Rating: 
Summary: absolutely
Review: This was absolutely perfect, however, it can be very triggering. I felt like she was describing my experiences in methodist exactly. She used such amazing, gut-wrenching words, that I simply couldn't stop reading.
Rating:
Summary: the most acurate description i have ever read
Review: This book is by far the most accurate descriptoin of life with an eating disorder i have ever read. it is honest, brutal, and also remarkably not cliche. it gets to the pyschological implications of thinness, and discusses reasons the disease is growing. it makes the reader empathetic to those who suffer with eating disorders while at the same time driving away any appeal the disease my have for young women. i've read the book 4 times and i get something new out of it each time. as a former eating disordered girl, the author seems to be reading my mind and explaining ideas i never could. if you are struggling with an eating disorder i urge you to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Triggering, but honest
Review: An eating disorder sufferer myself for 7 years, I was very wary of reading this book, fearing that it would be too triggering during my periods of recovery. However, I finally recently read it, and while it was indeed very triggering in some aspects, I also found that I could relate to Marya frighteningly well. I think that many ED sufferers will feel this way upon reading this book.Her descriptions of treatment methods that she had experienced rang particularly true to me. Her account of hospitalization on an ED unit was amazing. It seems that we could have almost been hospitalized in the same place. The timed meals, the patient-staff interactions, the fear of facing the dinner plate...all so familiar and honestly rendered. Marya's interactions with ED specialists, therapist, and other doctors are also all too familiar...the phrase "you don't look like you have an eating disorder" that sprinkles the book will be familiar to anyone who has approached their "healthy weight" while still struggling. I would recommend this book to other sufferers, but with caution. There are some very triggering passages, such as those describing Marya's frightening descent to her low weight of 52 lbs. But if a sufferer is doing well in recovery, this can be an interesting and insightful book on the dangers of what we do to ourselves with these horrible disorders. This book is also good for family or friends of sufferers. While Marya's disorder is obviously of a very severe nature, she exhibits many of the same thoughts and behaviors of sufferers at any weight or stage of their disorder.
Rating:
Summary: perfectly articulated
Review: I read it in a matter of days! I don't even know that you have to be anorexic or bulimic to relate. Her writing is just AMAZING, and puts into words so many of the thoughts floating around in my head. Anyone who has ever felt "different" should read this. and I did NOT find it triggering, I think because while I have had periods of restricting, etc. I was certainly never down near as low as the weight she got to, while I b/p I did not start at 9, I did not try to diet at 4...her story is much more intense than mine. I identify with the feelings of being too much, and needing to tone yourself down, make yourself smaller, have your needs met by self-destructive methods such as eds rather than depend on people...
Rating:
Summary: finally a book that understands
Review: The first time I recall going on a diet, I was about eight or nine. At twelve I learned how to make myself throw up. By my fourteenth birthday I was a full blown anorectic. Now 21 and with the knowledge anorexia and bulimia are problems which never truly become "cured" in a person, I spend a lot of time trying to better understand possible causes and what makes me such a victim to myself. Many books I have read never seemed to reflect the mental and emotional turmoil these diseases entail; frequently, literary works tend to focus on the physical changes and common medical perspectives on these problems. Hornbacher's work is entirely different though - by the end of the first chapter, I was nearly about to cry. Someone finally understood. I am not certain that reading this would help someone without ana/mia to understand - it's hard to "logically" explain why anyone would intentionally throw up or starve themselves - but for those who have e.d.'s, it is well worth reading. I have not found it highly triggering - but I have already gained a great deal of insight and explanations i had not even considered for why I am not "normal" like my friends.
Rating:
Summary: Frightening and Honest
Review: I first read Wasted when I was 18 years old and in the throes of an eating disorder myself. I will admit that yes, I was looking to find "tips" or "tricks" to use in my disorder, and at first, it seemed that I had found them. (Many a negative review has been written about this book for this reason.) However, as you continue reading this book, any ideas you have about anorexia or bulimia being glamourous and a means of self-control are erased. I have never before read anything so raw, real, and honest as this book. Hornbacher does not bother "sugar coating" eating disorders by avoiding topics such as, health problems caused by starvation or the toll they take on your life personally and professionally.
