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Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia
A unique eating-disorder memoir written by a mother and daughter.
Unbeknownst to food critic Sheila Himmel—as she reviewed exotic cuisines from bistro to brasserie—her daughter, Lisa, was at home starving herself. Before Sheila fully grasped what was happening, her fourteen-year-old with a thirst for life and a palate for the flavors of Vietnam and Afghanistan was replaced by a weight-obsessed, antisocial, hundredpound nineteen-year-old. From anorexia to bulimia and back again-many times—the Himmels feared for Lisa's life as her disorder took its toll on her physical and emotional well-being.
Hungry is the first memoir to connect eating disorders with a food-obsessed culture in a very personal way, following the stumbles, the heartbreaks, and even the funny moments as a mother-daughter relationship—and an entire family—struggles toward healing.
Unbeknownst to food critic Sheila Himmel—as she reviewed exotic cuisines from bistro to brasserie—her daughter, Lisa, was at home starving herself. Before Sheila fully grasped what was happening, her fourteen-year-old with a thirst for life and a palate for the flavors of Vietnam and Afghanistan was replaced by a weight-obsessed, antisocial, hundredpound nineteen-year-old. From anorexia to bulimia and back again-many times—the Himmels feared for Lisa's life as her disorder took its toll on her physical and emotional well-being.
Hungry is the first memoir to connect eating disorders with a food-obsessed culture in a very personal way, following the stumbles, the heartbreaks, and even the funny moments as a mother-daughter relationship—and an entire family—struggles toward healing.
281 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Himmel
5 books1 followerSheila Himmel is an award-winning food critic, writer and editor. As restaurant critic for the San Jose Mercury News, she despaired when her daughter, Lisa, developed severe eating disorders. Together they wrote an article for the paper, and now the book, Hungry. "
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 28, 2017
The topic of eating disorders is my space this afternoon.....with some personal conversations going on with friends under the book "Wasted", by Marya Hornbacher ....a book I reviewed years ago and shared about our daughter.
Thankfully life is great today in the area of eating disorders: our daughter has been well for many years.
I not only read this book --I know the mother and daughter. Jewish Community friends. When the book came out -- I helped set up book readings at various libraries around town.
I forgot to write anything about this book.
The uniqueness is that it's written by 'both' mother and daughter.
Sheila Himmel, mother and writer used to love "irony". It made for the best stories. But Sheila found it harder to appreciate when she was reviewing exotic cuisines from bistro to brassiere, while her daughter, Lisa, was at home starving yourself.
Sheila was the food critic for the San Jose Mercury Newspaper for many years. This was a family who loved to eat.... and enjoyed culinary adventure.
Then... at age 14 something was happening to Lisa. She flipped back and forth between anorexia and bulimia.
It's an engrossing look at the power of food and eating. Lisa and Sheila share a deeply personal story about what happens when that power overwhelms. They reveal the
human impact of eating disorders from multiple perspectives.
It's heartfelt.... all the emotions are there - the reader feels them profoundly for both Lisa and Sheila.
Thankfully life is great today in the area of eating disorders: our daughter has been well for many years.
I not only read this book --I know the mother and daughter. Jewish Community friends. When the book came out -- I helped set up book readings at various libraries around town.
I forgot to write anything about this book.
The uniqueness is that it's written by 'both' mother and daughter.
Sheila Himmel, mother and writer used to love "irony". It made for the best stories. But Sheila found it harder to appreciate when she was reviewing exotic cuisines from bistro to brassiere, while her daughter, Lisa, was at home starving yourself.
Sheila was the food critic for the San Jose Mercury Newspaper for many years. This was a family who loved to eat.... and enjoyed culinary adventure.
Then... at age 14 something was happening to Lisa. She flipped back and forth between anorexia and bulimia.
It's an engrossing look at the power of food and eating. Lisa and Sheila share a deeply personal story about what happens when that power overwhelms. They reveal the
human impact of eating disorders from multiple perspectives.
It's heartfelt.... all the emotions are there - the reader feels them profoundly for both Lisa and Sheila.
