Reminiscient of Roxane Gay's Hunger and Susan Burton's Empty, More, Please is the story of struggle, acceptance, and trepidatious triumph over food. Filled with universal moments in the girlhood lexicon, Specter dives into not only what caused her own disordered eating, but how society pushes us to be our thinnest, tell us even that isn't good enough, and punishes us for daring to take up space. I found so much of my own story while reading this, from the Weight-watchers struggle of the 90s and early 00's, to the desperation of being queer but feeling like you need a man to validate the fact that you are attractive and lovable. At every step in her story, Specter navigates her past with so much self-empathy that I found myself thinking of younger me fondly- instead of criticizing myself for being vulnerable to society's glorification of heroin chic, I found myself having compassion for the girl who felt like her existence was wrong and that she was unworthy of love, life, and good food.

Emma Specter's book is an honest look at her relationship with food and body image. She shares personal stories and insights about binge eating and the struggle to feel like she's enough. It's a relatable and thought-provoking read that encourages self-acceptance and challenges societal expectations.

I hugely respect Specter's journalism and have been so, so excited for this book. It's a brilliant deep dive into food and our culture of dieting and restriction and the pressures and agony surrounding food and weight. I love that the writer blended her stories and analysis with the experience of others, as I think she did a great job rounding out the discussion. This book comes out with the obvious related TWs but with the right mindset, I think it can be really. healing.

A loose mix of memoir, interviews with other and general reporting, this book examines one woman’s experience with an eating disorder and a fixation on food that has existed much of her life, and then also looks at weight and disordered eating as a societal issue.

The book is an interesting perspective as the author has spent years working in the fashion industry (most recently for Vogue.). After years of struggle she ultimately gave up her battle to be stick thin and allowed herself to gain weight. It is so disheartening to see how much she still struggles, though, It is somewhat surprising that she has been successful in fashion. She references many books which would be helpful to those seeking to make a deeper, more scholarly dive into the subject.

I loved this book! It takes a clear and unflinching look at eating disorders and the way our culture treats eating and weight and bodies. I appreciate the author's personal take on ED as well as her work sketching out and exploring the larger social and political questions surrounding ED. A must read,

I wish Ms. Specter had written 10 books prior to this so I could seek them out for more warm wisdom. Really loved this one.