Father Hunger: Fathers, Daughters, and the Pursuit of Thinness [Paperback]

Margo Maine Ph.D. (Author), Craig Johnson Ph.D. (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2004

This book pioneered the term "father hunger" — the emptiness, and resulting food and body image disorders, experienced by women whose fathers were physically or emotionally absent. Based on ten years of further study, this second edition of Father Hunger details the origins of the syndrome and its effect on the family, with new practical solutions to help dads and daughters understand and improve their relationships. An expanded section for educators and therapists offers strategies and techniques for preventing and treating this complex problem.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This powerful book explains how a father's emotional or physical absence can contribute to a daughter's eating problems, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem."
— Lindsey Hall author of BULIMIA: A Guide to Recovery and Self-Esteem: Tools for Recovery

"Fact one: Dads tend to withdraw from girls during adolescence. Fact two: Adolescent girls too often develop unhealthy eating behaviors. Put these two ideas together and you get a fascinating book called Father Hunger."
— Daughters: A newsletter for parents of girls ages 8-18

About the Author

Margo Maine, Ph.D., a senior editor of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, is a clinical psychologist and Director of The Eating Disorders Program at the Institute of Living in Hartford, CT. A lecturer and researcher, she was clinical consultant for the Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence winning film, Wasting Away, and is past -president of Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Gurze Books; 2nd edition (September 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936077492
• ISBN-13: 978-0936077499
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Freeing, April 25, 2002

By 

"kindone67" (Terre Haute, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Father Hunger: Fathers, Daughters & Food (Paperback)

There are so many self help books about the father wound. Most of them leave me intellectually stimulated but emotionally empty.

This book is different.

Dr. Maine speaks plainly and emotionally in this book. I haven't read all of it yet, but the parts I have read captured my feelings about my father perfectly. It explains his role--or lack thereof in my life--and it fosters me in my quest to mourn the void that I have inside due to his neglect and emotional absence.

The best part of the book is the statement that we must accept and change the role that society has foistered onto men. Men have been required to distance themselves from their emotions and to not have deep and intimate attachments. As such, when they become fathers, the experience requires intimacy on a much deeper level than they are accustomed to and often, they fail. In healing the father wound, we come to realize that it's not just ourselves that must heal, but our fathers also.

Because it is by encouraging men to heal and reconnect with themselves that they will ultimately reconnect with us.

Buy this book. Share with your friends. Tell anyone who will listen. Get healed, be free and do what we should have been doing all along with our fathers: enjoy one another.

43 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, July 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Father Hunger: Fathers, Daughters & Food (Paperback)

This book is different from most eating disorder books because of its focus on the father. It really gives you a new perspective on how fathers are actually involved in a daughter's life without actually doing anything. As a recovering anorexic and bulimic, I found this book helpful in opening my mind up about the complex interactions that helped form my problems. Understanding the root of the problem makes solving it easier (but still not that easy)

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This explains a lot, October 23, 2005

By 

Michael Steelman MD - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Father Hunger: Fathers, Daughters, and the Pursuit of Thinness (Paperback)

Fathers of daughters with eating disorders need help understanding the disorder and how to overcome their frustration with not being able to "fix" their daughter. This book opens the door to begin the process of restoring a more normal and effective role for the father.

While not the most "user friendly" writing style for the non-professional, it is easily understood and offers much information to help men (and the women they love) deal effectively with everyone impacted by the eating disorder...themselves, their spouse and, most importantly, their child.

Although I am a physician, I am also the father of a daughter with an eating disorder and read this book upon the advice of her therapist. I am very glad to say that it has started my daughter and me on a path to a much richer relationship and that she is on the road to recovery.