October 11, 2011
Moderately interesting--probably particularly so for parents of those with eating disorders. Author includes some words of wisdom for parents coping. Story-wise, the timeline seemed scattered & kept jumping around. Some parts were repetitive or reiterated in other chapters. Just okay.
March 24, 2025
An interesting, honest account of living with anorexia. Warning ⚠️
If you are battling with an eating disorder this story may cause triggers.
If you are battling with an eating disorder this story may cause triggers.
May 14, 2020
really wish this had been more about eating disorders and less about the mother's career. i get the irony, but a solid two thirds of the book was about her. if i knew this was mostly her autobiography i may have skipped it, or at least skimmed most of it.
feel very much like even the parts actually about the daughter's eating disorder were skimmed through very quickly.
there's also just really nothing new here, though i suppose that's on me to a point, given that i've read a lot of eating disorder books and am hoping to make treating eating disorders my career.
feel very much like even the parts actually about the daughter's eating disorder were skimmed through very quickly.
there's also just really nothing new here, though i suppose that's on me to a point, given that i've read a lot of eating disorder books and am hoping to make treating eating disorders my career.
January 30, 2023
A really thought-provoking book written by a mother and her daughter who battled anorexia and bulimia. For anyone who has never understood those diseases or had personal contact with them, it’s a real eye opener. For anyone touched by them I would think it would be a source of good information or at least moral support. Sheila Himmel is a reporter and James Beard Award-winning restaurant critic. Besides chronicling her family’s struggle she has lots of observations on societal attitudes towards food and eating. Mother and daughter give their separate accounts of various points in Lisa’s journey, which are often heartbreaking.
November 2, 2023
This wasn't as good as some other eating disorder memoirs I've read. I share the opinion of some other goodreads posters who thought that there was too much emphasis on the mother's career as a restaurant critic. That's really for another memoir. It does get better in the last 70 pages, though, when they get into the nitty-gritty of the disease and treatment. This would probably have been better as a really long magazine or newspaper article, rather than a book.
June 20, 2019
I learned so much about the mother and her career that I felt like the daughter’s experience and own words were merely an after thought.
January 6, 2025
I don't often re-read books, but I re-read this one.
September 23, 2025
Tedious.
March 11, 2012
*Eating away the family*
Without a doubt, _Hungry_ shows how eating disorders are truly family affairs. A fascinating and compelling read, the book primarily offers a mother's-eye-view of the devastation her daughter's eating disorders inflict on the family. Of course, it's easy to be an armchair therapist when reading this book and cringe at some of the decisions, comments, and interpretations mother Shiela made while dealing with daughter Lisa's eating disorders. But, to do so would take away the value of what the book truly has to offer: an honest portrayal of a mother who does the very best she can in the face of feeling helpless, ineffective, and overwhelmed as her daughter sinks into the depths of anorexia and bulimia. Although this book may not be the best for offering objective and non-biased information about eating disorder treatment approaches, it provides families, friends, and sufferers of eating disorders what may ultimately be the most healing-- the reassurance that they are not alone in their inevitable frustration, confusion, and despair...and, the hope that beneath all of the darkness is light struggling to break free.
Without a doubt, _Hungry_ shows how eating disorders are truly family affairs. A fascinating and compelling read, the book primarily offers a mother's-eye-view of the devastation her daughter's eating disorders inflict on the family. Of course, it's easy to be an armchair therapist when reading this book and cringe at some of the decisions, comments, and interpretations mother Shiela made while dealing with daughter Lisa's eating disorders. But, to do so would take away the value of what the book truly has to offer: an honest portrayal of a mother who does the very best she can in the face of feeling helpless, ineffective, and overwhelmed as her daughter sinks into the depths of anorexia and bulimia. Although this book may not be the best for offering objective and non-biased information about eating disorder treatment approaches, it provides families, friends, and sufferers of eating disorders what may ultimately be the most healing-- the reassurance that they are not alone in their inevitable frustration, confusion, and despair...and, the hope that beneath all of the darkness is light struggling to break free.
