Eating Disorders in Fiction

[msemma]

Does anyone know of any novels / short stories which feature eating disorders? I've read a few, but could do with more - for a research project. Opinions on them would be good - I've found a lot to be diary based, but I would be interested in stories that feature a character who has an eating disorder but who isn't the main character.

[jeanyb]

Almost all feature the textbook anorectic: a middle-class, high-achieving young woman (none has male characters with eating disorders, although some have more boy appeal).

Massive, by Julia Bell (�4.99), published by Young Picador, is exceptional in its heroine with working-class roots and its strong sense of contemporary teenage girls' culture in Birmingham. A superb portrayal of three generations of women for whom food is a problem.
Second Star to the Right, by Deborah Hautzig, although out of print, is a classic fictional study of anorexia which also pinpoints the mother-daughter relationship. Still fresh and compelling after 21 years.
Alice in the Looking Glass: a mother and daughter's experience of anorexia, by Jo and Alice Kingsley (Piatkus Books, �12.99).
Fat Chance, by Leslea Newman (Women's Press Livewire, �4.99). The diary of Judi, a contemporary American high school girl who develops bulimia.
Face to Face, by Sandra Glover (Andersen Press, �4.99). Adelle's "anorexic voice" insists she is fat while the world sees she is starving.
The following novels also feature characters with eating disorders: The Memory Prisoner, by Thomas Bloor (Hodder Children's Books, �4.99); Breaking Point, by Anne Bailey (Faber, �4.99). How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff (Penguin).
Boy appeal

Transformer, by Philip Gross (Scholastic Press, �4.99) is a tale of a rock band's path to the big break, in which lead singer Alia stops eating.

[msemma]

Thanks jeanyb - I think you see where the problem lies in the textbook portrayal! I've read Second Star to the Right, Alice in the Looking Glass,and Fat Chance but you've thrown up a few new threads for me, much appreciated, thanks. xx

[SaxyJag]

'Skin' by A M Vrettos - this is about a lad who's coping with his sister's anorexia.