Room to Grow: An Appetite for Life

Rating:
Summary: Bravo, Tracey!
Review: Although an extremely slim volume, Room to Grow is a very well-told story of an anorexic who happens to be living in the spotlight. As one of the stars of the popular television series, Growing Pains, Tracey kept secret from the world the devastating disease that was slowly destroying her.
Told with candor and a sense of awe about it all, Tracey manages to get her life back on track with therapy and a desire to live. Very moving and a special read.

Rating:
Summary: Informative - Not Looking For Sympathy but to Reach Others
Review: from BlueJeanOnline.com
by Truc Doan, age 15, Teen Editor

This book is about an actress who had an eating disorder known as anorexia nervosa. Does this sound familiar? Before beginning to read this book, I looked at the inside cover and immediately believed I was going to endure a literate, extended version of 'Behind the Music' (only without the music, drugs, or groupies). Well, everyone knows that they say about judging books by their cover, right? Room to Grow by Tracey Gold is about her life and her battle with anorexia, but if you're looking for preachy, 'look-at-poor-beautiful-me,' tear glistening in eye cripe, then you won't find it here.

Room to Grow uses fairly simple language to show the development of a problem, the recognition and the conquering of it. Throughout the book, one accepts that acting was simply something Gold did. It didn't define her and it wasn't the cause of her anorexia. Like most little girls, Gold had grown up wanting to please and (with a little help from movies and books) began to believe that if she was skinnier, it would be better. The book itself is not so much autobiographical as it is informative. Gold's life acts simply as a backdrop to the main topic, a disease that kills.

Gold isn't asking for sympathy. She explains this in the first chapter. She just wants to know that somebody read this and it helped them to better understand the disease and to seek help if they have it. Well, I read it and I commend her for caring enough to write it. ...

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, inspiring, very honest book! Great for Tracey fans!
Review: I am a male, and I got this book because I am a long-time fan of Tracey Gold. I have never had an eating disorder, or known anyone that has, but I still thought this book was wonderful! It is not only about Tracey's battle with anorexia, it is about Tracey! Tracey the actress, mother, daughter, sister, person, and lastly Tracey the eating disorder victim! I do not know why amazon classified this as a "young adult" book, I do not think it is only intended for young adults, but I do think young adults can read it.

When I read this book, I learned a lot about Tracey that I had never known. She is a very honest writer, In the book she talks about when she first became sexually active, menstruation, she shares excerpts from her diary, letters to her husband and many other things that you do not expect in a "celebrity" book. I have read Room To Grow twice, and I think because I am writing this review, I will read it again! I cannot reccommend this book to anyone enough. I let one of my friends borrow it, and after she read it she got her own copy! It is not just for female eating disorder victims, it is for anyone who wants to read it! The number of pages may seem short, but I found the book to be like a long adventure. This is by far the best celebrity-written book I have ever read!

5/5 stars (*****)

Rating:
Summary: A Relief from so many other books on Anorexia
Review: I bought this book after Tracey came to my college and spoke about her battle w/ anorexia. Her speech was very inspiring and the book was even better. I could relate to many things she talked about because I had experienced similar feelings. She tells about her childhood as an actress, and how impressionable she was when she became anorexic. I think she is a very brave and admirable person for writing a book in hopes to help others. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially those who have battled anorexia or who know someone who is.

Rating:
Summary: Tracey should stick to acting...
Review: I have read just about every eating disorder book that comes along, and I must say that Gold's personal narrative was truly a disappointment.
Ms.Gold is a decent actress, but I found her book to be quite dull and poorly written.
Fortunately there are many other books available on eating disorders - and I'd be hard-pressed to find one that was more boring than this one.

Rating:
Summary: A reason to hope....
Review: I highly recommend this book for anyone who is struggling with eating disorders and for parents of adolescents with anorexia also. I applaud Tracey for her honesty, as I am sure that there are several other actresses in Hollywood who have anorexia and/or bulimia, and young girls see them on television and wish they could be so "thin and beautiful"....but these are the ones who don't admit that they have a problem.