October 29, 2012
Excellent book! I would definitely recommend since it gives the reader an insight into the world of one woman and her family's fight with anorexia. An eating disorder not only affects the person inflicted with the "disease" but also all those loved ones surrounding that individual.
While reading this book I became attached to the characters. You feel the emotions along side with them and for them: anger, worry, happiness, sadness, confusion, etc. You learn not only the symptoms but the complicated feelings and relationships with oneself, one's food and one's loved ones when involved with the web of eating disorders.
This book was very hard to put down. I found myself constantly thinking about it after reading it too. Contemplating the subject. I have had to stop myself from dieting before because I become to OCD about the issue, but by no means have I become near an eating disorder, so it was interesting to read perspective that went further on the body hatred scale. Luckily I have learned to love my body more over the years and in the book you learn how the woman eventually copes with her feels of body hatred.
I suggest this book. It was an easy read.
While reading this book I became attached to the characters. You feel the emotions along side with them and for them: anger, worry, happiness, sadness, confusion, etc. You learn not only the symptoms but the complicated feelings and relationships with oneself, one's food and one's loved ones when involved with the web of eating disorders.
This book was very hard to put down. I found myself constantly thinking about it after reading it too. Contemplating the subject. I have had to stop myself from dieting before because I become to OCD about the issue, but by no means have I become near an eating disorder, so it was interesting to read perspective that went further on the body hatred scale. Luckily I have learned to love my body more over the years and in the book you learn how the woman eventually copes with her feels of body hatred.
I suggest this book. It was an easy read.
January 30, 2013
The beginning of this book starts off slow, and the first 100 pages or so are mostly about the mothers career, which I did not find that interesting. The rest of the book alternates between Lisa (the daughter) and Sheila's (the mother) viewpoints as Sheila swings in and out of her eating disorder- mostly from Sheila. I did not think that this was a good depiction of how torturous living with an eating disorder truly is to the disorder, and a lot of things seemed to be talked about almost redundantly. It was a bit interesting that the mother was a food critic- there is a lot of talk about food in here!
December 26, 2012
Decent. I think the mother is incorrect in her premise that a food-obsessed culture is primarily to blame for the rise in eating disorders. Nonetheless, Himmel writes well and her candidness is appreciated. I thought the daughter's contributions to the book paled in comparison. I found her to be a self-absorbed little brat but then, that's the crux of someone with an eating disorder. Parents deserve better than crappy anorexic children.
March 29, 2012
I really enjoyed this book (as much as you can enjoy a book about a family's suffering?) It's not just a story of their family, it's also a well researched book about America's history with food and restaurants and the rise of eating disorders. The mom writes the majority of the book, and her writing is clear and insightful (she's also a former journalist, and it shows.) The daughter's portion includes parts from her diary and an astonishing honesty about her illness.
May 19, 2011
Ive read several books on ED, and this is one of my favorites. I think it shares a unique perspective as the mother makes, rather made, her living from food, as her daughter struggled with anorexia and then bulimia. I though there was also an interesting balance as the mother and daughters voices are both heard.
December 10, 2009
This book is an account from a mother and daughter about a family struggling to deal with the daughter's eating disorder. It is also about foodyism and food obsession in our society. It is not overly sentimental which is refreshing in anything that deals with this topic.
November 5, 2009
I found this fascinating, but I was a little frustrated by the dominance of the mother's voice. I would have liked to hear more from the daughter.
March 14, 2011
Gave up on this book just a few pages in.
February 23, 2012
the writing was pretty good, and the mother's perspective was interesting, but I wanted to hear more from the daughter.
December 10, 2012
I appreciate their honesty, but I didn't like that it wasn't completely chronologically organized. It jumped around too much for me.
October 1, 2016
A story of a daughter's eating disorder. I don't know where I got this recommended from, but it wasn't really my cup of tea.
January 9, 2012
Too much of the mom talking about her food writing job in the first half
December 20, 2009
Review forthcoming.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews