tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post517020232197608517..comments2023-10-31T04:16:04.331-05:00Comments on Feed Me!: Sneak peek: PrologueHarriethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-50719213116571595692009-11-18T21:14:01.616-06:002009-11-18T21:14:01.616-06:00I'm so sorry, VeganCat.
What we are learning ...I'm so sorry, VeganCat.<br /><br />What we are learning about these illnesses is that they are strongly genetic. They can be triggered, like you say, by many things--a comment, a diet, an experience.<br /><br />I hope you are well now.Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-43938034823294981542009-11-18T21:00:29.291-06:002009-11-18T21:00:29.291-06:00I wish my mother had been half as supportive as yo...I wish my mother had been half as supportive as you are to your child.<br /><br />She always ridiculed me about my body and i really were not as she made me feel.<br /><br />and when i studied and it was all so stressfull and was mobbed again from collegues(i always was the punchin bag) i lost my appetite.<br /><br />I could not really eat, i thought about food because i was hungry but felt always like retching, tried to eat in a way i would not loose too much nutrition and when i could see the bones of my ribcage in the mirror the only thing my mother said when she saw me....<br /><br />"Oh how nice you look now that you are a bit thinner"<br /><br />It was crushing...she never saw me, she just saw herself in a younger body.<br /><br />I can not really wrap my mind around the thing that people in a healthy family and environment may get such an illness(because..well..how can someone who is loved hurt themself in such a way? )..but that seems to be the way it is...<br /><br />there are so many things that can trigger this you can not imagine, and every person is different<br /><br />and maybe a single thoughtless comment can get you there after it slumbered in you for years..just like cancer. one smokes and stays healthy and the other never smokes and gets cancerMinimehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01904407026487900857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-26909564028105942412009-09-09T05:50:25.890-05:002009-09-09T05:50:25.890-05:00hi anon,
she is certainly in the narrative, and i ...hi anon,<br />she is certainly in the narrative, and i can tell you that this whole process has been very very painful for her. i'm sure it has been for you too. my sister was actually ill with something different but analogous when i was young and i carried the pain and anger of that with me for many years. i wish you well.Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-53041607184817703562009-09-09T02:29:53.389-05:002009-09-09T02:29:53.389-05:00As a sibling of a recovering/recovered anorexic, I...As a sibling of a recovering/recovered anorexic, I'm curious how your other daughter will manifest in the narrative. The more I read about at-home treatment options for eating disorders, the more I think about the role of siblings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-80899185670972337662009-08-17T21:21:24.037-05:002009-08-17T21:21:24.037-05:00I definitely think you "get it." I have ...I definitely think you "get it." I have been there and the read was difficult but, as a woman who is recovered (and recovery is possible) it really moved me and made me think about what these young girls and boys, women and men, experience and how hard it is to face the demons head on and come out on the other side. Maybe one day you and Kitty can write a book together to get the story from a different and unnique perspective!! Write on, friend, write on!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-85552573793402805572009-08-05T19:17:06.495-05:002009-08-05T19:17:06.495-05:00You've gotten a lot of great feedback already,...You've gotten a lot of great feedback already, so I'll just say that I found this very moving and look forward to reading the book.<br /><br />I can't remember whether you posted this spring about Laurie Halse Anderson's new YA book "Wintergirls." It's a novel about an anorexic girl, and while most reviewers agree that it's beautifully written and very moving, there's been some controversy over whether it's a good idea to publish a book that might be so triggering to some people. I'd be interested in your take on it.Virginiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05571731739380076700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-51355438229061844782009-07-28T20:17:00.039-05:002009-07-28T20:17:00.039-05:00Your writing is really good. The descriptions of ...Your writing is really good. The descriptions of the food in the bakery had me salivating.<br /><br />I give you a lot of credit for writing about such a serious and personal subject.<br /><br />Unfortunately, it is a reality that young girls face these days and a book with a personal accounting can be helpful not just the young girl, but their families.Floryhttp://www.awomanslifestages.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-73054415363848009432009-07-26T08:45:00.898-05:002009-07-26T08:45:00.898-05:00I agree with the commenter who mentioned the stere...I agree with the commenter who mentioned the stereotype of emaciated anorexics...this seems to feed right into that (no pun intended!).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-65562228231096164402009-07-25T07:44:16.867-05:002009-07-25T07:44:16.867-05:00Beautifully worded. I would definitely read it. I ...Beautifully worded. I would definitely read it. I wish i could say more, but i have no way with words. <br /><br />I also agree with the 'emaciated' image comment though. At my lowest weight, and sickest, i would probably still be too 'fat' for anorexia. I feel many ED sufferers are almost aiming to look that sick, just so people believed them. I know i did. I read the weights or see images on TV of 'the anoretic' and feel that even in sickness, i failed.Elizabeth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13886194911235417533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-80173567723083971852009-07-25T05:28:23.001-05:002009-07-25T05:28:23.001-05:00Thanks for all the comments!
