My Hungry Hell : What It's Really Like to Be Anorexic - A Personal Story

by Kate Chisholm

Kate Chisholm was 24 when she was first hospitalized with anorexia nervosa. Journeying back into the mindset of her 24-year-old self, Kate seeks to relive the experience of anorexia and, with the help of those suffering from the disease now, to explain its cruel contradictions.

Genres: Nonfiction

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Anna K]

It's been 10 years since I read this book and I still think about it sometimes. It's not a happy read, but I would recommend it anyway.

[Liralen]

Better writing than I'd expected, although (...since I judge books by their covers...) I wasn't expecting too much. It's not so much memoir, though, as it is more general discussion of anorexia with a bit of the personal thrown in. That would be fine, but the analysis seem rather out of date -- to be fair, the bulk of her references were published within a few years of the publication of this book, but the heavy reliance on Hilde Bruch seems a bit misguided. It makes sense, in a way, since Bruch was a leading authority at the time the author was ill, but that ought to have guided only her reflections on the past, not her current understanding of anorexia.

But honestly, the thing that confused me the most? The title of my copy (despite having the same ISBN) is simply Hungry Hell; no "My". A mystery indeed.

[Erica]

A very smart little book. Chisholm puts anorexia in a historical and feminist perspective but recognizes the disease is too complex to be put in a single box. I wish there was more about Chisholm's personal struggle with anorexia!

[Samiya]

I'm not really sure about this one. There are worse books, but I've also read better books.