Jack
asked
J.J. Johnson:
I just finished Believarexic, and I really love how it focuses on getting better! My question is, how much of the book is stuff that actually happened to you versus fiction?
J.J. Johnson
Hi Jack! I am so glad you noticed that I wanted the book to focus on RECOVERY! And yours is a great question.
—SPOILERS BELOW—
I consider Believarexic to be an autobiographical novel. I took some liberties with the timeline and compressed some characters. I want/ed to be very honest and transparent about the process, and what I changed,, so I posted my actual journal from my hopsitalization on www.believarexic.com.
I think (and honestly, it’s been a few years since I wrote it!) that the main things I totally made up were:
1. Being accused of weight-ing myself, and then accidentally peeing, that first weigh-in. I exaggerated this scene because I wanted Jenifer to hit absolute rock-bottom, and to show just how nasty Nurse Ratched could be. They did accuse me of looking like I should weigh less than what the scale said, but things didn’t go that extreme.
2. Nurse Chuck did not take me on my “meal out.” It was another nurse, and a lot less poignant, thus the change. (I wish it had been Nurse Chuck!)
3. There wasn’t a dance party. (There was that little booby-trap, though.)
Anyhoodles! I hope that answers your awesome question.
Wishing you good health and lots of fun adventures in life—
J.J.
—SPOILERS BELOW—
I consider Believarexic to be an autobiographical novel. I took some liberties with the timeline and compressed some characters. I want/ed to be very honest and transparent about the process, and what I changed,, so I posted my actual journal from my hopsitalization on www.believarexic.com.
I think (and honestly, it’s been a few years since I wrote it!) that the main things I totally made up were:
1. Being accused of weight-ing myself, and then accidentally peeing, that first weigh-in. I exaggerated this scene because I wanted Jenifer to hit absolute rock-bottom, and to show just how nasty Nurse Ratched could be. They did accuse me of looking like I should weigh less than what the scale said, but things didn’t go that extreme.
2. Nurse Chuck did not take me on my “meal out.” It was another nurse, and a lot less poignant, thus the change. (I wish it had been Nurse Chuck!)
3. There wasn’t a dance party. (There was that little booby-trap, though.)
Anyhoodles! I hope that answers your awesome question.
Wishing you good health and lots of fun adventures in life—
J.J.
More Answered Questions
Sarah Williams
asked
J.J. Johnson:
Hi JJ - I just finished your book Believarexic which was amazing. As a parent of a 23 year old who has been battling anorexia for 10 years (and is in treatment for the third time at Carolina House) I so appreciated your honesty. I was hoping to hear you speak at Quail Ridge books but the event was cancelled due to the "snow storm". Do you ever speak at events in the Raleigh area?
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