Katie, this will be ...Thanks for all the comments!<br /><br />Katie, this will be a family memoir of dealing with anorexia, with lots of science and neurobiology woven into it. While it won't exactly be a how-to, my hope is that families who want to use FBT will find this a helpful guidebook of sorts. And an inspiration.<br /><br />formyed, it's true that many people with ed are not emaciated. thanks for pointing that out.Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-17961334507032698562009-07-24T21:41:51.787-05:002009-07-24T21:41:51.787-05:00This prologue was very engaging - I want to read m...This prologue was very engaging - I want to read more! Will this book be more of a how-to for the Maudsley approach, or recollections of the struggle with anorexia from your point of view, or Kitty's perspective on things?Katie Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12426944854163960592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-18778819236467356982009-07-24T21:24:10.763-05:002009-07-24T21:24:10.763-05:00Very authentic, profound, and Real! When you share...Very authentic, profound, and Real! When you shared the initial analogy about a year ago I read it aloud to my parent group and the feedback was "WOW, I get it". This will be without a doubt emotional and that is the point, it is real, not meant to scare but to motivate while also empower! I am looking forward to more!samsi77https://www.blogger.com/profile/14722162473483919292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-90127038656131322852009-07-24T20:51:43.116-05:002009-07-24T20:51:43.116-05:00Hey, Harriet. I'm really grooving with you on...Hey, Harriet. I'm really grooving with you on this. I have a couple of little suggestions: that first paragraph is *begging* for more smell words, and I felt jarred from "Or Kitty could have lost..." Even if that was a new paragraph, I think it would flow better.<br /><br />Cheers to all of your hard work; you're quite the inspiration!Amyhttp://inthemainstream.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-53826946708545946482009-07-24T20:17:22.573-05:002009-07-24T20:17:22.573-05:00Hi. I've just recently started following your ...Hi. I've just recently started following your blog. I'm very impressed by this piece. Wow. For someone who's never had an eating disorder, you get it down! Especially powerful is your description of that incessant voice. I'm in treatment, and *it never shuts up*. You really drive that home.<br /><br />My only comment would be about the second time you write, "I've never had anorexia, but I know it well." You then go on to write about an emaciated woman on the street. So many people with eating disorders - including anorexia - are not emaciated. Most people with eating disorders - even most of the people who die of them - are within a "healthy" weight range. This one passage struck me as reinforcing the idea that one must be emaciated to have an eating disorder, and that idea, unfortunately, keeps a lot of people out of treatment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-81996654288712879962009-07-24T17:10:24.427-05:002009-07-24T17:10:24.427-05:00That's helpful, Beth, because this was not a &...That's helpful, Beth, because this was not a "worst case" by any means. In fact, by the usual standards, my daughter was sick only briefly. She never had to go away to residential care, didn't have relapse after relapse, etc. I will make sure to make that clear.Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-58779879148238772492009-07-24T16:19:35.705-05:002009-07-24T16:19:35.705-05:00Harriet, your writing is beautiful and powerful. M...Harriet, your writing is beautiful and powerful. My only pair of reservations, and they were pretty much instantaneous, were (1) if I didn't need to, I wouldn't read the whole book because it is so terrifying, and (2) in alcohol addiction, people get confused by hearing about "worst cases" because they think "I'm not that bad, so I don't have it" -- if you are describing something on the far end of the spectrum, you may be preventing some people from recognizing themselves. But ... those are very personal reactions of mine. A big Vermont hug goes with them.Beth Kanellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08108922407270772577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-31506907264384370742009-07-24T13:02:54.010-05:002009-07-24T13:02:54.010-05:00Thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I ...Thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I take all your comments to heart. Just FYI, the book has already been sold and will be published in fall 2010 by HarperCollins.