Dimensions
127 x 178 x 20mm
A bright, chubby girl believes that thinness is next to godliness, and so attends one of the first meetings of Overeaters Anonymous in 1975. Her twenties are marked by yo-yo dieting, depressive episodes and a sadistic shrink. Then, just as her dream of being a writer is within reach, entering Columbia's prestigious MFA program, she spirals into a suicidal depression and lands for a six-month stay at New York State Psychiatric Institute.
There a young resident helps her take her first steps towards selfhood, unravelling the self-loathing and eating disorders coupled with a paralysing mood disorder. He also helps her to confront a tragic family secret, whose silence had enveloped an otherwise average Jewish middle-class family, and begin finally to heal.
'Food And Loathing' is a book about how people use food to narcotise, to love and to escape.
