Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves [Hardcover]

Crystal Renn (Author), Marjorie Ingall (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2009

An inspiring and cautionary tale for women of all ages, Hungry is an uplifting memoir with a universal message about body image, beauty and self-confidence.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A riveting read." -- Nigella Lawson

"An eye-opening tale for all women, Hungry explores the difference between the fantasy that society projects and the reality of what makes us happy. Crystal Renn's experience debunks the modern-day Cinderella story of the fat girl who loses weight to get happy. This is a new fairy tale, one in which a young woman embraces the size she's supposed to be and the world opens up for her." -- Lori Gottlieb, author of Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self

"Crystal Renn is a high-spirited, convincing spokesperson for broadening our notions of beauty. Hungry adds a unique twist to a growing women's chorus: even if you are young and beautiful, as Renn is, it's best to give up the addiction to slimness for the sake of personal authenticity, social relations, intimacy, and sexual pleasure." -- Joan Jacobs Brumberg, author of The Body Project and Fasting Girls

"Hungry offers an intelligent and intimate look inside the modeling industry and into Crystal Renn's heart. Renn's epiphany -- that she didn't have to be a size 0 to find success and happiness -- serves as a more powerful portrait of strength and beauty than anything a camera could capture." -- Wendy Shanker, author of The Fat Girl's Guide to Life --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Crystal Renn is the leading plus-size model in America. At twenty-two years of age, she has appeared in four international editions of Vogue; starred in a Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign; served as the final model in Jean-Paul Gaultier’s Spring pret-a-porter show in a diaphanous, flower-strewn gown that Gaultier designed specifically for her curvaceous figure; was the cover girl on an international edition of Harper's Bazaar; appeared on The Tyra Banks Show, The View and The Oprah Winfrey Show; and has been photographed by Steven Meisel, Ellen von Unwerth, Steven Meisel, Ruven Afanador and Patrick Demarchelier. Renn lives in Brooklyn.

Marjorie Ingall is a contributing writer at Self magazine and a columnist for The Forward. She has written for many other magazines, including The New York Times, Glamour, Redbook, Seventeen, Ms., Food & Wine, Wired, and the late, lamented Sassy, where she was the senior writer and health editor. At Sassy, she won several awards for health and social issues coverage. She is the author of The Field Guild to North American Males, the co-author of a sex-ed book for teenagers, Smart Sex and a former writer/producer at the Oxygen TV network.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143910123X
• ISBN-13: 978-1439101230
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart, Funny, Moving, Fabulous!, September 8, 2009

By 

Gayle Forman (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves (Hardcover)

The story of a rise and fall and rise of a twenty-two-year old American model could've been lame in so, so many ways. I mean, what does someone this young have to say? A lot, actually. Hungry is gripping and wise and funny and thoughtful and provocative and also, I felt like I was getting a far truer glimpse of the fashion industry than I ever get from fare like America's Top Model, The Devil Wears Prada, and even Project Runway. It wasn't always such a nice glimpse, either. The ingrained bias (ahem, hatred) of not just large but regular-sized bodies was pretty chilling, and reading this book, it's hard to tell whether that bias flows from fashion to mainstream culture or back or whether it's one anorexic twisted cycle. But, it's a book with a happy ending. Cream rises to the top. So, it turns out, does beauty. When Crystal decides to commit that revolutionary act and eat lunch (a healthy lunch, a salad with fish!) and let her body grow to its natural size, her body blooms, and her career takes off. You'll be cheering as you read her funny, smartly self aware account of her amazing (so far) career and life.

39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an inspiration!!!, September 4, 2009

By 

A. Jordan (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves (Hardcover)

I walked by this book at Borders, and immediately felt drawn to it. I picked it up, sat on the floor, and did not move until I finished the whole thing. This young lady has so much wisdom to offer. It was so amazing to read her journey to becoming the confident, self-assured woman she is now. I'm willing to bet that everyone out there has, at one time or another, tried to ram their square-pegged self into a round hole... and it is so overwhelmingly gratifying to read the story of someone who came out the other end of that to live their dreams. What could be more inspirational?? I mean, who hasn't said, "Oh, if only I work hard enough, then I'll be good enough"? Crystal demonstrates that we are good enough as we are.. and once we realize that and embrace it, magic starts to happen. I believe that's the message of this book. I felt like I was walking on air after I left the bookstore. On my way home, I went and bought myself a bouquet of beautiful flowers :-)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for every model wannabe!, October 26, 2009

By 

jeffsdate "jeffsdate" (Boxford, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves (Hardcover)

Wow. I couldn't put this down. I never tried to be a model, but had a serious eating disorder when I was in high school (30 years ago!), and Renn's book brought it all back to me. It's very well-written and moves along at a good clip, without a lot of padding. I actually would have given it 4.5 stars if I could, because of two things: 1) There could have been more pictures. Crystal talks at length about many shoots for Vogue, etc. without including any photo, and I was dying to know what they looked like. (Maybe it was a copyright issue?)
2) Her newfound self-esteem sometimes gets a little over-the-top near the end ("I'm so sexy, I'm so hot," etc.).
But on the whole, I really recommend this. She actually doesn't slam the fashion industry as hard as I thought she would -- in fact, she acknowledges that sometimes people told her she was too thin -- and she mostly blames herself for nearly starving to death.
I saw her on one of the morning TV shows and she came across as quite smart as well as gorgeous. Way to go, Crystal!