Lori Gottlieb (December 20, 1966 - ) is an author and researcher. She is the author of
Gottlieb grew up in Beverly Hills, California. As a child, she suffered from anorexia; according to her memoir, Stick Figure, her anorexia was cured after she was threatened with force-feeding.
Gottlieb graduated Stanford University in 1989, , majoring in French, and began working as an executive for television network NBC.
Gottlieb left Hollywood to take pre-med courses and go to medical school. She wrote about an unsuccessful interview at Harvard Medical School where the interviewer because the interviewer thought she was too "Hollywood." She instead went to Stanford Medical School, but dropped out because she realized she didn't like "hanging around sick people."
Gottlieb briefly worked for the unsuccessful Internet startup Kibu.com, but was laid off before it went under; she wrote about the experience in the book Inside the Cult of Kibu.
Gottlieb went on to become an occasional commentator for National Public Radio and writer for the Atlantic Monthly, where she documented her decision to become a single mother through a sperm donor and wrote the essay that became the controversial book The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough.
Gottlieb wrote about her experience dating a 300-pound lawyer for the anthology Scoot Over, Skinny; in 2010, her ex criticized the portrayal as exaggerated and fabricated.