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Kessa #1
The Best Little Girl in the World
Everyone agreed that Francesca was a model daughter. Quiet, obedient, a good student, she never caused her parents a moment's worry. And then one day her mother noticed that Francesca seemed to be losing weight -- a lot of weight. Francesca was ordered to stop dieting immediately, but still she wouldn't eat. And then the nightmare began, because Francesca was starving herself to death.In this riveting story of a young girl's self-destructive obsession, author Steven Levenkron draws an accurate and moving portrait of one of the most fascinating and horrifying psychological disorders of our time -- anorexia nervosa, a disease that strikes one out of every three hundred teenage girls. THE BEST LITTLE GIRL IN THE WORLD is a representative case history of one girl afflicted by this shocking and compelling psychological disturbance.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
March 26, 2008
I read this book when i was about 11 and it honestly became part of my downfall. For me it was more of "how to" then a "dont be like her". Although I still to this day like this book i was WAY to young to read it. I think its an important book even if the writer is in my opion a self-righteous hack... but hes a psychologist who wrote a best seller what can you do. I would highly suggest this book to any parent or family member of someone suffering an eating disorder or a well adjusted adult or teenager. This book is not for children and should not be left in your grandfathers book shelf for any little girl to read.
July 12, 2011
Perhaps it should be called, "Another ridiculous and deluded little girl saved by a super smart man telling her what to do"? Besides reducing the inner life of the protagonist to that of a cartoon character and wrapping up a disorder that often skews towards a life sentence by a few weeks of giving the doctor total control, Levenkron seems barely able to mask his sense that all women are kind of fucked up and this particular caricature is an adequate depiction of American femininity, eating disordered or otherwise.
A great book, however, if you find it enlightening to read the nuances of particular food obsessions and rituals -- is the price of this meal divisible by 4? What about the calorie content? I found this enlightening when I was seriously anorexic; less so afterwards.
The little girl's "recovery" is kind of unsatisfying as it's unclear what she'll have in her life now. Any efforts to develop a character with interests, goals an personality outside of her disorder might have raised the stakes and made the ending a happier one.
A great book, however, if you find it enlightening to read the nuances of particular food obsessions and rituals -- is the price of this meal divisible by 4? What about the calorie content? I found this enlightening when I was seriously anorexic; less so afterwards.
The little girl's "recovery" is kind of unsatisfying as it's unclear what she'll have in her life now. Any efforts to develop a character with interests, goals an personality outside of her disorder might have raised the stakes and made the ending a happier one.
October 13, 2017
Oh this book was so clearly written by a psychologist. He writes how *he thinks* an anorexic thinks. It's oversimplified. If you really want to get in the head of a disordered eater, read Wintergirls instead.
OK wait I changed my review from three to two stars because I gave this more thought and realized that the one psychologist in the book, the "hero" who is the only one who can get through to this obstinate anorexic girl, is quite clearly the author inserting himself into the story. It's a like a pat on the back. Levenkron sacrifices details and accuracy in his characterization of Kessa by spending an excessive amount of time describing the poor psychologist's struggles to be taken seriously by the doctors at the hospital -- that added nothing to the story, it was just the author's hope that you would sympathize with the psychologist and how rough his life is because of his nobility and heroism.
I looked up Steven Levenkron and he seems to think he's God's gift to this green earth. His website boasts a 90 percent success rate for his patients (failing to define "success"...is that just keeping them alive? or what?). Let's not forget that his most famous patient, Karen Carpenter, died due to anorexia nervosa just four years after this book was published.
OK wait I changed my review from three to two stars because I gave this more thought and realized that the one psychologist in the book, the "hero" who is the only one who can get through to this obstinate anorexic girl, is quite clearly the author inserting himself into the story. It's a like a pat on the back. Levenkron sacrifices details and accuracy in his characterization of Kessa by spending an excessive amount of time describing the poor psychologist's struggles to be taken seriously by the doctors at the hospital -- that added nothing to the story, it was just the author's hope that you would sympathize with the psychologist and how rough his life is because of his nobility and heroism.
