Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder by Nadia Shivack


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Nadia Shivack’s heartbreaking true story is about her lifelong battle with anorexia and bulimia. The book is unflinching honest; the raw, graphic drawings convey the depression, anxiety, despair, and self-loathing that characterized her life. It is hearth wrenching to read Nadia's words and see, through her drawings, the extent of her inner turmoil. Although we know the hard clinical facts about the aspects of eating disorders, this book make the emotional side hit.
Told with a mixture of text and pictures drawn by Nadia, her preoccupation with food began when in her troubled household when she was in her pre-teen years. She likens her daily routine as a teen to a perilous climb up a steep, jagged mountain. Her dizzying downward spiral is sobering indeed, as her bulimia takes over her life and she becomes suicidal. This is a very sobering account of a life out of control, desperate for control and help. It gives us a glimpse of the emotional and chaotic thinking endured by bulimics. Statistics about eating disorders are found throughout the book, which concludes with a list of resources.

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