Skinny Boy: A Young Man's Battle and Triumph Over Anorexia

by Gary A. Grahl

Gary Grahl is handsome, popular, and his athletic abilities have attracted the attention of the big leagues... that was until a shaming inner-voice convinced him to be ever thinner. His out-of-control compulsion to exercise and starve himself led to multiple hospitalizations, and a life and death battle to win control over the pervasive and dangerous compulsion. Skinny Boy is a powerful story showing how to win the internal battle between mind and body, and triumph over the out-of-control thoughts and feelings common in many of us.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mental Health, Biography, Memoir, Psychology

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Izlinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

What editing went on in this book?? It is "descent" not "decent" and "you" and "your" got mixed up at least once, if not several times. I had a hard, hard time getting over those typos.

I did like his introduction/disclaimer. He explained that he compressed several hospital visits into two big ones and made it seem shorter than it really was. I think it's important to let your reader know how long your recovery took, or at least your memoir/autobiography spanned.

The constant going back and forth between him and IT and then YOU later. While I argue with myself in a similar way like Gary, it seems a bit trite and overdone. Too preachy, too.

I would have liked more insight into how he was before the book started and he was to start his first hospitalization. The back mentions him as a popular guy. I'd like some background on that, some examples. Also on what started his worry about his weight. I know he mentioned the ice cream incident with his mom, but other than that, I don't recall specific incidences. I think that would have made it easier for me to relate to him.

The three memoirs I've read - this one, Wasted by Marya Hornbacher and Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching Overzealous Parents Eating Disorders and Elusive Olympic Dreams by Jennifer Sey - had one thing in common that made me unable to relate to them. All three authors were fantastic or excellent in something. I mean, they say overachieving is a common characteristic shared by anorexics. Seems true in their cases. Gary was good enough at baseball to get an invitational to a tryout for big wig teams, and get Jim Gantner as a mentor. Sey was US National Gymnastic Champ in 1986. Marya was accepted into Interlochen and did big wig reporting in DC while at uni. I haven't done anything like that. Nor do I have a strive like that. If anything, I'm a big-time procrastinator.

I was interested in Skinny Boy because I wanted a perspective of a male going through an eating disorder. I would have liked to know if he had a tough time facing "discrimination" or weird questions/taunts for being a guy and having anorexia. I don't know if he never faced it, being sheltered at home or the hospital (it seems like that was the case) or if he was, he didn't deem it important to include in the book -- so not true!! -- or he was too embarrassed to talk about it. Surely he must have been his final visit to the hospital and when he wrote the book!

[Julie N · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a very hard time believing this book. I thought it would be original and intriguing to read the story of a boy dealing with anorexia, but this book fell far below my expectations. Although the book is non-fiction and written as a memoir, I felt that much of the dialogue sounded more like a self-help book than something a teenage boy in a psychiatric hospital would say. The story line was interesting but the dialogue, especially the author's internal dialogue, wasn't believable.

[Dena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just what I was looking for. I needed a way to understand what my son is going thru and this book was extremely helpful.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this book shows that even though you struggle with something you'll go through it. This book also shows that you should be yourself even if the people around you don't like you for you. You should also be in other people's shoes and think how it feels when you are that person and what they are struggling through. There are a lot of people out there that you'll meet and they are going to struggle through something that you've never experienced before.
If you don't what this book is about it's about a teenage boy that struggled through anorexia for years and always worried about how others thought of him.Until one day his parents decided to take him to a hospital so he could get the help that he needed for recovery. The audience gets to hear about his experience with anorexia and how his experience with recovery is. The audience would also get to see what it's like to have an eating disorder by a different point of view.
For anyone out there that is struggling, you are not alone. There will be people that you will meet who struggle through the same thing that you are going through.There are also people there that will be there for you when you need some help and they will be there for you no matter what. Also for the people that know someone that is struggling with something you should be there for them and help them deal with the struggles together.

