Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
66th out of 220 books
—
384 voters
Food and Loathing: A Life Measured Out in Calories
by
Betsy Lerner
With warmth, wit, and not a trace of self-pity" (Entertainment Weekly), Betsy Lerner details her twenty-year struggle with depression and compulsive eating in Food and Loathing, a book that dares to expose the insidious nature of women's secret life with food. "Alternating between hilarious and heartbreaking" (People), Food and Loathing gives voice to one of the last taboo...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
February 17th 2004
by Simon & Schuster
(first published 2003)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
578)
The cover of the book reads: "Food and Loathing" then there is a picture of a mirror and underneath that, in a smaller font: "A Lament". How clever is that? I am so burned out on "Memoir" after titles.
Why else I love this book in 15 quotes and 1 fun fact:
"My mother and I endlessly debated about her inner life."
"Thank God we are atheist."
"I knew even then that my bid for attention was craven."
"I could fit into the size tens and twelves in my wardrobe, which doubtless resembled the closets of many...more
Why else I love this book in 15 quotes and 1 fun fact:
"My mother and I endlessly debated about her inner life."
"Thank God we are atheist."
"I knew even then that my bid for attention was craven."
"I could fit into the size tens and twelves in my wardrobe, which doubtless resembled the closets of many...more
For some reason, a random ledge in the laundry room of my apartment building has become a book exchange. Usually, the books are Danielle Steele, sci-fi paperbacks and westerns. And then one day in January, I saw this hot pink Food and Loathing, complete with a mirror on its cover, like that fancy TIME magazine about me!
Anyway it was a half decent read about a tubby poet with low self-esteem, her suicide attempts and fleeting sexual exploits. Oh, and her parents, which is probably what makes it...more
Anyway it was a half decent read about a tubby poet with low self-esteem, her suicide attempts and fleeting sexual exploits. Oh, and her parents, which is probably what makes it...more
A lightweight memoir about compulsive overeating.
I've read a couple of memoirs about eating disorders and/or body image issues, mostly because I read a lot of memoirs in general. By far the best-written was the anorexia/bulimia memoir Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
, by Marya Hornbacher. I liked the latter so much that I gave it to a friend of mine who is interested in psychology, only to discover much later, to my chagrin, that she had wondered if I was trying to send her some kind of...more
I've read a couple of memoirs about eating disorders and/or body image issues, mostly because I read a lot of memoirs in general. By far the best-written was the anorexia/bulimia memoir Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
, by Marya Hornbacher. I liked the latter so much that I gave it to a friend of mine who is interested in psychology, only to discover much later, to my chagrin, that she had wondered if I was trying to send her some kind of...more
2 likes · like · see review
view 1 comment
I love Betsy Lerner. I ran out to get this book after reading The Forest for the Trees (Revised and Updated): An Editor's Advice to Writers, just because I wanted to spend more time with Betsy Lerner. And I got my wish-this memoir is not focused on the craft of writing, as Forest is, but on the difficulties of living, of family, of relationships-with self, others, and food. While her struggles remains uniquely hers, I felt comforted in hard-to-define ways in the struggles of my own life. Lerner...more
*Living, Loathing, and Lamenting*
Food and Loathing tells the tale of the author's years of intrapsychic and psychiatric confinement. Whether trapped in food obsessions, body image preoccupations, self-loathing, manic episodes, or the walls of a psychiatric institution, Betsy's early adult years certainly had a lengthy list of lamentables. Although the writing itself is quite good, the content has a tendency to drag---which perhaps is quite illustrative of Betsy's own experience of those long yea...more
Food and Loathing tells the tale of the author's years of intrapsychic and psychiatric confinement. Whether trapped in food obsessions, body image preoccupations, self-loathing, manic episodes, or the walls of a psychiatric institution, Betsy's early adult years certainly had a lengthy list of lamentables. Although the writing itself is quite good, the content has a tendency to drag---which perhaps is quite illustrative of Betsy's own experience of those long yea...more
A fascinating and couragous look inside the life of a woman who struggles, and has struggled her whole life with compulsive eating. In some ways I felt like reading her story was like watching a car accident. It was so unhappy, yet I became very invested in how it would turn out for her. It was fitting that she called it a lament, rather than a memoir. The language was vulgar, and her lifestyle was such that I would not want my daughters to read this, but I still liked it. It made me think about...more
Jan 06, 2009
Siobhan
added it
As a general thing I don't like memoirs, but this one was pretty addictive. I was impressed in particular by how controlled and expertly put-together this book about compulsion was: It isn't one of those "control-P" memoirs where the writer is just venting uncontrollably all over the place and trusting that she's charming enough just to print it out and publish it. This book tells a thoughtfully framed story about the writer, and you really do find yourself rooting for her.