I looked up Steven Levenkron and he seems to think he's God's gift to this green earth. His website boasts a 90 percent success rate for his patients (failing to define "success"...is that just keeping them alive? or what?). Let's not forget that his most famous patient, Karen Carpenter, died due to anorexia nervosa just four years after this book was published.
January 30, 2023
I hate this book because it is written by a man who doesn't know anything about the experience of having an eating disorder. I say this because I've been treated for various eating disorders.
June 4, 2012
I hated this book, mostly because Levenkron uses the stereotype of a person with anorexia nervosa. The way he writes the book makes the reader, if not otherwise informed, think that an eating disordered person must not only be white, privileged, and female, but also must be emaciated. He ignores the most basic thing - that people of any weight can have an eating disorder - and chooses instead to make his protagonist tiny.
It feels like in this book, as in his book The Luckiest Girl in the World (about self injury), that Levenkron just took all of the possible stereotypes about anorexia nervosa, put a random name to them, and put them down on paper. I am at a loss as to why this was a bestseller. It's not even very well-written, and unlike more modern and aware authors of eating disorder books/memoirs, he does not avoid numbers. In fact, this book is full of triggers. He mentions the protagonist's weight throughout the book, as well as her height. It's been awhile since I read it, but it wouldn't surprise me if he included caloric amounts in the novel as well.
All in all, I don't understand at all why Levenkron is heralded as being a brilliant psychotherapist and author. His writing is poor, his storytelling is not even mediocre at best, and as a therapist he should know better than to do all of the things he's done with this book. It could've had so much more potential, but he totally ruined it by making it a photocopied stereotype.
It feels like in this book, as in his book The Luckiest Girl in the World (about self injury), that Levenkron just took all of the possible stereotypes about anorexia nervosa, put a random name to them, and put them down on paper. I am at a loss as to why this was a bestseller. It's not even very well-written, and unlike more modern and aware authors of eating disorder books/memoirs, he does not avoid numbers. In fact, this book is full of triggers. He mentions the protagonist's weight throughout the book, as well as her height. It's been awhile since I read it, but it wouldn't surprise me if he included caloric amounts in the novel as well.
All in all, I don't understand at all why Levenkron is heralded as being a brilliant psychotherapist and author. His writing is poor, his storytelling is not even mediocre at best, and as a therapist he should know better than to do all of the things he's done with this book. It could've had so much more potential, but he totally ruined it by making it a photocopied stereotype.
January 2, 2008
I read this book in high school several times. It's about a young girl - Francessca dying (literally) to be model thin. You get wrapped up in her rituals that rule her life and you also feel what her parents go thru as they watch her waste away...
February 27, 2020
“Soon I'll be thinner than all of you, she swore to herself. And then I'll be the winner. The thinner is the winner.”
― Steven Levenkron, The Best Little Girl in the World
At the time, when I read it as a young girl, it was stunning. Not may books of this type had been released.
Of coarse now it is a bit dated but I still feel it is a good book. Remember, for the time it was written we did not know nearly what we know today.
It was not one of my favorites as a young girl but well worth reading.
― Steven Levenkron, The Best Little Girl in the World
At the time, when I read it as a young girl, it was stunning. Not may books of this type had been released.
Of coarse now it is a bit dated but I still feel it is a good book. Remember, for the time it was written we did not know nearly what we know today.
It was not one of my favorites as a young girl but well worth reading.
April 12, 2010
One of the worst novels I've ever read about eating disorders and yet it somehow has this hypnotic hold over the reader...a much, much better novel is _Winter Girls_ by Laurie Halse Anderson. It does not glamorize anorexia nor make it seem like something good...or something off of a "pro-ana" website. Levenkron's novel, unfortunately, is like a play-by-play manual...overrated and well-known for all the wrong reasons.
