This book is a photojournalism account of people who are receiving treatment for eating disorders. This book can be very triggering/graphic for people who are dealing with this issue. I would strongly suggest considering that before picking up this book (or watching the documentary on HBO). People find themselves struggling with eating disorders for a variety of reasons, and it is all tragic. This is about more than eating healthy foods. It is about healthy eating habits and a healthy relationship with food. I think the photographs in this book are very stark and haunting, but the message is important. Compassion is something we need more of, and that goes hand in hand with understanding, which we also need more of.

I have a serious issue with places like this, no matter if they are treatment facilities for addiction/mental illness or one of those facilities for problematic kids. They advertise these amazing state of the art facilities, with all of these amenities like they are five star hotel resorts in the Bahamas. It's a lie, unless it is a celebrity treatment center. There are more and more stories coming out about people who went to places like this and what they went through there, and I cannot imagine that a lot of this "treatment" is actually beneficial. The fact that it costs so much is a whole other issue. These places put me in mind of privately owned for profit prisons- the services are needed, but who is lining pockets with the costs?

At any rate, I think that the book is an important contribution to the understanding of eating disorders and the human body. Listening to the reasons and events that caused people to begin using unhealthy habits and coping tools can help them and others in the future. When we take time to learn about things we do not know about, it makes us better equipped to handle situations that we may confront in the future. For that reason alone, I appreciated this book.