Rating: 
Summary: Wasted, a Great book on Anorexia!
Review: This book is just brillient! It shows a side of these often overlooked and ignored disorders, most people never see (thakfully), the view-point of the victim!
Marya holds nothing back in this heartfelt and truthful story of the twisted world of eating disorders and recovery, and for her, recovery twice again! Thrown into this book are the many views of anorexia and bulima from professional and phyological texts.
This book may be bad for anyone who is currently going through an episode of Anorexia or Bulimia, becouse, take my word for it, it may be triggering! (Take it from me, I know!)
What I found so amazing, is not only does she recreate the events of your past so clearly it's like you were there, but she also lets you know how she felt about the events of her life. she lets you into her head. Although, to understand an eating disorder, youmust first understand the way that person thinks, and relates to the world, particually in the area of food!
But, if you intend to buy a book to read over a long period of time, buy a more boring book! You'll read this book so fast you could use it as a fan, or at least I could have!
Still if you want a great book about a much misunderstood subject, from an interesting, and unique perspective, this is a great book to buy!
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling, informative and personal -- yet, cliche overkill
Review: Marya Hornbacher bravely faces the disturbing truths that dominated her life, depicting her incredible academic accomplishments and personal relationships as merely subtext.
I admire her tenacity and ability to write this memoir so recently after her body had nearly discintegrated into death. She even says, "I have not enjoyed writing this book." I believe this, because she has allowed the reader to know her with an intimacy that she found difficulty with in-person connections. (Was this written out of a need to make up for reclusion? To adhere to her savage need to share with people, but still leery enough that she uses the distance of the written format?) As Marya is only three years younger than me, I related to many of her feelings and questioned my own relationship with food from 6th grade to post-college years. Although I was never "ambitious" enough to attain weight goals, I knew the caloric/fat/carb values of all increments of food, attracted boys to feel powerful, refused to be fully open emotionally, and had a mercurial relationship with my father. I thank you, Marya, for your stories and genuine frankness. My one complaint about the book is that it was laden with cliches. This was very distracting to me, as well as surprising, considering Marya's perfectionism. Despite the list of cliches below (which don't seem to bother most people), I still recommend this book to every woman and parent, anyone who works with children, adolescent or young adults, and/or everyone close to someone with an eating disorder. I look forward to future writings by Ms. Hornbacher. A sampling of cliches that were bothersome as a reader: The VERY FIRST SENTENCE in the book: "It was a landmark event." SENTENCE THREE: "...we'd risen to the surface..." PAGE FOUR: "spill my guts" PAGE FIVE: "put in my own two cents" OTHER PAGES: "i do not have all the answers " "i would do anything to..." "all eyes turn to me" "A New Me" "the years...are a blur" "racing thoughts" "heart pounding" "fitness craze" "tossing in bed" "looking back" "(emotional) baggage" "hips that jutted.." "a staggering number of possibilities" "the family's dirty laundry" "scarfing down food" "there's the rub" "own private hell" "spots swimming before my eye" "drowning it in butter" "digging through my drawers" "show me who was boss" "trophy wives" "(boarding schools are) hotbeds(for eating disorders)" "claim to fame" "dripping with fat" "i've learned a thing or two" "threw myself into life" "having nothing left to lose" "in my limbo period" "leap of faith" "the be-all and end-all".
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WORLD
Review: I must have read this book a hundred times, whenever I feel like no one understands me, I pick up this book, flip to any page, and immediately feel "yes, there is someone else on the planet who thinks like me..." But that has nothing to do with the eating disorder. This book is not fundamentally about anorexia or bulimia or anything in between. It has to do with a girl who is painfully painfully aware of herself... And Marya does not make us feel sorry for her, she does not make us "understand anorexia", in fact, she does not go to great lengths to explain much of anything. She just tells her life as she lived it; revealing how choices, which might seem "crazy" to someone else, were actually extremely easy to make. Inevitable even. This book is not about food and it's not about eating and it's not even about being "thin". It's a book about how we (all of us) define success and failure, define real and "fake", define life and death...because Mayra throws every fibre of her being into succeeding and being real and having a full life -- to the point of nearly killing herself. Yet in the twisted thought-system of the eating disordered person: that *is* the definition of success. This book is hard to read and even harder to put down. If you are under 30 or from frustrated middle-America you will find something you reccognize.