January 10, 2011
This book was a nice After School Special (and yeah... it really was turned into one )
It was written by a psychologist dude who was like the god-father of anorexia treatments. The funny thing is... you could tell it was totally a guy when he wrote for the anorexic girl.
The interesting thing is he gave a clear idea of what doctors think about anorexics.
Granted this was written in 1978 when people were just realizing that women were starving themselves but 33 years later not much has changed but the hairstyle, clothes, and the lingo (YOU wild turkey!! lolz!!)
It was kind of comical to know that a man wrote this. It was a mix of Charles in Charge, The Wonder Years, and Good Times. The lingo made me laugh.
The other thing was the author was really gung ho about making the shrink the misunderstood underdog of the story that breaks through to the anorexic girls. He pretty much goes on and on about how none of the doctors respect him but HE knows he can get through to the impossible. I didn't mind those parts but I think it took away from the focus of the anorexic girls.
All in all it was a very informative book. (even if it was a little outdated)
It was written by a psychologist dude who was like the god-father of anorexia treatments. The funny thing is... you could tell it was totally a guy when he wrote for the anorexic girl.
The interesting thing is he gave a clear idea of what doctors think about anorexics.
Granted this was written in 1978 when people were just realizing that women were starving themselves but 33 years later not much has changed but the hairstyle, clothes, and the lingo (YOU wild turkey!! lolz!!)
It was kind of comical to know that a man wrote this. It was a mix of Charles in Charge, The Wonder Years, and Good Times. The lingo made me laugh.
The other thing was the author was really gung ho about making the shrink the misunderstood underdog of the story that breaks through to the anorexic girls. He pretty much goes on and on about how none of the doctors respect him but HE knows he can get through to the impossible. I didn't mind those parts but I think it took away from the focus of the anorexic girls.
All in all it was a very informative book. (even if it was a little outdated)
June 9, 2007
important book, though i really hate the author. kessa is, i think, fairly believable. i am enormously glad that he wrote a follow-up book, finally ( kessa), because let's face it, the relapse rate for anorexia is awful high. (this makes me want to read gaining by amiee lui even more RIGHT NOW.)
again, the only problem i really had was that he takes the "typical" trope of the anorexia child - perfect at everything, with troubles at home, especially in communication. the father wants to control, the mother is emotional, kessa finds both of them weak. the therapist in the story ends up being the savior - which i think is a bit mary-sueish of levenkron - but.
if this book gets anyone into treatment, amen. the thing that i did really like was that it wasn't particularly triggering, and it didn't go into detail about ways to cheat the system, etc. you can rec it to someone with an ED without worrying they'll just get new ideas about how to cheat at weigh-ins (yes, i am talking about wasted, which should be banned or something).
again, the only problem i really had was that he takes the "typical" trope of the anorexia child - perfect at everything, with troubles at home, especially in communication. the father wants to control, the mother is emotional, kessa finds both of them weak. the therapist in the story ends up being the savior - which i think is a bit mary-sueish of levenkron - but.
if this book gets anyone into treatment, amen. the thing that i did really like was that it wasn't particularly triggering, and it didn't go into detail about ways to cheat the system, etc. you can rec it to someone with an ED without worrying they'll just get new ideas about how to cheat at weigh-ins (yes, i am talking about wasted, which should be banned or something).
September 28, 2012
While I understand that at the time this was a groundbreaking work of fiction, today it's not. The characters are all stereotypes. It makes the whole Eating Disorder seem really, really easy. She literally decides one day not to eat and has a pretty good grasp on calorie content of food. How did she learn calorie counts? The pacing of the book makes it seem like she loses all that weight in a few days. It takes a long time to lose weight. Then her recovery seems really easy. Her rituals and obsessions were all pretty standard (food doesn't touch lips, the cutting up of all that's on her plate). It was nothing really great in terms of ED fiction. That said, it was still pretty important for the time that it was written, I'm sure. But it's not now.
The writing left a lot to be desired. The writing shifted POVs without much warning and I didn't really like the style.
The writing left a lot to be desired. The writing shifted POVs without much warning and I didn't really like the style.
January 24, 2010
more interesting as historical artifact than as literary experience. the first novel about anorexia, to my knowledge. extremely heavy-handed with the psychologizing, and the heroism of the psychologist reads a bit suspect, given that the writer himself is, ahem, a psychologist. while there is deep sympathy for kessa (l'anorexic), there's also a lot of scorn, from numerous characters and at times from the omniscient narrator himself. this kind of ambivalence interests me, especially given the pedagogical imperative of the novel.
August 8, 2008
An anorexia book that I have had to replace twice in the library. The girls love this book. The book is 25+ years old but teens still like it.
February 15, 2016
I have a lot of problems with this book. First of all, it was written by a psychiatrist (I think - someone in the medical field) rather than someone who had personally battled an eating disorder. It's obvious at times, and occasionally reads like a self-written testimonial to his genius in "curing" the protaganist's anorexia. Kessa's character is also incredibly stereotypical, frustratingly so, and it becomes dull quite quickly. It's not helpful having yet another potrayal of an anorexic as a young overachieving white girl from a well off family (and a dancer to boot - so many stereotypes) and it only serves reinforce the idea that only a "certain" type of person becomes anorexic. Still, I understand that this would have been less overdone when the book came out almost 40 years ago.
As a lot of other people have said, it also reads like an instruction manual for anorexics (and others with disordered eating habits) and can be incredibly triggering. There are too many mentions of numbers, behaviours, and descriptions of Kessa's body that go well beyond the usual stuff mentioned in books like this; there are descriptions of Kessa's bones, and that was incredibly triggering for me as a recovering bulimic. Sometimes this book is so stereotypical & bland that things that have would have otherwise been triggering just made me roll my eyes, but that just made it all the more shocking when things like mentions of Kessa's bones and details of her "self-checking" routines would pop up. Obviously I really don't recommend reading this book if you're dealing with an eating disorder, in recovery, or otherwise vulnerable to this sort of thing.
All of that said, I did enjoy this book. It didn't keep me up at night reading it, but it was interesting enough that I went back to it every day. I can understand why it was such an important book at the time it was released. It's a little outdated but still good, and Kessa's feelings are relatively relatable. I recommend this more to people trying to understand eating disorders than to people suffering from them, and I'd suggest avoiding it even if you're not disordered but struggling with body image issues.
As a lot of other people have said, it also reads like an instruction manual for anorexics (and others with disordered eating habits) and can be incredibly triggering. There are too many mentions of numbers, behaviours, and descriptions of Kessa's body that go well beyond the usual stuff mentioned in books like this; there are descriptions of Kessa's bones, and that was incredibly triggering for me as a recovering bulimic. Sometimes this book is so stereotypical & bland that things that have would have otherwise been triggering just made me roll my eyes, but that just made it all the more shocking when things like mentions of Kessa's bones and details of her "self-checking" routines would pop up. Obviously I really don't recommend reading this book if you're dealing with an eating disorder, in recovery, or otherwise vulnerable to this sort of thing.
All of that said, I did enjoy this book. It didn't keep me up at night reading it, but it was interesting enough that I went back to it every day. I can understand why it was such an important book at the time it was released. It's a little outdated but still good, and Kessa's feelings are relatively relatable. I recommend this more to people trying to understand eating disorders than to people suffering from them, and I'd suggest avoiding it even if you're not disordered but struggling with body image issues.
January 28, 2014
Everything happens way too fast, one day she was fine, the next she had an eating disorder ? It's not how it happens, it's supposed to be progressive and creep up on you. Good story, but I'm not a huge fan of the writing style. It's all a quick succession of events that are recounted too fast to really get into it, it's not as elaborately written as other ED-related books, doesn't give you as much insight into the mind of an anorexic as other books do .. It was a quick, light read and that's good because otherwise I wouldn't have finished it, I was way too annoyed at how quickly everything happened. Not a book for young girls because it could trigger them, but then again not a book for the older generations because it's not elaborate enough and sounds almost childish at times, so I don't quite know who the intended audience was ?!
