This could easily be a work that wallows in tragedy and self-pity, or one that soars with false assuagements and platitudes. It is neither. It is horrifying and transcendental, pulling you into a world of the coldest of snows, the thickest of fogs. Hornbacher is both victim and perpetrator. People think of eating disorders as something that drops out of the sky, ferreted down on beauty magazines onto the poor unsuspecting heads of teenage girls readying for prom. This book unpacks that, drags you along for the ride. To make yourself so sick over and over again is truly madness. It's simply impossible to grasp if you haven't undergone it. Hornbacher is writer first and featurette second and it shows. Her prose is raw and skillful. She's a biting writer.