[Selena Suarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skinny Boy by Gary A. Gradhl is an autobiography about Garyś life and his struggles of anorexia. Handsome and popular, Gary had baseball skills that had attracted attention of the big leagues, until a shaming inner-voice convinced him that he needed to be thinner, leading to an out of control problem to exercise and starve himself, causing multiple hospitalizations. Providing strategies for tackling the recovery process and examples of changes in the thinking needed to take those steps, this important narrative comes at a time when eating disorders are at an all-time high in America, afflicting more than 8 million men. I would recommend this book to anyone how has a problem with anorexia or knows someone who has that problem. This book is very eye opening in the prospective that even people that we think are ¨popular,¨ still are real people with real problems.

[Mick]

I’ve read a few memoirs about eating disorders, and I was interested in this one because it’s from a boy’s perspective, whereas most of the memoirs available are about women/girls. I didn’t love the format (lots of inner voice dialogue that wasn’t always believable). I also noticed that at the end, the author suggests this could be an assignment for people currently struggling with eating disorders, but this book has specific weights listed throughout, and my understanding is that that can be detrimental (since people can compare their own weight to that and say they need to be a certain way). I also would have liked more backstory to his life leading up to treatment.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really surprised at the amount of typos and grammatical errors throughout this book. not sure if i have an older copy, but there were SO MANY. Also, anyone else weirded out that Emilee gave Gary a strand of her hair for him to remember her by? and he didn’t think it was weird?

[it's ya boy harv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alarming amount of typos in this book. Not terrible writing but also not great. Also one of things that helps the author is Christianity, which is fine for him and I'm glad it helped, but reading about that aspect always makes me uncomfortable.

[shar zar · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book boils down to this: me me me I have problems, other people have problems but idc, only about how it effects me

[Miss Fluffykins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look into anorexia.

[MacKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

, a memoir by Gary A. Grahl, retells his story as he battles through teenage anorexia. A young adult novel, really enlightens the reader of the severity of anorexia and the effects, physically and mentally, experienced by both males and females. The author also does a fabulous job of debunking the myth that anorexia is a disease exclusive to girls because, well, it clearly isn't.

takes place during the 1980's as author Gary goes through his senior year of high school. Having struggled with anorexia for a few years prior to the novel taking place, the toll his disease takes on both him and his family is quite evident. The author also goes into detail about the ongoing battle for superiority taking place in his conscience between his self-degrading eating disorder (dubbed 'IT') and his true self (dubbed 'YOU). Having been admitted and discharged from Unit 13 (a psychiatric ward) of Saint Abernathy's Hospital several times, he takes part in a journey that ultimately leads to self discovery. With the constant support and unconditional love of the nurses and aids, a stubborn and doubtful Gary sees his eating disorder for what it truly is - a disease - and learns to combat it with emotional expression, socializing, and journaling.

I picked up this book, originally intrigued by the thought of male anorexia, and while it appeared slow and repetitive at times, it concluded with a great message: don't let a disease dictate who you are or who you become as a person. The author proved that recovery is possible, and that expressing your emotions is such a huge step in that recovery. As you read, you really feel the struggle and the frustration caused by his anorexia, and by the end of I felt very satisfied knowing that it ended in a victory for author Gary.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read. It offers a different perspective on eating disorders and is not only an enjoyable story of self-discovery, but it's also quite educating. I feel as though many would benefit from reading this memoir.

[Adam Pope · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the first-person male account. The formatting was tough to keep up with at times. bold was his positive voice and italics was his eating disorder voice. So occasionally you'd have to keep track of three voices at once.

I know he was in his mid-teens in treatment, but the author could have used a more mature reflective voice in dialogue. I felt he was holding back. It bothered me.

I have an eating disorder and i've been through treatment a couple times, and what I've heard from others as well, is that we're not that kind to ourselves. He needs to give more Holden Caulfield and less Wally Cleaver. Unless his mind really does work that way. and he looks in the mirror and actually says, "gosh darnit, you need to lose weight." instead of what the rest of us say, "fat fuck!"

Overall, it needs editing and Mr. Grahl shouldn't hold back on the realism.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This autobiography provides a detailed look into a teenage boy’s experience with anorexia nervosa, and his eventual battle in overcoming the debilitating illness. Much of the book is set inside a psychiatric unit where Garry, the author, encounters a range of in-patients from the manically depressed to others that struggle with their eating habits. The book is narrated by Garry and gives a fascinating insight into the power of negative self-talk, or the IT voice as it is christened, and how it protects the disorder.