I hated the way he talked about eating disorders, all simplified. they're not simple. they're complex. he should have put more emphasis on the complexity of it. also, he just tells the reader about the most basic ideas about the causes of anorexia. family dynamics, fear of adulthood, need for control, etc. it's stuff that's been researched ages ago, and most people who've looked a bit into eating disorders probably know it already, every single article/book/documentary mentions these potential causes. he should have elaborated on them a bit. honestly, this book doesn't teach anything at all, it's all way too basic.
the main character doesn't act her own age, she's supposed to be 15 and acts as dependant as a 10 year old towards Sandy. And her whole inventing " Kessa " thing is just weird, given the fact that she's 15. But I don't know much about psychology (yet) so I can't really be sure that's not common behaviour. But that's just how I perceived it : childish. The other anorexic annoyed me, Lila annoyed me, Kessa's family annoyed me, especially the father. I only really liked one character, Sandy. Really not much, is it ? I did really like him, as well as his approach. It's the only thing I enjoyed about the book, it's better than nothing but still.
I hated the way he talked about eating disorders, all simplified. they're not simple. they're complex. he should have put more emphasis on the complexity of it. also, he just tells the reader about the most basic ideas about the causes of anorexia. family dynamics, fear of adulthood, need for control, etc. it's stuff that's been researched ages ago, and most people who've looked a bit into eating disorders probably know it already, every single article/book/documentary mentions these potential causes. he should have elaborated on them a bit. honestly, this book doesn't teach anything at all, it's all way too basic.
the main character doesn't act her own age, she's supposed to be 15 and acts as dependant as a 10 year old towards Sandy. And her whole inventing " Kessa " thing is just weird, given the fact that she's 15. But I don't know much about psychology (yet) so I can't really be sure that's not common behaviour. But that's just how I perceived it : childish. The other anorexic annoyed me, Lila annoyed me, Kessa's family annoyed me, especially the father. I only really liked one character, Sandy. Really not much, is it ? I did really like him, as well as his approach. It's the only thing I enjoyed about the book, it's better than nothing but still.
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April 19, 2016Revisiting this one from my youth. What I find interesting about reading books like this from the 70s/80s (or earlier) is that they are before the age of SSRIs. It's interesting to see psychiatric illnesses from different points of view depending on era and the treatments available.
December 8, 2016
I read this book a long time ago and still talk about it to this day even though I've never had the eating disorder as our heroine did. This is a great read and really gives you insight as to what this type of life is like.
August 15, 2007
I read this in like high school I think, but I remember it being a really good book that gives a very realistic look into the minds of people with eating disorders.
June 7, 2013
This book was suggested by my classmate in 6th grade, who happened to be our batch's valedictorian. I was so surprised when she gave me this book to read, she told me the snippets then I got interested, I could say this book is repleted with text that would describe every girls' situation in our society today; adding to the fact that Francesca is a ballerina, it adds to her pressure to get thinner and thinner every moment possible. And it's so absurd how she hates food that everything that has a connection with it is a horrid thing for her, like she doesn't even want sit down on her toilet bowl because she used to throw up food there, cutting the bacon into tiniest strips and suspended them on her throat, because she'll vomit it afterwards.I think this kind of book should be read with guidance. This not a type of book that must be left in your sister's shelves or elsewhere :) I gave this 5 shining stars because this book has a very vast text that both describes our current society's idea of beauty and at the same time how girls try to struggle through it.