Sure, a young or impressionable reader could use the author's story as inspiration for her own illness if she so desired. However, if you choose to do this, be prepared to encounter some of the consequences Hornbacher did. The title, "Wasted", did not simply mean that she looked like she was wasting away. She lost jobs, friends, relationships with family, and years of her life. The book truly lays the entire eating disorder process out in front of you. She basically says, "here's how I starved myself, binged, purged, and exercised my way to thinness. And here's how I wasted my youth spending time in hospitals and doing drugs. And here's how I now have heart problems, can never have children, and I screwed up my digestive system permanently. My body will never work the way it should."
To those readers looking for inspiration, "Wasted" will give you more than you bargained for. You will learn tricks, but you will also be inspired to recover as quickly as possible in order to avoid a life marred down by eating disorders that ultimately take over your entire life.
Since I first read this book several years ago, I have come a long way in my struggle with anorexia and bulimia. Now, when I pick it up, I am still looking for inspiration--I read it to inspire me to stay in recovery to avoid returning to a life like Hornbacher's. I recommend this book to almost anyone--from current sufferers of eating disorders to recovered sufferers who want to be reminded of the hellish road they had to travel to get better, to people who wish to better understand a loved one with anorexia or bulimia.
Rating: 
Summary: Borrow it from the library
Review: My feeling about this book is neutral - sometimes it was hard to put down and other times I had to skip paragraphs because it was dragging. Although her story is an interesting and well written one, the endless footnotes and numerous digressions about how inconsiderate and/or insensitive someone in her life was, etc. are a bit distracting. Definitely a good book for someone doing research because she includes a long list of references in the back of the book. Note: Do not expect a book that glamorizes eating disorders because this DEFINITELY does not.
Rating: 
Summary: totally unbelieveable
Review: This is book isn't just a memoir, it's fairy tale version of a eating disorder. There are moments in this book where are supposed to be frightening and shocking but they come across as a cliche scene from a tv movie about bulimia and drug abuse. Hornbacher explains to her audience how she delighted in destorying herself and how she "out smarted" everyone and was nearly able to destory herself entirely but somehow, Hornbacher isn't sorry or a bit remorseful for what she did to her parents and all those who knew her, only she seems to remember it fondly like a little girl remembers a amusement park ride. In fact, threw the book, she seems to talking herself into a relapse before the reader's eyes. She also expects us to believe she can recall things back from the time when she was five and was already self conscience about food. In fact, most of the book reads like fiction and it probably is, considering if Hornbacher had gone threw all of the sex, drugs and binging and purging (all three combined), surely, she would have either died from AIDS or beside a toliet.
Rating:
Summary: Hornbacher is an amazing author
Review: Her portrail as a teenager was utterly amazing. To all of those who say this book is dangerous-it's an autobiography... the title said that it was about eating disorders, so if you didn't want to read it, you shouldn't read it. Her words are smooth and radiant--I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about the life of a girl who wasted away with her own pursuit of thinness.
Rating:
Summary: A must read before you lose your identity
Review: This was a wonderful book! Not only was it intimate, but it also took you inside the mind of a disturbed person. Some images are shocking, and gruesome, such as the food clogging the sewer when she threw up. Marya suffers from eating disorder, both anorexia and bulimia froma very young age. She grew up with little guidance from her parents. Life was frustrating for litle Marya and so she turned to food for support. This however led her to lose her identity and led her to have a love affair with death.
Marya goes through many clinics and sees many doctors. The shocking part is that during the 80's eating disorders were not very prevalent, thus many doctors did not take her situation seriously. Marya finally lands in Lowe house, a mental hospital. But it is here that she meets Dwayne, a little boy who makes her look inside for her own identity. It is here that she learns to love hugs and appreciates her talent'writing.
This book grabs the reader and takes them inside the mind of a disturbed person, who decides to live and come back to 'normalcy' on her own terms. This book will evoke many feelings ranging from sadness to anger. The ending is also shocking'I won't say more. This book is a must read for all of us girls who decide to become sheeps and follow society's cruel norms. This book is not fake, its author suffered, but she managed to let the world know, she existed. This book was written to prevent anyone from venturing the cruel path of eating disorders. No matter what people say...they are a problem and must be taken care of before it is too late. First Step: Read this book.
|
