I haven't read Roth's first book (When Food Is Love), but if you're going to read one of her books, which address possible solutions to the problem of compulsive eating, I would read the first one. This book seems like a rehash of every women's magazine article you've read about dieting (or not dieting) for several years, probably because those articles were by Roth or based on her work. Women, Food, and God seems like a repackaging of her earlier work--she even seems to assume that the reader has read her earlier work. I can imagine her editor or publisher saying, "Time to crank out another bestseller, Geneen," and since her message has been thoroughly explained in the past, she could only add a few new anecdotes and repeat main principles for this book. Fortunately, it's a fast read, and if you have a problem with constant dieting, bingeing, and compulsive eating, this would be a good intro to Roth's ideas--but again, you might as well read the first book and get the picture in an orderly and probably more detailed way. Especially irritating is the author's unexplained introduction of her "Eating Guidelines" in chapter 13 without any explanation of what they are. A parenthetical "(the Eatingd Guidelines are listed in the Addendum at the back of the book)" would have solved that problem. I recommend reading the other book instead of this one, if you are inclined to read Roth's books.