Rating:
Summary: as close as you can get to the anoretic mind
Review: i write this in hopes of influencing the minds of parents, friends, other family members, anyone who cares about an anoretic. this book is so valuable to the progression of understanding anoretics, and i would presume (because the author is spellbindingly brilliant in her description of anorexia) that this book, too, is a landmark in bulimia's understanding. the author takes you into the mind, the critical mind of the anoretic. before i ever had an eating disorder (of course i can't say i am or was 'anoretic,' because none of us will admit we are 'good enough,' right?), i was intrigued by the thought of people who had eating disorders. i was in desperate need of attention, would attempt to break my bones (twisting my arms in all places), etc, anything for attention but didnt understand the intensity of self-loathe, utter lonliness, and of all, being in LOVE with your disorder. it's truly the most passionate thing you have (to hold on to). getting back to the point, i was intruiged by this lifestyle, for like, off and on, years before i settled into it. and so i understand the ignorant (not meant to be derogatory) mind of someone who hasnt experienced an E.D. point is, just read the book and as horrific as it is, you will know how your daughter/son/friend/wife/husband/cousin feels.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Writing but Beware!
Review: Although this is a masterfully written book, I have to agree with the few dissenting voices among its critics who warn those of us with eating disorders to proceed with caution into this one. I read this book when I was at my most sick, and rather than finding myself repelled by the horror of Marya's experience I hung onto her every word. It was as if she was peering into my soul, giving a kind of depth and quality to my experience that 'they' -- all of my hapless friends who just could not comprehend my struggle -- failed to understand. Finally, I felt validated, not to mention brought up to speed on more than a few 'tricks of the trade.' Someone described this book as 'pornographic.' I don't know if I would go that far, but as someone who understands how much we eating disordered types can get off on sharing every lurid detail our pathology, watch out, my sisters...and brothers!
Rating:
Summary: Reality
Review: This is the best book I have read related to eating disorders in my life. In the past 6 months I have read 20 books about various eating disorders and this one really hit home. The author tells the story of her life in a very impersonal and honest way. At times I could almost feel the pain she was going through. The breaks inbetween a few chapters were she writes about the present scared me into getting help. She explained all the complications she must deal with on a daily basis all because of her quest to be thin. I never want to end up like that and have learned from her example. I was bulimic for 5 years and I am now in the process of recovery. It is difficult but I would rather live life that just go through as if I am dead already.
Rating: 
Summary: Ipecac and everything - didn't she do well!
Review: Many people who have had an eating disorder will know just how addictive reading about other people's eating disorders can become. When I was ill I thought the Eating Disorders Newsletters my mother used to get deserved to be World Classics. These days, in the advent of Wasted, Lifesize and re-issue and re-issue of The Best Little Girl in the World, anorexics have the best ready-made reading list they could ever hope for. The first two are even well written - anorexia porn at its very best! Hornbacher may believe that she wrote this work for purely altruistic reasons but I find this unconvincing. To truly want to recover is admirable but it always involves a sense of loss. Might as well record the glory and squalour of the past, just in case no one notices you should you become normal. I identified with much that was written in this book - only I was much much iller, obviously, I won't be outdone! - but in a way I find it somewhat pointless. I don't believe eating disorder sufferers have that great a need to know someone else feels the way they do. There is enough information out there already. It's nice to be seduced by bones and agony but remember the laxative stains and pointless rows about yoghurt brands. It's just not that intense or glamourous and you know it.
Rating:
Summary: Smart, insightful and comprehensive
Review: Hornbacher is an accomplished writer, and she breaks all sorts of rules here in order to establish the most unique voice I've read in years. She recreates herself in print with impressive candor and her book is obviously well-researched and academic. Hornbacher is honest enough to show her large ego to this day, and I admire her for telling the truth about her health now.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for all women
Review: This is easily the most amazing book I have ever read. It has been over two years since I first read WASTED and it still touches my soul. I have very few thing in common with Marya (in terms of upbringing, likes / dislikes, etc) yet somehow she manages to put my thoughts into words. This is a must read for all women. The author is an exceptional writer. She even cites reference to clinical terms and descriptions to support all of her theories and statements. I cannot express how much this story has meant to me. Read it, you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: an honest and real look at eating disorders.
Review: I read everything ED-related I can get my hands on, and I've yet to find a book more satisfying than this one. The author is brilliant, and I hope she will write again.
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