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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I've read some bad celeb bios lately so I really wasn't sure what to expect with this. It was really well written and riveting. Portia writes the book in a way that you can clearly see how sick she is but she as the narrator does not. It makes it a heck of a lot more interesting to read because you're in her mind and experiencing her sickness through her own eyes making it far more tragic. There's very little celebrity dish and gossip - almost no name dropping other than her Ally co-workers and even they're only mentioned in small doses - it's not their story, it's Portia's. I'm amazed at how sick she became and at the fact that she is now recovered. I think it was fantastic how at one point in the book she's speaking with a doctor about her health and all of her health problems are juxtaposed by photos of her at her absolute thinnest.
I agree with some of the reviews - she barely focused on her recovery, but maybe it was just an epiphany for her and then she was on her way. I found her writing believable and saw the book as part of her recovery. It was heartbreaking to read how alone she was in her struggle and how unworthy she felt of everything she'd achieved.
What a open and honest memoir. I’ve never had an eating disorder, but I found her struggle for control relatable. It was an entrancing book - I listened to it every time I could until I finished it. However, some of the editing was poor and I felt some of the writing was repetitive - the book would really have benefited from a strong editor.
I've been meaning to read this book for the last twelve years. It wasn't until I disinterred myself from the whole concept of 'womanhood' that I finally got to it, which probably means something in its own right. I would say it was for the best, as my ties to diets, body image, US definitions of 'celebrity', and white/blonde/skinny femininity are the lowest they've ever been, which made reading this, especially the truly harrowing parts that got right to the heart of the matter of disordered eating as the result of violently insidious white patriarchy, that much easier. That, as well as de Rossi's discussions of turn of the 21st century homophobia in the US, are by themselves worth the price of the book. Still, while the popular review that denigrates de Rossi for not being some dogmatic Puritan about her own lived experiences is trash, I will say that I preferred it when the author was speaking in her own right rather than spouting off wide ranging platitudes that are really only workable when one has an inordinate amount of income and/or birth lottery luck at one's disposal (horses? 'unintentional' exercise on a 40 hour work week? helicopter training cause your sibling owns the company? give me a break). All in all, this is one of those famous people memoirs that has some legitimate soul in its heavily ghostwritten ribcage, so if you have a bingo category involving queer/WLW/mental illness, this would be one of the easier works to slip in. Fourteen years after its publication, I just hope that there are more men reading this who recognize that their 'gym culture', however heavily laced with machismo, is simply more of the same. We're a long way from solving the problems of mass disordered eating (hint: it'll never happen under capitalism), but the more folks who understand what it is, regardless of their gender or number on the scale, the better.
This memoir is extremely well written. I cannot begin to imagine how hard it was for her to step back into her anorexic brain to write from her sick self's point of view. It's hard to say I enjoyed reading it, as it is a sad story, but PdR draws the reader in right away. An eye opening read.
Found in my laundry room library. I couldn't put this down. It was like reading a juicy tabloid and its antithesis at the same time.
This memoir is told in a brutal style, which truly conveys the physical and emotional illness of anorexia. The self-hatred and disordered thinking that goes along with anorexia and bulimia also goes along with so many other mental and physical disorders. I found myself angry at her and pitying her at the same time. I also found myself cheering for her as she found her way. Really brilliant.
This book was really impressive at the start, detailing her eating disorders, self-loathing, and fear of not being successful. However, the detailed descriptions of her exercise anorexia, bulimia, and binging/purging became painfully episodic and repetitive. The ending felt rushed and unsatisfactory. Her solution to "not restrict any foods" seemed a bit simplistic for a very complicated issue. And her turn to veganism (which restricts all animal by-products and meat) made me wonder if she'd truly recovered as she'd claimed.
The writing wasn't fantastic but the story was excellent.
Very brave of Portia de Rossi to tell it. I hope that a few girls will be saved from the same hell she went through!
Very brave of Portia de Rossi to tell it. I hope that a few girls will be saved from the same hell she went through!
well written, compelling, horrifying. Definitely worth reading if you're trying to understand the nature of eating disorders.