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From Amazon
"I fell for the great American dream, female version, hook, line, and sinker," Marya Hornbacher writes. "I, as many young women do, honest-to-God believed that once I Just Lost a Few Pounds, suddenly I would be a New You, I would have Ken-doll men chasing my thin legs down with bouquets of flowers on the street, I would become rich and famous and glamorous and lose my freckles and become blond and five foot ten." Hornbacher describes in shocking detail her lifelong quest to starve herself to death, to force her short, athletic body to fade away. She remembers telling a friend, at age 4, that she was on a diet. Her bizarre tale includes not only the usual puking and starving, but also being confined to mental hospitals and growing fur (a phenomenon called lanugo, which nature imposes to keep a body from freezing to death during periods of famine).
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA-Eating disorders are frequently written about but rarely with such immediacy and candor. Hornbacher was only 23 years old when she wrote this book so there is no sense of her having distanced herself from the disease or its lingering effects on her. This, combined with her talent for writing, gives readers a real sense of the horror of anorexia and bulimia and their power to dominate an individual's life. The author was bulimic as a fourth grader and anorexic at age 15. She was hospitalized several times and institutionalized once. By 1993 she was attending college and working as a journalist. Her weight had dropped to 52 pounds and doctors in the emergency room gave her only a week to live. She left the hospital, decided she wanted to live, then walked back and signed herself in for treatment. This is not a quick or an easy read. Hornbacher talks about possible causes for the illnesses and describes feeling isolated, being in complete denial, and not wanting to change or fearing change, until she nearly died. Young people will connect with this compelling and authentic story.
Patricia Noonan, Prince William Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Patricia Noonan, Prince William Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
It was that simple: One minute I was your average nine-year-old, shorts and a T-shirt and long brown braids, sitting in the yellow kitchen, watching Brady Bunch reruns, munching on a bag of Fritos, scratching the dog with my foot. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It was that simple: One minute I was your average nine-year-old, shorts and a T-shirt and long brown braids, sitting in the yellow kitchen, watching Brady Bunch reruns, munching on a bag of Fritos, scratching the dog with my foot. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Please Be Careful,
By A Customer
This review is from: Wasted (Paperback)
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read It and Live,
By A Customer
This review is from: Wasted (Paperback)
This is, hands-down, THE best book on Anorexia I have ever read (and as a looking glass inhabitant, I've read a lot). I appreciated Marya's refusal to hold back any parts of her story. While it is, as many reviewers have pointed out, an extremely triggering book, I personally see that as it's main strength. While I am not neccesarily a "tip hunter", I prefer the more graphic end of the ED lit offerings, because that's what I identify with. "Wasted" does an incredible job of showing you why you DONT want an ED. I doubt that any of us begins chronic ED behavior with anticipation of such effects as infertility, a wrecked immune system, and a heart murmer. It would be my hope that anyone currently flirting with ED (to paraphrase Jenni Scaeffer) will read this book and, to put it bluntly, be scared enough to run screaming in the other direction.One of the best features of Marya Hornbacher's book (and one of it's best kept secrets, judging by the reviews), is it's humor. As graphic and horrifying and gut wrenching as it is, "Wasted" is also a VERY funny book. I would add that this may only apply to thse who have or have had an ED. For example: "There are altogeather too many 'empowering' things that the professionals tell you that can be twisted around and turned against youself.I had heard a few too many times that if i threw up, it was just a 'slip', if i stopped eating for a little while it didn't really mean I was relapsing...Profesionals and doctors give anoretics and bulimics way too much credit for having their brains in order...And so, as I went another day without food...I said to myself: I have to be patient, I'm being nurturing to myself by not too much of myself, I will not push myself too hard today, so I guess we'll just have some coffee for lunch...it's ok because I'm giving myself a break right now." (Page 217) In addition to her honesty about her EDs, I particularly appreciated Marya's honesty about her recovery. She doesn't pretend to have all the answers, and she admits to set backs, such as weighing herself at the gym, over-exercising, and the fact that she is still pleased at any weight loss she notices.
5.0 out of 5 stars
"WASTED",
By A Customer
This review is from: Wasted (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this book. I have read several and this was by-far the most raw.I myself and suffering from Anorexia, and it really left me indiffernt. Many people say "it changed them" but if your at your wit's end it won't change you, rather give you somthing to relate too. I reccomend this book to anybody,maybe it would help somebody else more than I though.
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