Garry’s experience is all the more amazing for the fact that he was able to overcome his excessive exercise regime (on barely any food) and start to change his inner dialogue. This autobiographical account of male anorexia could also be used as a clinical tool in helping patients overcome their eating struggles.

[Maggienietering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary had struggled with anorexia for years. He had been hospitalized on three different occasions, it seemed to help for awhile but then his "it" would get in the way and tell him to get skinnier, that he's too fat, and he needs to workout more. This book was amazing, i couldn't stop reading it. It was sad and aggravating. He burned himself with hot metal for punishment. The farther you get into the book the more Gary's life seems to turn upside down, from his non-understanding family, to the voice inside his head. All in all a great read. I would very highly recommended this book to others.

[لطيفة الحاج · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب عن قصة مراهق يعاني من مرض الانروكسيا وكيف يتغلب على المرض بفضل دعم عائلته له ..

حملته عندما كنت أقوم ببحث عن المرض.. وقرأت منه الاجزاء التي تهمني من الموضوع..

تمنيت لو أنتي مترجمة حتى أقوم بترجمته وكتب أخرى عن هذا الموضوع الذي لم أجد كتبا عربية تخصه..

ربما عدت إليه يوما لأكمله..

الكتاب الى حيث توقفت ممتع ولغته انجليزية سهلة نوعا ما..
تجدر الاشارة الى أن المؤلف هو صاحب التجربة وكتبه بعد تعافيه..

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a baseball player who develops anorexia. Typically, anorexia is thought to affect only females. This book is a good reminder that males also struggle with eating disorders and body image issues. I appreciated finding a book about this subject that was from the male perspective. I think more people should read books like this to get an understanding of what people that have eating disorders really go through, and that it is both a male and female issue.

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story follows Gary A. Grahl during his stay at Saint Abernathy Psychiatric Hospital to treat his Anorexia Nervosa. Gary recounts his story of recovery unapologetic and unromanticized. He discusses his journey as a significant yet minor part of his life.

I wish there were more male representation in the discussion of eating disorders. I recommend it to anyone who keeps an open mind and finds the subject of mental health intriguing.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I thought this book portrayed quite well the experience of having anorexia, and it is so nice to have a male perspective on the disorder. The only yhings I didn't like were the occasional "preachiness" of the tone and the use of specific numbers (exact weights, calories, repetitions of exercises, etc).

[Laura Mele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book. Although some parts were gruesome, this novel taught me many things about ones inner voice. Things aren't always as they seem and even the happiest of people can be torn inside. This was a great read and I came across things I never would have thought of. Gary A. Grahl wrote a great memoir to help other boys who are going through the same hardships that he went through.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read! A different style of writing and the message is loud and clear. I have read extensively on Anorexia and yes, mainly female accounts. Therefore, reading this book provided a male's perspective on the disorder. Yes, the book shapes into a self-help book but not sure if it is intentional. One thing I would have appreciated is if the author gave more details about the therapy involved.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because it's one of the few books on a male with an eating disorder and I was looking for some insight. Anything I learn about the illness is helpful, but I felt an emotional distance to this book that hasn't been in others I've read.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a very honest memoir looking into the struggle of a young man with anorexia. The book was a quick and easy read, and I would recommend it to anyone struggling with an eating disorder or who is interested in the field.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book! The way its written made it a tad difficult to understand that the italics were the disorder talking. It was a good perspective seeing that you don't see boys battling this disease that often.

[Buffheart]

This is a refreshing novel about a young MAN's story about his battle with an eating disorder.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare to hear of a man with an eating disorder. This is a compelling story of one man's struggle and triumph.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty intense book. It really sparked a lot of my emotions, which is why I think the book was such a successful read. Now I just have to write a biology report on it....

[Julia]

waste of time

[Ariana Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an amazing book and is very educational book. I think that anyone who is struggling or knows someone who is struggling with an eating disorder should read this book.

[Marilee Steffen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Memoir of a young man's battle and triumph over Anorexia.