The Man Who Couldn't Eat

“An engrossing and candid memoir…fearless and singular.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Jon has the moxie and the courage not only to tell the harrowingly real story of his fight to stay alive, but to do so with detachment and a crazy sense of irony. His memoir about food, hunger, and a near-death experience is a food lover’s nightmare and—with his food memories as the focal point—a necessary read.”

—Jonathan Waxman

“I will never take eating for granted again. Wow! What a roller coaster.

All I kept thinking was, you cannot be serious! But he was.”

—John McEnroe

“I have spent years of my life obsessing about my weight, feeling guilt over every mouthful. Jon Reiner’s magnificent and devastating memoir, The Man Who Couldn’t Eat,

accomplished the impossible. It made me shut up and enjoy my food.”

– Ayelet Waldman, author of Red Hook Road.

“Reiner writes a horrendously funny account of his condition in which food is his mortal enemy. He is the Olympian of a modern truth—our daily bread has it in for us

—and his book hits the mark.”

– Lore Segal, author of Her First American and Shakespeare’s Kitchen

“Reiner is such a vivid writer that this first-person account of a food lover’s descent into hell is, at turns, gripping, horrifying, excruciating and, ultimately, redeeming.”

– Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, James Beard Award-winning authors of

The Flavor Bible and The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine

“Jon Reiner has thrown the tightly closed door to the mysterious world of chronic

illness wide open in The Man Who Couldn't Eat, a memoir of an experience that is as illuminating to read about as it was horrifying to live. This wholly enthralling book will make you appreciate every breath you take—and every bite you eat.”

– Terry Teachout, drama critic, The Wall Street Journal and author of

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong