Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power, and the Will to Live

by Amber Husain

An intimate and expansive exploration of how and why we eat, and the relationship between food and empowerment, through the historic feasts and fasts of radicals and tyrants.

Inspired by writer Amber Husain’s unorthodox route to healing from anorexia, Tell Me How You Eat examines not just how society views the refusal to eat, but how we understand the meaning and power of food. Suspecting that the standard courses of treatment—as disempowering as they are ineffective—might in fact be part of the underlying problem, Husain took part in an experimental psylocibin treatment study. Where the medical model typically tries to fix the difficult non-eater, this trial opened her mind to the idea that there might be more to fix beyond the self—that our relationship with food might be closely entwined with our outlook on the world.

Through five chapters taking in hunger, restriction, gorging, feeding, and the making of political demands, Husain turns away from thinking about how people are shaped by food to think instead about how food can inspire people to reshape the world. Each chapter searches for reasons to eat and live through histories ranging from pus-drinking medieval nuns to Black Panther breakfast programs; from 1950s lesbian dinner parties to modern-day Gazan food bloggers.

In a culture that insists “you are what you eat,” and makes every bite a fraught moral choice, Husain argues that we will only feel truly nourished when we can eat in the spirit of restoring a collective right to food, long eroded over centuries of systems and narratives that have normalized deprivation.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Food

240 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 24, 2026

Reviews

[Tori Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it has a lot of strong examples of food as a political thing and how that plays out in our lives historically to now. I also appreciate the calling out of Israel using food as an act of war and the support for Gaza shown. Most of what redeemed this book was in the last chapter

The author experienced anorexia and uses that as a basis for their entire book’s thesis and it just doesn’t quite work for me. I don’t want to discount anyone’s experience and if looking at the political effects of food helped her heal, I don’t want to denigrate that. However, it felt that it created a weakness to her whole point in centering eating disorders as political acts when maybe that could be part of it but definitely not true across the board. I think she had a lot of stronger points about food being political but over anecdotally tried to make that 90% of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Angie Boyter]

The description of this book REALLY drew my interest. The subject appealed very much. Unfortunately, two elements disappointed me so much that I really do not want to finish it, although I read most of the prologue and the first part of chapter 1. I would not be able to write a positive review, I am sure, and will not be reviewing it. The description did not prepare me for so much detail of the author’s problem with food; to me it was intrusive and not of interest. The second element that turned me off was the writing style, which seemed overly academic. Other readers are enjoying the book, so I will bow out.

[Zinab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tell Me How You Eat is an insightful read with a blend of personal experience and historical analysis, ranging from medieval nuns to WWII to the Black Panthers. Amber Husain tackles the idea of “you are what you eat” from multiple angles, and she probes the action of eating all the way from a personal activity to a political battle.

While the narrative was a little difficult to follow as the book progressed, I appreciated the intellectual examination of food and eating with the incorporation of personal experience that I found very relatable and intimate.

I was not familiar with Husain’s work prior to reading this, but I found myself reading through her essays and adding her other books to my TBR. This will definitely not be the last time I will pick up one of her books, and I highly recommend you do the same.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me with an eArc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

[Amanda Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read. It provided insight into another outlook on the necessity of food and how it impacts the entire world. The historically accurate movements referenced allow the reader to comprehend the vast impact food has on one's life and how these movements interact with the author's personal journey.

Hopefully, by the release date, this book gets a solid proofreading as it was difficult to get through at times due to an over abundance of grammatical errors.

Otherwise, fantastic read!!

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

“Tell Me How You Eat” is a mix of personal anecdotes and informative cultural discussion, combining history & experience as a way to unpack the complexity of eating disorders.

This was a heavy, vulnerable read, but I would recommend this for others to pick up.

[C.M. Stenquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating information and reading. Recommend

[Kith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and informative It was a good read and well written

[Liralen]

3 stars; review to come February 2026

[Allison Damico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit of a tough one for me and I think that relies heavily on the format of this book. I needed this broken down into more than 5 chapters as the content was heavy and I think I would have preferred shorter chapters. I felt as I got done with one chapter I dreaded that the next long one was coming.

Now for the content of the book itself. The author Amber draws on a lot of her own experience with anorexia which is a heavy topic in itself. Amber dives into the societal pressure of eating as well as getting help for those issues and how complicated it all is. Readers are taken through Amber’s experience with a “magic mushrooms” trial which I found very interesting as well. You go on a journey of history long ago to modern day of how food plays a huge role into who we are and how we view the world. The prologue notes section just shows how far Amber took their research and pulled from so many resources. Thought this was an interesting take on the topic, but it did take me a long time to get through. If this is your cup of tea, you’re going to easily digest this one ;) #goodreadsgiveaway

[Eman Elkwisni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amber Husain’s Tell Me How You Eat is a fascinating blend of personal reflection and cultural critique. I found it really interesting how she connects her own experiences with eating and body image to larger historical and societal patterns. The way she weaves together memoir, history, and theory makes the book both intimate and thought-provoking. It’s not just about food or disordered eating but what our relationship with food says about who we are and the world we live in. A sharp, insightful read that lingers long after you finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC!