Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders » (Bargain)

Aimee Liu is the author of a groundbreaking account of anorexia nervosa, Solitaire. She has also written three highly acclaimed novels, Flash House, Cloud Mountain and Face. Liu is the former president of PEN West, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

If you have ever suffered from an eating disorder - or cared for someone who is anorexic or bulimic - you may think you understand these illnesses. But do you really understand why they occur? Do you know how eat disorders affect life after recovery? Now, nearly three decades after she detailed her first battle with anorexia in Solitaire, Aimee Liu presents an emotionally powerful and poignant sequel that digs deep into the causes, cures, and consequences of anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

Publishers Weekly

Thirty years after Liu penned Solitaire documenting her teenage experience with anorexia nervosa, she recounts her midlife relapse and recovery. Liu exposes many myths surrounding eating disorders, with a combination of research and in-depth interviews with other former anorexics and bulimics. She interviews men and women of various cultural and economic backgrounds to refute the notion that anorexia and bulimia affect only "modern rich white girls." Liu's interviewees range from Rob, a 50-year-old physician, to Jessica, an Australian 25-year-old aspiring actress. Liu devotes many chapters to the impact of family on the anorexic or bulimic, contradicting the accepted belief that the victim is "the sick one"; rather, she locates the starting point of the disease in genetics, family life, shame and personality. Like other victims, Liu finds a history of mental disorders in her family, ranging from alcoholism to obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to Liu, a manifestation of an eating disorder is a call for help and should be treated as early as possible, and she fleshes out facts and statistics with her personal interviews, making this book poignant even for those who have not suffered from an eating disorder. (Feb. 22) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Author's Note     ix
Introduction: To Gain Is Good     xi
Know Thyself: Temperamental Truth
Connecting the Dots: A Genetic Link     3
Portrait of a Hunger Artist: The Face of Fear     24
The Laws of Perfection: Obsession and Compulsion     40
Wanting for Nothing: Avoidance     67
Good Bad Girls: Shame     90
The Physics of Normalcy: Personal Relationship
A Certain Self: Identity and Independence     115
Terms of Endearment: Family Dynamics     139
Growing Children: Parenthood     163
Love and Other Terrors: Honor and Intimacy     184
A Wider World: Consumer Society and Body Image
Consuming Passions: Competing for Health     211
The Wisdom of Age: Maturity in a Youth Culture     228
Gaining Power: Becoming Agents for Change     247
Acknowledgments     261
Resources for Information and Activism     265
Suggestions for Parents     270
Selected Bibliography     273
Index     283