The Skinny: My messy, hopeful fight for full recovery from anorexia

by Sheri Segal Glick

The Skinny challenges our beliefs about diet culture, body image and eating disorders as we follow Sheri in her fight to fully recover from anorexia with her signature wit, wry humour, and unflinching honesty.

In this powerful memoir, Sheri Segal Glick explores her rough, rocky, rutted road to being in recovery. As a young teenager, Sheri developed anorexia, and has battled the illness for decades. The Skinny explores her journey, from her tumultuous time as a teenager to the disease rearing its ugly head as an adult, with her signature wit, wry humour, and absolute honesty. Her unique story is matched by her unique style, and the memoir moves back and forth through time, through her experiences and through the moments in life where all there is to do is laugh.

352 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2023

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unless you are living under a rock you are probably coming up against the North American diet industry pretty regularly and have had first hand exposure to eating disorders.
The author did a courageous act in writing her memoir and we all owe it to her to read it. She also shares a realistic assessment of the experience of receiving public health supports to mitigate her struggle with what is the most deadly mental health condition.

[Pascale Pergant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read a preview of this memoir and couldn't put it down. Sheri is so honest and vulnerable in her discussion about eating disorders and the struggles she's faced, I wanted to reach into the pages and give her childhood self a big hug. But she's also hilarious, making me laugh out loud throughout the book. Her book changed my thinking on how we as a society deal with body image and weight loss and how I talk to myself and my children about our bodies. Highly recommend!

[Arlene Shousterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening

I recommend this book to everyone. It is about so much more than the author's struggle with anorexia. It is about biases towards body weight. It is about how disfunctional the we have become by embracing the diet industry. I found it helpful for understanding myself and others and our struggles with food, weight and dieting.

[Mary Tsai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read a pre-released copy and loved it. Cannot wait to read it again.

[Alix D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the great privilege to get my hands on a pre-release copy of this book. The Skinny is a book not to be missed - not only exceptionally well-written, but hilarious, poignant and powerful.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness but this memoir is amazing. Sheri writes with poignance, with bracing honesty, and with a lot of humour. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this because I don’t have an eating disorder, but I found an awful lot to relate to: diet culture & my own frustrating attempts to control my body, aspects of living with anxiety/depression, and comparative thinking, even parenting and especially the nature of friendship. As a teacher & as a friend of others with ED, I found this book incredibly illuminating. Sheri’s journey is difficult, but in her attempts to share the whole truth of her life with ED, she manages to find connections that made me think deeply about my own life & relationships. What a powerful memoir.

[Kiersten Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Skinny is a powerful, witty and important memoir that provides valuable insight into the world of eating disorders, diet culture and body image. Sheri's raw honesty and unbeatable sense of humour make it both heart-wrenching and laugh-out-loud funny. Her incredible talent and unique writing style enabled her to share a very personal story in a way that allows readers to laugh their way to a deeper understanding of the struggles faced by those with eating disorders. Highly recommended!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny AND poignant is definitely Sheri's forte. There's no way to read this without being impacted by what Sheri (and so many people) describes and has lived through, but she writes in such a matter of fact but also somehow gently silly way, that the harrowing parts of it are also life affirming. Huge kudos to Sheri for sharing such a personal story. <3

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

this felt bolder than almost any other book I've read about eating disorders (and I've read a lot), because Glick is so incredibly honest about how hard it is simply to eat like other people. You feel every struggle with her. I just wish she'd eat her french fries hot--they're so much better that way, Sheri!

[Jim Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a preview of this book before it was published. It's a fabulous read. A laugh-out-loud funny memoir of dealing with a dreadful disease. You'll laugh and you'll learn a lot. Sheri Segal Glick is an amazing writer.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the heavy subject it was a fun read and felt like spending time with a friend. I learned quite a bit along the way.
I had heard about the book from a CBC interview with the author, who seemed funny and down to earth.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely honest and totally hilarious. A must read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

New and refreshing.

[Avery Schroeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so extremely helpful. It was also written wonderfully and was super engaging. Highly recommend.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is a perfect combination of entertaining and poignant. You will genuinely laugh and cry throughout. I am a psychotherapist and recommend this book to clients struggling with disordered eating as well as their families and loved ones. It offers a very important portrait of how an eating disorder can develop and how very hard it can be to truly liberate one-self from it. There is so much valuable insight for parents of what not to do in order to prevent eating disorders in the first place.