March 11, 2016
I give this book a 4.5 star rating simply because it was excellent with the right ending and it was a good book. For the most part, you went right through it but it wasn't an un-put down-able book though this almost reads as a non-fiction book and you think you're reading about a real little girl in a real situation as the author did great with the realness of the way a little girl would feel and be in this particular situation with her particular issues. And the doctors and people who can and can't help her and what they want to do and aren't willing to do to help her...it all meshes well with today's doctors. They either know it or they don't or claim they do when they don't. It is a sad but inspiring story for all people of anorexia, it shows what it takes to solve the problem of anorexia itself...and what it is really caused by. But it also is an inspirational story for family members of anorexics, bulimics, or just a person wanting to read a good book (teen book, especially good for teens!)
October 28, 2017
I haven't read this book in over a decade but got it for free on Kindle so I was like meh, why not? It's more psychology than story, which I guess was the point, and I can see the good that comes from a psychologist trying to normalize a mental illness through the use of a story because the characters are learning about it so the reader can learn about it...but lawd it's so dated and low key offensive, especially with how the author talks about non-white people. But two stars because I can see how in the time of its printing that it would have helped people understand something that almost no one knew about.
April 26, 2018
okay. okay. so i had heard of this book--rather the film first, and had an idea of what it was. i didn't like it, plain and simple.
the beginning was horrible, and felt like a textbook version of trying to explain what anorexia was. overall, the book had some decent parts, but it just felt as if someone was observing anorectics from the outside, and was interviewing them, and then written this book. it felt dry and unrealistic. for example, there wasn't a SINGLE scene where she binged. she literally just starved herself. i don't know a single person who had anorexia who hadn't binged at least once during their time with anorexia. it's just not realistic.
the beginning was horrible, and felt like a textbook version of trying to explain what anorexia was. overall, the book had some decent parts, but it just felt as if someone was observing anorectics from the outside, and was interviewing them, and then written this book. it felt dry and unrealistic. for example, there wasn't a SINGLE scene where she binged. she literally just starved herself. i don't know a single person who had anorexia who hadn't binged at least once during their time with anorexia. it's just not realistic.
November 4, 2008
I really really liked this book, it was so sad to watch a girl struggle with society and being perfect that she starts to kill herself by not eating! when you read this you want to help her but you can't and she just keeps loosing weight until she ends up in rehab. i recommend this book to everyone because it is a strong powerful book, and just to put yourself in a person with anorexia nervosa's place will let you see what people who have this go through and feel. I am glad my sister recommended it to me!
December 15, 2010
A truly frightening story.
One day at dance class, Francesca's dance teacher tells her she needs to drop just a few pounds from her already tiny body. And that night, Kessa, Francesca's alterego, is born. Kessa stops eating and begins losing too much weight. Her parents take her to the doctor and try therapy. But Kessa still won't eat. Her obsession begins turning into to an actual fear. She drops to 78 pounds. Her chances of living are looking, well, slim.
253 pages. 1 book.
I recommend this to people interested in the minds of patients with anorexia nervosa.
One day at dance class, Francesca's dance teacher tells her she needs to drop just a few pounds from her already tiny body. And that night, Kessa, Francesca's alterego, is born. Kessa stops eating and begins losing too much weight. Her parents take her to the doctor and try therapy. But Kessa still won't eat. Her obsession begins turning into to an actual fear. She drops to 78 pounds. Her chances of living are looking, well, slim.
253 pages. 1 book.
I recommend this to people interested in the minds of patients with anorexia nervosa.
February 1, 2019
I believe that this book was cliche at best. It made eating disordered patients seem pathetic and childish. The whole misconception that only rich white teenagers struggle with eating disorders irks me to no end. This book does have a lot of very true symptoms and thought processes of an eating disordered person however, with the way it was written it made it all seem ... fictional and as if people don’t really struggle with these issues. Kind of surprising that it was written by someone that worked with people who struggle with eating disorders.
September 5, 2008
Though I admire this book because it was ground-breaking when it came out, as it is essentially the first fictional book on eating disorders ever written, I found it a little too dramatic. As someone who has suffered with anorexia myself, this was a little unrealistic. It's worth reading, though.