Tracey's story has been an inspiration to me in a highly personal way. I grew up watching "Growing Pains" and loved the show. Tracey and I look a lot alike....especially when she was (sadly) at her thinnest...we have a very similar facial/bone structure. So I always watched to see if she could overcome this disorder....because if she could, then certainly somehow I could too. I always felt some kind of closeness to her and the whole situation.

Unfortunately I am still struggling after 15 years with the beast of anorexia....but Tracey and her story is truly an inspiration. And I hope that everyone who reads this book will see that they too can overcome....and that parents/loved ones can learn how to love the person through the disorder.

Blessings Tracey ~ you are awesome and you're beautiful!

Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Tale of Inner Strength
Review: I know for myself that talking about your stuggles with anorexia is a very hard thing to do. Ms. Gold describes her feelings very well and provides an inspiration for recovering anorexics and lets them know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I enjoyed this book and could not put it down. I copied several passages in my journal for futher reference because they were so well written. Even if you've never had anorexia, there are many lessons that are taught in this book. This book does not glorify anorexia nor does it avoid the inevitable.

Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Tale of Inner Strength
Review: I know for myself that talking about your stuggles with anorexia is a very hard thing to do. Ms. Gold describes her feelings very well and provides an inspiration for recovering anorexics and lets them know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I enjoyed this book and could not put it down. I copied several passages in my journal for futher reference because they were so well written. Even if you've never had anorexia, there are many lessons that are taught in this book. This book does not glorify anorexia nor does it avoid the inevitable.

Rating:
Summary: A truly inspirational book for women of all ages!
Review: I've spent many hours watching Tracey grow up on television and I've read the many accounts of her battles with anorexia. Her memoir is truly inspirational. I highly recommend it to women of all ages...to moms, friends and young women. Her recovery was long and difficult but she's turned into a beautiful woman with a happy family and an ongoing career! This is a great book for fans of her work on television, but even if you haven't followed her career you'll be fascinated to learn of all she has been through on her road to good health. There are great pictures of Tracey and her family in the book, from when she was a baby until now as the mom of several young kids! Tracey can do alot to help people with eating disorders overcome their demons, and this book is certainly the means for her to do so. I applaud her honesty.

Rating:
Summary: A naïve and shallow book
Review: If Tracey Gold wasn't an actress, this book would never have been published. Conversely, if Tracey Gold hadn't suffered from anorexia, she would not be in the public eye today, and she likely would have faded into obscurity like so many other actresses on sitcoms in the 1980s and early 90s. Instead, Gold has garnered a good deal of money and attention by proclaiming the details of her struggles with anorexia.

I appreciate that she is trying to send a positive message of hope with this book. However, I cannot recommend it for several reasons. First of all, Gold's wealth and privilege make her details of recovery quite inaccessible to the average person. She was able to afford to go for psychotherapy numerous times a week, and eat all (and I mean all) her food out of expensive restaurants. She arrogantly dismisses residential treatment centres and group therapy, claiming that they only make the problems worse. This is a very negative message to be sending to young girls with eating disorders. Treatment centres can be lifesaving. As a previous reviewer noted, she makes statements like, "Ensure is a supplement with a million calories." This is a libelous remark, and Ensure could certainly sue her for defaming what is a useful and nutritious product that helps many desperately underweight girls. Gold also informs us all that she doesn't believe in anorexic girls meeting with dietitians or nutritionists. She apparently has done no research on the subject, since outcome studies have consistently found that dietitians can have a positive influence on the recovery of anorexic patients.

Gold is very vague on the details of her recovery. She mentions going for therapy, but doesn't describe what she says in her sessions. She also doesn't explain how she manages to gain the twenty or thirty pounds she had lost in her illness. There are no helpful suggestions for others struggling with an eating disorder.

It seems to me that Gold is clinging to her anorexia story in an unhealthy manner. Her book could have easily been reduced to a magazine article. When is that last time she has appeared in the media as an actress? Besides appearing in that movie about an anorexic lady (which hardly counts, in my opinion). She has become attached to her eating disorder, and is using it to hang onto fame, instead of moving past it and getting on with the business of acting.

There are many books about this difficult and baffling condition which are written by writers, who have the skill to bring such a story to life. For those needing help with recovery, I recommend "Anorexia Nervosa: A Guide to Recovery" by Lindsey Hall and Monika Ostroff.