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A review by liralen
Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness by Suzy Favor Hamilton
3.0
I was really curious about this one, but it left me a bit wanting, I guess. Hamilton Favor covers her life first as an elite runner and then as an escort, the latter influenced by her then-undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
What disappoints me is how little time is given to the after. This ends up feeling about a book that is much more about the downfall (and with it the racier elements of the story) than about the way she and her family put their lives back together after—which was, presumably, in and of itself messy and complicated, if less exciting. I'm left wondering how they did their patching and what long-lasting impacts it had. All told, the book reminds me of books about eating disorders that go into the illness in extensive detail, spending 90% of the book on weight loss and restriction and bones, and then toss in a short chapter to say 'oh and then I finally got help and everything's fine now!' Well intentioned, I'm sure, but I do rather wish the proportions had been a bit different.
What disappoints me is how little time is given to the after. This ends up feeling about a book that is much more about the downfall (and with it the racier elements of the story) than about the way she and her family put their lives back together after—which was, presumably, in and of itself messy and complicated, if less exciting. I'm left wondering how they did their patching and what long-lasting impacts it had. All told, the book reminds me of books about eating disorders that go into the illness in extensive detail, spending 90% of the book on weight loss and restriction and bones, and then toss in a short chapter to say 'oh and then I finally got help and everything's fine now!' Well intentioned, I'm sure, but I do rather wish the proportions had been a bit different.