Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self FROM THE PUBLISHER
"I wish to be the thinnest girl at school, or maybe even the thinnest eleven-year-old on the entire planet," confides Lori Gottlieb to her diary. "I mean, what are girls supposed to wish for, other than being thin?"
For a girl growing up in Beverly Hills in 1978, the motto "You can never be too rich or too thin" is writ large. Precocious Lori learns her lessons well, so when she's told that "real women don't eat dessert" and "no one could ever like a girl who has thunder thighs," she decides to become a paragon of dieting. Soon Lori has become the "stick figure" she's longed to resemble. But then what? Stick Figure takes the reader on a gripping journey, as Lori struggles to reclaim both her body and her spirit.
By turns painful and wry, Lori's efforts to reconcile the conflicting messages society sends women ring as true today as when she first recorded these impressions. "One diet book says that if you drink three full glasses of water one hour before every meal to fill yourself up, you'll lose a pound a day. Another book says that once you start losing weight, everyone will ask, 'How did you do it?' but you shouldn't tell them because it's 'your little secret.' Then right above that part it says, 'New York Times bestseller.' Some secret."
With an edgy wit and keenly observant eye, Stick Figure delivers an engrossing glimpse into the mind of a girl in transition to adulthood. This raw, no-holds-barred account is a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of living up to society's expectations.
FROM THE CRITICS
Alan Review
Eleven-year-old Lori is caught in a family and a society where the belief that one can never be too rich or too thin is glorified. We see her mom constantly reminding her to leave dessert for the "guys" (her dad and brother) and to always "leave the table wanting a little something more." Still, in the dead of night, mom sneaks down to the kitchen to gobble down a chocolate chip cookie or doughnut over the kitchen sink. This non-fiction story is taken from the diaries that Lori kept over a one-year period in 1978, detailing her descent into and struggle with the disease of anorexia nervosa. But also within this book, we see the impact of the mixed messages that society and adults send to young American women. As you read this book, you will begin to feel that you know Lori. In crisp and vivid language, Lori reveals her stark feelings of loneliness and isolation, her abiding sense of humor, her profound sense of being 'different,' and her realization that the only thing she can control is "the amount of food she places in her mouth." This is a good read, particularly for young girls coming into their own. Genre: Anorexia Nervosa 2000, Simon & Schuster, 220p
Library Journal
Before she was a Hollywood executive, Gottlieb was an anorexic teenager. This account of her "former self" has been optioned by Martin Scorsese's De Fina/Cappa Productions. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
School Library Journal
YA-A powerful memoir about growing up in Beverly Hills in the 1970s. At age 11, Gottlieb decided that she needed to lose weight because, after all, "you can never be too rich or too thin." Buying every diet book available, she became obsessed with calories. When she reached 60 pounds, she was hospitalized for anorexia even though she herself found nothing unusual about her revulsion to food. Written in diary format, Stick Figure questions society's view of female beauty and the lengths young women will go to achieve it. YAs will relate to Lori's story, which weaves in common issues of body image, being popular, peer pressure, and a less-than-harmonious relationship with parents. While the author deals with serious subjects, the overall tone of the book is upbeat, often even humorous. She survived her ordeal with an eating disorder and in telling her story, she brings hope to others.-Katherine Fitch, Rachel Carson Middle School, Fairfax, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
AudioFile
How it all began is complicated, but Lori Gottlieb, at age 11, began a free-fall spiral into the deadly eating disorder anorexia nervosa. After finding her diary many years later, Gottlieb painfully compiled the steps that brought her closer and closer to death at such a young age. Beverley Mitchell is perfect as the young Gottlieb, whose high IQ, astute sarcasm, and clever humor are interpreted with realism. She captures the innocence of a girl living in dangerous denial. Also pivotal and insightful is her portrayal of Gottlieb's relationship with her mother, whose own beliefs pertaining to women's bodies and social roles affected Gottlieb's behavior more deeply than she realized. This is a marvelously written story imparted with intuitive wit, sensitivity, and intelligence. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Lori Gottlieb's approach is compassionate, and very, very funny. More than just a book about anorexia, Stick Figure is an entertaining and thoughtful coming-of-age story that deals with an almost universal theme -- negotiating the minefields of early adolescence and living to tell the tale. — (Martha Manning, author of Undercurrents: A Life Beneath the Surface)
Lori Gottlieb's eleven-year-old self is a singular storyteller of unblinking candor and precocious insight. As rife with wry humor as it is lacking in self-pity, this fast-paced chronicle of late-1970s adolescent anorexia is narrated with a light touch, and yet is chilling and poignant in its straightforward simplicity. — (Sarah Saffian, author of Ithaka: A Daughter's Memoir of Being Found)
Peggy Orenstien
By turns earnest and funny, hopeful and tragic, eleven-year-old Lori is a latter-day Alice: She takes us through the distorted looking glass that's held up to young girls and into the harrowing land of eating disorders. There is no other word for it: You will devour this book -- and, hopefully, keep right on eating. — (Peggy Orenstein, author of School Girls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap)
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