Early Disorder

by Rebecca Josephs

Book Overview

Unable to cope with the emotional turmoil of growing up, a 15-year-old gradually developing anorexia nervosa silently begs for but openly rejects help as she slowly starves herself. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374145792
• ISBN13: 9780374145798
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 185 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Not a book about anorexia.

This is my current favorite book. Josephs' intoxicatingly rich prose weaves a complete subjectivity for the main character, precocious, intellectual, perceptive and poignant Willa. The story feels like a slice of her life, including her struggles with her self-absorbed family, her difficulties making friends, her panics over growing up and her adolescent observations in general. Willa's anorexia is only one aspect of the book. Read this little-known novel if you want to truly get into the head of one of the most brilliant and pointedly observant characters in fiction. She will stay with you long after you have finished the book.

Understanding Willa

Willa is a a young teenage girl who is afraid to leave the love and security of her home to go live out in the real world. What starts out as a simple diet to lose her baby fat leaves her in a life and death struggle with anorexia. No one is able to help her because she does not want to get better. She really believes she doesn't need food to live and begins to lose her mind. I found this book very helpful as a struggling anorexic. I recommend it to any one who is dealing with this problem.