CONFESSIONS OF A COMPULSIVE EATER

by Diane Broushton ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1978

The depressing, utterly unappetizing confessions of ""Cam Reed"" whose life has been an endless round of overeating, dieting, pills, and brittle diabetes complications. As told to Diane Broughton, who had the dubious privilege of watching her eat the gargantuan quantities of food described here, Cam's life has been dominated by the urge to eat and the usually unsuccessful effort to block that urge. At times, the amount she consumes could feed whole families--two roasts at one sitting; during thin periods, her energies are spent diverting thoughts of pizza or cake and resisting the refrigerator door. Her overeating, a habit shared by younger sister Vi, began early--three Good Humors at once--in an emotionally push-pull family. But neither she nor author Broughton seem to give much weight to the chronic--some would say classic--tensions in her life. Now acute carelessness about her body and flagrant disregard of doctors' orders have shortened her life expectancy and intensified her physical symptoms (failing eyesight, inflamed legs) but self-control still eludes her. She even maintains that to follow the insulin-and-diet therapy, a shock-prevention treatment, requires so much will power that the effort to abstain will throw her into shock. That it's painful for her to get by is indisputable; that readers will want this mawkish version of her suffering is unlikely.

Pub Date: April 1, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Nelson

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1978

Categories: NONFICTION