<br /><br />Jessie, I have thought long and hard about the point you raise. I know that people have different experiences of anorexia as they do of, well, just about everything. I've wrestled with how to make the point in a powerful way without making, as you say, a blanket statement, and I've come to the conclusion that I can't. Later in the book I will absolutely talk about the fact that people experience anorexia in many ways. And even the same people experience it differently at different times in their lives. Your comment will inspire me to keep thinking about it, so thank you.<br /><br />As for molecular friction, alas, that is of course my favorite phrase. :) And that's often the one that has to go.Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-54689738654549356882009-07-24T12:56:04.757-05:002009-07-24T12:56:04.757-05:00I would object to the blanket statement "this...I would object to the blanket statement "this is what it feels like to have anorexia." That was never what it felt like for me to have anorexia. And it most likely will not be what it felt like for several other people who have or had anorexia. It may be what it feels like for some people to have anorexia or what you imagine it feels like for people to have anorexia but it is not some kind of defining be all and end all of what it means and feels like to have anorexia. My two cents for whatever it's worth.Jessiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04336422043308118757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-46915284111782255462009-07-24T11:24:59.405-05:002009-07-24T11:24:59.405-05:00I want to read this book, even though I know I'...I want to read this book, even though I know I'll have to have a full box of Kleenex by my side the whole time.<br /><br />Unlike Rachel, though, I find the statistics useful and grounding, even in the midst of the clearly emotional writing.<br /><br />I do however, agree with Sharon C about 'molecular friction.' I think a good editor will want you to tone down some of the phrases as a touch overdramatic, too. <br /><br />OTOH, the bones of the narrative are strong. The story you have to tell is important. The emotional content is powerfully moving. I don't think you'll have much trouble shopping this one. You might even wind up with a tiny bidding war on your hands. Make sure you've got good advice and a strong negotiator on your side.<br /><br />Seriously, this is a book I would absolutely read. I think I'm far from the only one who would want to learn from your experiences and Kitty's courage.Twistiehttp://manolobig.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-44108898696113733152009-07-24T11:01:47.932-05:002009-07-24T11:01:47.932-05:00that was really amazing but I couldn't get thr...that was really amazing but I couldn't get through the whole thing as someone who is on the way back from recovery. it was a little too close for me right now. its obvious that his is going to be a great book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-41015777510165259232009-07-24T10:42:14.409-05:002009-07-24T10:42:14.409-05:00I am generally not a fan of the memoir genre, but ...I am generally not a fan of the memoir genre, but I would buy and read this book.<br /><br />As a reader and a writer, though, I will caution you against statistics and sermoninzing as you write. In this particular exerpt, the use of statistics pulled the reader OUT of the emotionally engaging and very personalized narrative that preceded it. But perhaps thats what you intended--the 2nd person narrative is emotionally intense, the strongest part. The academic part grounds the reader as well as pulls one out of the narrative.<br /><br />All in all, i cant see an editor or agent hating this book.rachelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-37068450425645027452009-07-24T10:17:56.778-05:002009-07-24T10:17:56.778-05:00"I honor you with every word."
That pre..."I honor you with every word."<br /><br />That pretty much sums it up.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17219492984914810944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-23942893141652314662009-07-24T09:37:03.706-05:002009-07-24T09:37:03.706-05:00This will be a difficult read for anyone who has p...This will be a difficult read for anyone who has personally been affected by anorexia. I've had the horror of watching students starve & die, family members suffer, and walked along that awful edge for many years myself. Difficult or not, it is an important story and one that I hope will connect with all the other families, teachers and caregivers who deal with this tragic and misunderstood form of ED.Elizabeth Patchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08304185616310601803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-53162312750233227402009-07-24T09:28:08.325-05:002009-07-24T09:28:08.325-05:00Wow. Very good.
One small comment: if it were me,...Wow. Very good.<br /><br />One small comment: if it were me, I wouldn't use the phrase "molecular friction" - it doesn't seem to make sense. What is molecular about some friction? Try another description?SharonCnoreply@blogger.com