Customer Reviews

Food and Loathing: A Life Measured Out in Calories

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a terrific read. Lerner has such a light touch, and such a delightfully wicked sense of humor, that anyone will empathize with her story: she's not just a fat girl looking for love and attention, but an extremely intelligent and self-aware person struggling with questions of meaning and worth. Her shocking swings up and down the scale are, for Lerner, swings between life and death, and between meaning and meaninglessness, hope and hopelessness. This memoir is one of the best I've read.

I can think of about five people I want to buy this book for -- it would make a wonderful gift for anyone who's struggled with weight, depression, or any kind of existential angst.

Betsy Lerner, has done us all a service. Those of us who are thin and have never struggled with weight, get our eyes opened as to what the other "world" is like. To quote a blurb on the back of the book "It broke my heart in 1,000 places". And those of us who have friends and relatives who struggle with being more than 100 lbs overweight, will want to rush out and buy this book for them, because here FINALLY is a book written by a "FAT" (actually former fat) person who describes in detail the pain "FAT" people experience.

Betsy is good at drawing you into her world, and making you feel as if you are observing her struggle (almost as if you were seeing it played out on the big screen.) The fact that she overcame her stay in the mental institution and the stint with the grossly inept therapist, and then rose to the place she is now, is encouraging to say the least.

I recommend this book for anyone who knows anyone who has ever been in O.A. And to anyone who would like to know the pain of the most discriminated against group in "American Society".

And of course, for those of us authors, who want to know what our editors, and agents really think of us, I highly recommend Betsy's other book THE FOREST FOR THE TREES.

Both books are good reads. Impossible to put down, once you start reading them. And the desire to tell other's about them, is...quite frankly, complelling.

Marsha Marks

"Food and Loathing," by Betsy Lerner, is ostensibly about a young woman's eating disorder and how it affects her self-esteem and her ability to cope with life. Lerner begins her memoir at the age of twelve. She is an affluent and bright girl from a loving family. However, Lerner is self-conscious about her weight and she believes that if she could only learn how to control her eating, she would be blissfully happy.

Lerner's adolescent years are filled with cigarettes, joints, a membership in Overeaters Anonymous and a fruitless relationship with an unsympathetic psychiatrist. Nothing that Lerner tries brings her peace of mind and she eventually sinks into a serious depression. She frequently indulges in binge eating. It takes a stint in a mental hospital and a caring psychiatrist to help Lerner diagnose her problem and gain some control over her life.

"Food and Loathing" is a searing and honest portrayal of a lost soul. Lerner floats unhappily through life for years, with no handle on what is wrong with her or how she can bring herself back from oblivion. She learns the hard way that the pleasures of life are too precious to give up without a fight. Although Lerner's book has little new to say either about eating disorders or mental illness, it is a competently written book that will appeal to readers who are interested in these two subjects.

I couldn't put this book down. Lerner writes extremely well, and with a deliciously mordant sense of humor. As someone who has suffered from compulsive overeating and binge-eating, I can tell you that Lerner's account is deadly accurate as to what life is like for people like us. This is a story that I have lived in many respects, yet Lerner puts it into words in a way that I never could. This is not just about the obese or overweight person; it is also about the multitudes of us who are consumed by calories and the struggle to lose weight, whether it be 100 pounds or 10 pounds. A very good read.

But for some reason I can't get enough of these. Lerner has a light touch, a sympathetic spirit. She's a manic depressive whose self-loathing takes the form of compulsive eating. For many years she thinks all she needs to do is stick to the strictures of Overeater's Anonymous and she'll be fine, only to figure out much later that she's suicidal and needs serious psychiatric care. Her story has a happy ending -- she accepts her illness, the medication it requires, she gets married, has a career, a baby, etc. -- and yet one feels she wouldn't have arrived here if it hadn't been for her parents' money. One could have asked for more details here and there, but this is a painful story, well rendered, and a must read for other depression memoir junkies. So many people are (or have been) worse off than we.

If you have read Lerner's previous book, "Forest for the Trees", you already know she can handle any thorny issue with good-natured humor. In this book, she deals with her painful past, her issue of over-eating, and of suicide, and she also manages to write about these uncomfortable subjects with aplomb. It would be easy for these subjects to turn into melodramatic telling of episodes, and grandiose claims of healing, but Lerner tells her story with a light poise. She's a self-effacing writer, who writes for the sake of her reader, and not for her own service. This book will help and inspire many people with similar problems.

Overall, this book was very disappointing. Yes, the author's story is quite poignant, as she recants her struggles in very good detail. It even has its funny parts. The problem is what the book does not do. Honestly, as a person who has had trouble with eating from time to time, I was hoping this book would give me some insight about why people become addicted to food, and some tips on how to overcome it. Unfortunately, I am now much more aware of the author's early sex life than I am of the nature of food addictions.

I suppose that one could, after reading this book, come away feeling better about themselves, knowing that they are not alone or others may have it worse, but most readers of this book would probably know that already.

Reading this book is an awakening experience to the life, mind and feelings of anyone every struggling with weight issues. The very poignant life history of Betsy written with such a light sarcasm and delightful humor allows the reader to identify with their own everyday struggles and gives them the needed courage. I truly enjoyed this book and I hope others will too.

I loved this book. I chose this book to read not really knowing what to expect. Possibly the trials and tribulations of a woman with an eating disorder. But this book is more than that. This is a struggle for self acceptance. This book deals with what lies behind someones continous attempts of what they feel is perfection. Lerner is painfully honest and has no problem revealing herself. Whether you have had similar experiences or not she will drag you through the times in your life that you wondered if everyone else thought you were good enough.

I was excited to read this book based on the description. A book about success over the struggle of compulsive eating, self-loathing, and being overweight? Sounds interesting and helpful, bring it on! And, with the clever title, I was sure it would be fun to read.

Well, it was fairly interesting, but not at all helpful. Certainly I now understand what Ms. Lerner went through as far as self-loathing and depression. I caught a glimpse into how that manifested itself in her eating. That's all well and good. There was a lot of focus on the "Loathing" part of the title - her bipolarism, her mental states, finding solutions to the chemical imbalances.

What was missing was the "Food" half of the title. There were little scraps of the eating disorder and how the depression affected that, but very little deep discussion of any of those issyes. I didn't find out HOW she made progress, grew, and changed. Sure, the anti-depressants helped and the mental health experts (and hospital stay) had influence... but HOW? What changed in her mind? How did she change her relationship with food?

It's a fine memoir with a misleading title. I wanted what the title promised, not what I got. If you're wanting to explore the mental side of weight, food, or eating issues, don't be fooled by the cover. This isn't that book.