Dorothy R. (obsidianfire) reviewed Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self on + 133 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Moving story about a girl's struggle with eating disorders.
Helpful Score: 3
An eleven year old's diary of how she saw herself as fat and could not stop dieting. A book that looks at anorexia close up and personel. A good read for anyone who wants to understand how someone could starve themselves into nothing but bones and a thin layer of skin. A good read.
Cindy F. (johnnysangel) -
Helpful Score: 2
A Young girl's journal showing the pressure society places on young girls to be thin.
Helpful Score: 2
Amazingly written story written by Gottleib when she was only 11 years old (these were entries in her diary) about her fight with anorexia. ONe minute, she is ultra-mature and intelligent and the next she is worried that breathing in food smells will make her fat. A very interesting read!
Helpful Score: 1
Autobiographical account about a intelligent 11 year old girl from a relatively well off California family and her struggle with anorexia in the late 1970's. This was written in a loose diary type style and was well written and while at times tragic, and at times humorous, you really felt for Lori. I thought her mother and father were messed up, especially the vacuous, self centered and thoughtless mother. I wanted to strangle the mother. It's no wonder Lori ended up anorexic. A good, quick read.
Helpful Score: 1
A quick read. This journal of the author's bout with anorexia at age eleven never goes for the gratuitous or the cheap. Ringing with authenticity, it will give many a glimpse into the psyche of youngsters with eating disorders.
Helpful Score: 1
A very compelling read especially if you have dealt with an eating disorder. This book made me cry and laugh. i could not put it down.
definitely a gripping story, but it definitely wasn't written at the level of an eleven-year-old, even one as smart as Lori was supposed to be. Believable, but I don't know if four-weeks is *really* a realistic turn-around time for an anorexic, no matter how strong their resolve is.
Somewhat hard to believe that this was a real diary, and that's what makes it so sad. Really makes me aware of what I have to change in myself to help my daughter have a healthy body image.
This book fascinated me because I read Lori Gottlieb's articles these days in magazines and find them well written and entertaining. I got a glimpse into her childhood and could relate to her on some levels. I enjoyed reading this book with her frank and dry wit as a child. She touches on issues that teens these days are facing more and more. I recommend this book not only for teens and their high school reading lists but for adults of teens and pre-teens as well. I read it in two days.
This is the true story of an eleven-year-old that is trying to find self worth in a world where looks and body shape is ever important. The way Gottlieb portrays her family as well as herself is comical, yet she still somehow manages to get you to think about the tougher issues. I would highly recommend this book!
Funny, touching... so much better than I expected!
This book is a sort of memoir of anorexia. It's selections from the diary Lori Gottlieb kept at that age, when she developed an eating disorder. Unfortunately for her, she developed this eating disorder during the 70s when the medical understanding of and treatment for anorexia was even more dismal than it is now. I think she actually recovered in spite of her treatment, rather than because of it. Only one nurse, Elizabeth, who was genuinely kind and actually listened to what Lori had to say (unlike every single other person in her life), seems to have done any real good for her. One thing that struck me is how all the other women in Lori's life (including the nurses and nutritionist at the hospital) were just as messed up about food and engaged in the same behaviors as she did. The only difference was that Lori was successful at it, and actually engaged in all of everyone's "dieting" advice at once.
While any book about eating disorders can be triggering for someone in recovery, I didn't find this one particularly triggering. Most of the discussion is about her life and the people around her, not so much about numbers or stats or descriptions of her body or the physical feelings associated with her starvation.
While any book about eating disorders can be triggering for someone in recovery, I didn't find this one particularly triggering. Most of the discussion is about her life and the people around her, not so much about numbers or stats or descriptions of her body or the physical feelings associated with her starvation.
good book, kinda weird
Lori Gottlieb's memoir of her bout with anorexia at the age of eleven.
