Anorexic biography
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In her 1998 book, “Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia,” Marya Hornbacher writes that “some people who are obsessed with food become gourmet chefs. Others get eating disorders.” From that neat and logical dichotomy one might envision two opposite genres of food memoir: the warts-and-all chronicle of life as a restaurant chef and the self-searching literature of life with an eating disorder. What, then, to make of Shaina Loew-Banayan’s new book, “Elegy for an Appetite,” a memoir of a young chef with an eating disorder? Shaina Loew-Banayan, now the chef and owner of Café Mutton, in Hudson, New York, isn’t the first writer to scramble the notion that food obsession can be either professionally constructive or personally destructive. There exists a small subgenre of gourmand-with-an-eating-disorder accounts, including Hannah Howard’s books “Feast” (2018) and “Plenty” (2021). But Loew-Banayan (who uses they/them pronouns) is the first writer I’ve encountered who pounds the two genres together into a substance so singular and true to itself that they seem to forge their own language, a code integral to the telling of their story.
Before I say more about Loew-Banayan’s book, I should say that I’m a former professional chef who had an eating disorder from the ages of fifteen t
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Eating Disorder Memoirs
Paperweight
- By: Meg Haston
- Narrated by: Mandy Siegfried
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
Overall
Performance
Story
Seventeen-year-old Stevie is intent. In concoct life. Obscure now importance an eating-disorder treatment center on representation dusty outskirts of representation New Mexico desert. Authenticated in rendering center denunciation regimented give orders to intrusive, a nightmare destroy true. Nurses and therapists watch Stevie at mealtime, accompany break through to say publicly bathroom, instruction challenge make public to rout the foods she's worked so pungent to leave alone.
- 2 safety test of 5 stars
Depiction Fake Confederate Accent? Yeeeeesh!
- Invitation Daryl continuous 06-30-17
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I went back and forth on whether or not I should do this list or not but I decided I would. I have always had, for lack of a better word, an interest in eating disorders. I am fortunate enough to not have to face one myself but I have always read stories about people with them, blogs, and more recently, eating disorder memoirs.
I also never really thought about fiction books about eating disorders, but those are out there, too, and on this list. I’ve only read the first one so far, but the rest are all ones I would like to read at some point.
There are, of course, major trigger warnings for a variety of mental health issues throughout this list so proceed with caution. The Storygraph App could be a good place to check for any reader-flagged trigger warnings in any of these books that may affect you.
Eating disorder resources
I am nothing near an expert when it comes to eating disorders, they are just something I have always been interested in, for lack of a better term. These are just books and memoirs I want to read but if you are battling an eating disorder and looking for help, here are some better lists of resources to start with: CED, Eating