Nervosa

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Title:

Nervosa

Author:

Gold, Hayley, author, artist.

ISBN:

9781951491246

Personal Author:

Gold, Hayley, author, artist.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

229 pages : chiefly illustrations (colour) ; 26 cm

Abstract:

Gold's memoir about disordered eating, chronic illness, and a profound relationship with hope.

"Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder. It is not a phase, a fad, or a choice. It is a debilitating illness, manifested in a distorted relationship with food, but which actually has more to do with issues of control. It is often a puzzle for doctors, therapists, parents, and friends. And so those who suffer from it are belittled, or tragically misunderstood, not only by society but by the healthcare system meant to treat it. Nervosa is a no-holds-barred, richly textured portrait of one young woman's experience. In her vividly imagined retelling, Hayley Gold lays bare a callous medical system seemingly disinterested in the very patients it is supposed to treat. And traces how her own life was irrevocably damaged by both the system and her own disorder. With brutal honesty and witty sarcastic humor, Gold offers a remarkably candid exploration of the search for hope in the darkness"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

All the colors -- The book of numbers -- The white abyss -- First world problems -- Delusional -- The underneath -- Coping skills -- Fractured -- The old woman -- Siren's calling -- Metamorph -- Black Friday -- Truth and beauty.

Subject Term:

Anorexia nervosa -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Eating disorders -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Anorexia nervosa -- Treatment -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Eating disorders -- Treatment -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Chronically ill -- Mental health -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Psychiatric hospitals -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Dysfunctional families -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Anorexia nervosa.

Psychiatric hospitals.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Aurora Downtown	Graphic Novel	RC552 .A5 G65 2023	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

"A vibrant graphic memoir full of dark humor, Nervosa is an insightful look into the torment of disordered eating that will be a source of comfort to others who struggle with their mental health." --STARRED REVIEW, Foreword Reviews

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder. It is not a phase, a fad, or a choice. It is a debilitating illness, manifested in a distorted relationship with food, but which actually has more to do with issues of control. It is often a puzzle for doctors, therapists, parents, and friends . And so those who suffer from it are belittled, or tragically misunderstood, not only by society but by the healthcare system meant to treat it.

Nervosa is a no-holds-barred, richly textured portrait of one young woman's experience. In her vividly imagined retelling, Hayley Gold lays bare a callous medical system seemingly disinterested in the very patients it is supposed to treat. And traces how her own life was irrevocably damaged by both the system and her own disorder. With brutal honesty and witty sarcastic humor, Gold offers a remarkably candid exploration of the search for hope in the darkness.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Gold chronicles her lengthy struggle with anorexia in an unflinching debut memoir filled with sharply recalled details and darkly funny observations. Affected by her father's verbal abuse and her mother's inability to stand up to him, she developed an obsession with counting calories at a young age and was first hospitalized with an eating disorder at 12. The medicalization of her condition and constant pressure to gain weight ("Stop crying, it burns calories," scolds a doctor) made her more body-conscious than ever, and her fellow patients schooled her in weight-loss tricks. Eventually she wound up at Westchester, a former asylum "right out of a storybook" where the staff was quick to hook uncooperative patients up to feeding tubes. Gold's gestural artwork is expressive, and her analytical personality--her one great pleasure while hospitalized is mastering crossword puzzles--comes through visually in her fondness for drawing diagrams, floor plans, and flowcharts. Her anorexia, meanwhile, appears as a shadow self who sneers at offers of help. The narrative stretches a little long, as if Gold was afraid to leave out a single memory, and her teenage self's snarky defensiveness can become grating. But her frank insights bring readers intimately into the emotions of living with an eating disorder. Agent: Bob Mecoy, Creative Book Services. (Apr.)