July 5, 2008
This was a good book about anorexia that had a lot of clinical type information, but it was fiction and interesting--definitely a departure from the recent attitude about anorexia in popular culture.
April 23, 2018
couldn't force myself to read this book, Francesca is so unlikeable
April 28, 2024
I sought this book out after watching a youtube documentary last week on Karen Carpenter, who died of complications after years of suffering from anorexia and bulimia.
Admittedly, I don't know much about anorexia or bulimia but after reading this book, I think there is a connection between anorexia/bulimia and OCD/obsessive compulsive behavior. The bizarre repetitive rituals the main character, Kessa, engaged in seem similar to things that Tony Shalhoub's character did in his tv show, Monk.
I had to come back to add, is she stimming, too? Her rhythmic tapping and the “beat” in her head? Can there be a connection to autism as well here? Doctors should look into this angle too.
This book is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because even though it was written in a time when literally nothing was known about this condition, it raised awareness and many young adult's lives were probably saved because people starting becoming aware of what to look for as far as ominous signs. Also, more and more medical professionals started looking deeper into this condition and making the connections between the physical aspects and the psychiatric aspects. It's a curse because in the hands of a person (teen or adult) with obsessive tendencies and poor body image or going through the pressure society puts on people to be thin, it can be used as a dangerous guide or "how to" and even as encouragement to trigger anorexic behavior. In other words, this book can either save someone or kill them.
I'm no doctor but I do know that when someone is suffering from something psychological, finding the root of it is the first step towards recovery. In this book, which was written by a renowned psychiatrist who treated many of these patients, you can clearly see that his main goal was to convey that, even though the writing style makes it sound like he is looking for recognition and accolades. This is why I gave this book 4 rather than 5 stars. I did not care for his tone.
I know there have been dozens of books on this subject but I don't even know at this point if I want to delve further. Frankly, this condition, which after reading this book I believe is a psychiatric one with physical harm attached to it rather than vice versa, frightens me. I have grandchildren in this age group and I know that I will be keeping a close eye on them for danger signs and get them help if they do cross this rubicon and a simple "keeping in shape" turns into deadly obsession.
I recommend this book in the RIGHT hands only.
Admittedly, I don't know much about anorexia or bulimia but after reading this book, I think there is a connection between anorexia/bulimia and OCD/obsessive compulsive behavior. The bizarre repetitive rituals the main character, Kessa, engaged in seem similar to things that Tony Shalhoub's character did in his tv show, Monk.
I had to come back to add, is she stimming, too? Her rhythmic tapping and the “beat” in her head? Can there be a connection to autism as well here? Doctors should look into this angle too.
This book is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because even though it was written in a time when literally nothing was known about this condition, it raised awareness and many young adult's lives were probably saved because people starting becoming aware of what to look for as far as ominous signs. Also, more and more medical professionals started looking deeper into this condition and making the connections between the physical aspects and the psychiatric aspects. It's a curse because in the hands of a person (teen or adult) with obsessive tendencies and poor body image or going through the pressure society puts on people to be thin, it can be used as a dangerous guide or "how to" and even as encouragement to trigger anorexic behavior. In other words, this book can either save someone or kill them.
I'm no doctor but I do know that when someone is suffering from something psychological, finding the root of it is the first step towards recovery. In this book, which was written by a renowned psychiatrist who treated many of these patients, you can clearly see that his main goal was to convey that, even though the writing style makes it sound like he is looking for recognition and accolades. This is why I gave this book 4 rather than 5 stars. I did not care for his tone.
I know there have been dozens of books on this subject but I don't even know at this point if I want to delve further. Frankly, this condition, which after reading this book I believe is a psychiatric one with physical harm attached to it rather than vice versa, frightens me. I have grandchildren in this age group and I know that I will be keeping a close eye on them for danger signs and get them help if they do cross this rubicon and a simple "keeping in shape" turns into deadly obsession.
