dangerous or whatever. I do, however, recommend EXTREME caution and consideration before reading this. Be careful. Be wise.
Rating:
Summary: Intense, but true
Review: This was a great book! It really made sense how a person can "develop" an eating disorder. Hornbacher really analyzes her psyche and doesn't pull any punches. I couldn't put this book down!
Rating:
Summary: Did I read the same book??
Review: Someone made the grave mistake of telling this woman she was a fantastic writer!?! It's far too drawn out, extremely pretentious and incredibly borish in spots. The words 'pompous @$$' comes immediately to mind while wading thru this self indulgent drivel. I always thought of people with eating disorders as having extremely low self-esteem...she comes off as an arrogant know it all with an over exaggerated sense of self. Her writing style is chaotic and goes off in odd directions making flamboyant and clunky attempts at picturesque sentencing that just isn't happening in any sense of the word. She's so busy trying to make poetic descriptions of ordinary scenerios in order to sound 'artsy' it's just...she strikes me as someone educated far beyond their intelligence. I HIGHLY recommend STICK FIGURE instead. Raw and honest with some interesting insights into the mind of someone with an eating disorder without all the exaggerated pomp and circumstance. 'Stick Figure' is poignant, emotional and very human with some funny moments that chronicle how a young girl looks at our ridiculous cultural standards that contribute to a lot of eating disorders.
Rating:
Summary: A Standout in the Library of Books About Eating Disorders
Review: As recovering anorexic, I have read many novels, memoirs and "self help" books about this disease that I, and so many others, suffer from. Hornbacher's memoir is the best of this type of book that I have read on the subject, for its eloquent writing addresses the emotional aspect of an eating disorder, while proving once and for all that anorexia and bulimia are not about food. On the other hand, this is a dangerous book to read, and should not be taken lightly or handed out to everyone. I say it's dangerous because it shares all the magician's secrets; most anoretics or bulimics would be happy to read this book, not to get well, but to discover new ways to manipulate others and sink further into the disease. However, this is the perfect book for anyone who wants or needs to understand the mind of an eating disordered person, though the hell-like situation Marya encounters is scary, even to those who know what it's like. All in all, I highly recommend this exquisitely sad memoir, though it's not for everyone.
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