I'm going to be politi...more
I'm going to be politi...more
Provided a granule of insight into several people who annoy me and/or to whom I am related, and several granules of same on myself. Definitely good if you like those I-was-institutionalized-in-the-'70s types of books, but better because the author is not institutionalized for anywhere near the entire book. (One can live vicariously through her experience without becoming as bored by it as she was.) I'm also indebted to Betsy for convincing me that overdoing it on chicken apple sausage does not c...more
Betsy, the main character, was so easy to identify with. I think everyone has some type of screwed up relationship with food and/or their body - Lerner shows this in the most bare, destructive, and desperate form. Her struggle is heartbreaking and touching; many times I found myself wanting to help her, but not knowing how. She was constantly so hard on herself - so critical and at times, ruthless. At the end of the day though, all you have is yourself. Treat yourself compassionately.
I couldn't put this book down. Fascinating memoir inspired by all those negative voices inside our own heads that too often lead to eating disorders. The mirror on the cover is a brilliant idea. Well written by a woman who is a lover of words. I too am a lover of a words, and an emotional eater, so several of her stories resonated with me.
Betsy Lerner wrote a very good book called The Forest for the Trees, but this was not very well-written at all. She comes across as a poor little spoiled rich girl and I had little sympathy for her. The book was disappointing and not what I expected.
A true-life Bell Jar. Interesting read, especially if you've had personal experience with mental illness (or even if you haven't). Similar to Girl, Interrupted, but in my opinion written in a more accessible and appealing way. Recommended!
I expected more about food and less about loathing than the memoir ended up delivering. All the Plath allusions were too heavy-handed for me. Of course, it may be my own fault for expecting true life events to be as tightly plotted as a novel.
I had heard some good things about this book so was looking forward to reading it. It's a good story ~ very honest about the author's battle with her weight and manic depression. I found it depressing at times but an interesting read.
This book wasn't what I expected and seemed to be written for the author, not for the reader. I only finished the book to see how Betsy "turned out."
A memorable book. I couldn't put down Lerner's memoir. Left me thinking about my own loathing I have for myself and others.
I loved this book. It's honest, gutsy, and insightful on a subject that plagues many of us to one degree or another.
Loved it! Slim book, but very insightful. I love how honest Lerner is about her issues. Good read.
Really wasn't what I thought it would be like and it didn't hold my interest very well.
This is a wonderful account of the havoc that an addiction can wreak on a life.
It was less about food and more about her being in a mental institution. I also totally thought she was a dyke for some reason, but she's not. Not that it matters, I just looked at the jacket cover and made an assumption. I wouldn't add this to my good fatties books.
Honest, caring, funny, scathing--a book to love.
I usually enjoy memoirs I can't relate to because I get to look at the world through someone else's eyes and learn something new. I can't say I particularly enjoyed Lerner's self-centered analysis of why she was/is a compulsive eater, however. She is a good writer, and this is a sharp piece of work, but I turned the last page thinking she was deliberately leaving out a huge piece of the "why" puzzle. With memoirs, I'm not very pleased when I feel I'm being misled.
i liked this book, and i think it's because the author came across as a very likable, flawed person. lerner writes about her lifelong battle with overeating and depression with a certain candidness and self-deprecating humor, setting it apart from similar stories that get bogged down in self-pity and sentimentality. a small gem amongst the many memoirs about eating disorders.
I think it was hard for me to read this book because the whole time I was saying to myself "You're miserable because you're a size 14?! Get a life!" I know that's not helpful at all to someone suffering from obvious mental problems (she's bipolar, we find out in the end) but it did color my reading of the book.
A must for every compulsive eater. I felt at times as though Lerner were telling my personal story. Poignant.
This was a well-written sojourn into one woman's life as it centered around eating disorders, depression, and bipolar disorder. It sounds grim, but actually, the author managed to keep it interesting and real.
Sometimes creative non-fiction becomes a whine-fest, but this was not the case here.
Sometimes creative non-fiction becomes a whine-fest, but this was not the case here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Feb 12, 2008
Melanie Cohen
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
most of my collegues (especially the ones who are losing the vision)
I "get" her story. While never hospitalized, I can certainly relate the depression, lack of self-control, and shame related to over-eating. Haven't read anyone who told the story quite so well. Wish I could have given it a 3 3/4.
A quick read-- enjoyable in the way that a certain morbid part of yourself can relish the details of another's breakdown and total lack of self-esteem. Not deep or penetrating enough to be difficult or emotional.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
“I had officially joined the cacophony of sick mother fuckers.”
—
19 people liked it
“Nothing was a more powerful compass of my mood or a better indication of my self-worth than the number on the scale.”
—
17 people liked it
More quotes…
