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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
certainly could've used some judicial editing, but overall, the story was gripping. i found the honesty portia put forth as being refreshing. the writing truly puts you in the mind of an individual suffering with anorexia and it's a frightening place to be.
I liked this a lot. It is very successful in showing the reader what is going on in the mind of a person with an eating disorder. Plus, the celebrity stories are fun.
I like Portia De Rossi. She has been in some of my favourite TV shows growing up, and the amazing Arrested Development. I vaguely knew about her battles with anorexia, but didn't know to the extent of how much the disease had controlled her life.
Part of this memoir is brilliant, how she shows the extent of her daily battle, the calorie counting, the exercise regime, the mind set of seeing fat where there is none can be quite shocking, and she's also a pretty good writer so it feels more of a story and less of a simple rundown of what happened and how.
The first chapters however were a bit of a slog to get through, if this were fiction I'd say the protagonist was unlikeable, so I'll just have to say that she is. Her attitude comes across as quite whiny and 'trying to be cool', and I'm not talking about the bulimia/anorexia parts. There's a sense of a 'I got a part on Ally Mcbeal' followed by a 'I didn't even want it, I don't even like that show, i'm so much better than the rest of those actors'. She seemed very ungrateful for her success, pointing out she didn't want it, yet blaming all her problems over it.
Overall, this was a good read and glimpse inside the head of a battling anorexic within the pressures of Hollywood, but it's hard to recommend due to the shallowness and almost unlike-ability with which the author seems to portray herself. There was also not much focus on the actual recovery, and it's more or less glossed over within the last thirty pages to show a happy ending.
Part of this memoir is brilliant, how she shows the extent of her daily battle, the calorie counting, the exercise regime, the mind set of seeing fat where there is none can be quite shocking, and she's also a pretty good writer so it feels more of a story and less of a simple rundown of what happened and how.
The first chapters however were a bit of a slog to get through, if this were fiction I'd say the protagonist was unlikeable, so I'll just have to say that she is. Her attitude comes across as quite whiny and 'trying to be cool', and I'm not talking about the bulimia/anorexia parts. There's a sense of a 'I got a part on Ally Mcbeal' followed by a 'I didn't even want it, I don't even like that show, i'm so much better than the rest of those actors'. She seemed very ungrateful for her success, pointing out she didn't want it, yet blaming all her problems over it.
Overall, this was a good read and glimpse inside the head of a battling anorexic within the pressures of Hollywood, but it's hard to recommend due to the shallowness and almost unlike-ability with which the author seems to portray herself. There was also not much focus on the actual recovery, and it's more or less glossed over within the last thirty pages to show a happy ending.
At first it seemed she said the same thing over and over. Then the story became so much more desperate and raw. What an amazing person to have put this terrifyingly personal secret, which she was so deeply ashamed of, into writing for the whole world to read and learn from. The epilogue was by far the most important part of the book. Here is where she really explains what was happening, her emotions, and why she couldn't walk away from her illness. And she does it in a way where even those who are totally unfamiliar with eating disorders will gain some understanding and insight.
Kudos, Portia.
Kudos, Portia.
Very raw but seems to focus on the negative self-hating without enough happy ending. How does she start dating Ellen?
Biography/memoir of actress Portia de Rossi. She discusses her struggles with food, her mental fixations on her body, and how she overcame these obsticales. I gave it 2 stars because although the subject matter is interesting, it was boring for me. I am not a fan of her work, and I have read better memoirs on the same topic.
Describes the experience of being consumed by an ED (in gritty, terrible detail) better than any other book I've encountered - but the narrative itself is lacking. An obsessive itemization of habits, mostly, and then fast-tracking through the recovery process.
I have just finished reading 'Unbearable Lightness' yet part of me didn't want the story, or in this case, non fictional retelling, to conclude. There was something very engaging, yet cold, harsh and brutal, about this memoir - and I mean this in a hauntingly good way. Although the ending was abrupt, this is unlike any other memoir that I have ever read and probably ever will. I always wanted to read about Portia's eating disorder because I had a feeling that she would serve her story up on a platter of cold hard truths and not just serve another glossy eating disorder memoir. She pretty much lays her eating and exercise habits out for readers to see. It is definitely an honest recount of her life with binge eating, bulimia and anorexia. She was very strong from bringing back all these memories and for writing this, I feel as if I really understand what she has been through. Her recount of both the recovery and the turbulent eating disorder, forces you to examine how you see and use food.
Food is something that occupies a lot of brain space and she found a way to make peace with that. It helps that she found someone who accepts and loves her for who she really is because success became possible when she learnt to accept herself and open the door for happiness. Thank you, Portia, for this. I have be a passenger of your story, one that I will never forget.
Food is something that occupies a lot of brain space and she found a way to make peace with that. It helps that she found someone who accepts and loves her for who she really is because success became possible when she learnt to accept herself and open the door for happiness. Thank you, Portia, for this. I have be a passenger of your story, one that I will never forget.
emotional
inspiring