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Customer Reviews of Life-Size

Treats Anorexia Nervosa with a Dignity Victims Deserve
This is one of only a handful of novels describing a victim of anorexia nervosa. Although I do not know if Ms. Shute has ever had anorexia, she did a fabulous job understanding and explaining it without encouraging it (when I first read this book, I was utterly disturbed by Josie's compulsions) or unwittingly doling out "tricks-of-the-trade". Josie is a 25 year-old female graduate student. After her roommate accidentally walks in on her in the shower, she freaks and calls Josie's parents. Unwillingly, Josie allows her parents to admit her to an eating disorders treatment facility. Yet she rebels and has scorn for the insistence of the doctors and nurses that she is dying; at 5'2'' and a mere 67 pounds, it is Josie's goal to sustain herself as a skeleton living off of air. It is only under the threat of hyperalimentation (a frightening method of intravenous nutrition) that Josie begins to eat.

The novel skips around a lot, giving subtle detail, and in parts, it is hard to understand. However, this is an accurate portrayal of the shrunken, distracted mind of an anorexic. The novel expresses all aspects of anorexia--degrading sexual experiences,perfectionism, our culture's emphasis on thinness, and family conflicts--not just offering a wrap-up explanation. Josie's acrid wit and humor are needed to keep the novel lively and give you a glimpse into the hidden pain and masked frustration she is faced with. I like how Josie is shown to be, despite her frailness, a woman who is not immature and weak (like anorexics are often betrayed) or on her knees at the hands of an omniscient therapist. Her pain has left her wary, and she is determined not to let anyone take control of her body away from her, even if accompanied by a loving hand.

This is a book that will leave you simultaneously in awe and terrified. Practically every sentence in it could be used as an important quote. I wish I owned this book, it left that kind of an impact on me.

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Life Size strips anorexia to bare skin and bone
Jenefer Shute's Life Size is both darkly comical and hauntingly tragic. Narrating from her hospital bed, Josie the book's emaciated antagonist, recounts her downward spiral into anorexia nervosa and her brave and often inspirational climb out of it. This book will forever change the way you look at eating disorders, erasing the national stereotype that anorexics and bulimics destroy their bodies, minds and selves simply to emulate 90's "it girl" Kate Moss.

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Insightful and Inspiring
Josie enters the hospital at a very ill 67 pounds, believing that she is almost perfect. She doesn't realize how sick she is, or how much she has wasted away. Her brain is so starved that she truly believes she needs no food, and scoffs at others who do eat, and only begins to feed herself after numerous threats of hyperalimentation. Through her stay in the hospital, Josie recalls events in her life that lead up to her eating disorder, and slowly begins to figure out how it came about as she begins the slow process of recovery. The whole book follows her through her hospital stay and the refeeding process along with the thoughts that circullate around such a difficult time.