I recommend this book in the RIGHT hands only.
September 8, 2024
New York upper middle class in the 1970s. That's one.
Psychotherapist in the emerging field of anorexia-nervosa, which medically is currently managed at best with an 85% success rate. That's two.
Go Ask Alice was a smashing success, so much so that it has never been out of print since its publication in 1971. This established the market for understanding the behaviour of teenagers by reading a book by someone tangentially related to, but in no way involved in, the problem in question. That's three.
With so many ingredients, how could Steven Levenkron keep from writing a true-to-life fiction about a girl (whose name changes in every adaptation of this book, suggesting her name is not important. You could call her Karen Carpenter, as she was one of Steve's patients. But he didn't) going through anorexia nervosa.
Given I have been exposed to the autistic outrage at neuro-typical people speaking on behalf of the neuro-diverse, I understand the issues with writing from the perspective of the teenager, when your character is in fact the psychologist who comes into the story much later. That's why I suggested Go Ask Alice was such a key ingredient. There's selling power in a confessional tell-all by the sufferer. It's a breach of ethics to discuss the details of a patient.
But here's an important idea from the book that is safe to discuss no matter your neuro standpoint. There is a character in the book Lila, who has a broken leg. To be functional in the world, she needs to be able to climb stairs, which would arguably be difficult to do even with crutches. So she stays in hospital 3 months, until she is functionally recovered. I have a friend whose father is in exactly the same condition, with the additional impact of Parkinson's, who was kicked out of hospital the moment there was nothing more that medically could be done for him (not in New York, I am not comparing apples and apples, I get that). The point being, in 1978 that a hospital could treat a condition until you were functionally recovered is incidental to the story. Whereas reading it today it's like a miracle. Somewhere in the past 50 years (or in the translation of real to ideal that occurs in literature), we have lost the capacity to treat patients.
However, a little research shows that as of 2021, anorexia only has a 5% death rate. So maybe it is my belief in the magical healing power of hospitals that is incorrect.
Psychotherapist in the emerging field of anorexia-nervosa, which medically is currently managed at best with an 85% success rate. That's two.
Go Ask Alice was a smashing success, so much so that it has never been out of print since its publication in 1971. This established the market for understanding the behaviour of teenagers by reading a book by someone tangentially related to, but in no way involved in, the problem in question. That's three.
With so many ingredients, how could Steven Levenkron keep from writing a true-to-life fiction about a girl (whose name changes in every adaptation of this book, suggesting her name is not important. You could call her Karen Carpenter, as she was one of Steve's patients. But he didn't) going through anorexia nervosa.
Given I have been exposed to the autistic outrage at neuro-typical people speaking on behalf of the neuro-diverse, I understand the issues with writing from the perspective of the teenager, when your character is in fact the psychologist who comes into the story much later. That's why I suggested Go Ask Alice was such a key ingredient. There's selling power in a confessional tell-all by the sufferer. It's a breach of ethics to discuss the details of a patient.
But here's an important idea from the book that is safe to discuss no matter your neuro standpoint. There is a character in the book Lila, who has a broken leg. To be functional in the world, she needs to be able to climb stairs, which would arguably be difficult to do even with crutches. So she stays in hospital 3 months, until she is functionally recovered. I have a friend whose father is in exactly the same condition, with the additional impact of Parkinson's, who was kicked out of hospital the moment there was nothing more that medically could be done for him (not in New York, I am not comparing apples and apples, I get that). The point being, in 1978 that a hospital could treat a condition until you were functionally recovered is incidental to the story. Whereas reading it today it's like a miracle. Somewhere in the past 50 years (or in the translation of real to ideal that occurs in literature), we have lost the capacity to treat patients.
However, a little research shows that as of 2021, anorexia only has a 5% death rate. So maybe it is my belief in the magical healing power of hospitals that is incorrect.
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