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belwood303's review
4.0
I loved it. In fact I would love to read a second book written about the things that happened just in the epilogue. I really felt the way she presented the story in her own words made it really personable - who hasn't felt they have to work harder than everyone else, that there's something unlovable about them. I found it brave and inspiring.
nvmsmd's review
3.0
De Rossi's disorder had roots in her childhood experiences. Modelling jobs only brought her panic and a race to reduce weight abruptly using the diet her mother handed her. After shoots she would reward herself with food but later purge it, as a deadlines drew closer. Thus, began her journey of an unhealthy relationship with food and toxic notions for her own body.
By the time De Rossi was bagging substantial shoots and shows she had memorized 34 24 35 as her meant to be measurements, which she could never fit into. At the height of her career she was staring in Ally McBeal as a strong, assertive, and attractive lawyer; all the qualities she had difficulty associating herself with.
Public eye and perceived fear of scrutiny worsened De Rossi's anorexia and bulimia. She experimemted with appetite suppressant pills but later switched to chainsmoking for the same purpose. When embarking on an extreme diets, she would eat as little as 300 calories per day; but as if in a franzied trance, her starved body would eat the entire amount of whatever food sat in front of her, leading to feelings of guilt and purging. De Rossi had nightmares of consuming soft drinks and wouldn't live with another person for she desired her fridge to be bare.
In throes of these eating disorders Portia De Rossi was featured in shape magazine, a magazine which is supposed to portray persons at peak fitness. The irony isn't subtle. Her condition kept derailing; she installed treadmills at her work and home; in privacy she would lunge instead of walk. She had become delusional with fatigue and hunger, moulding and disregarding her nutritionist words to fit her standards and perceiving widespread magazine reports on her eating disorders as being laced with envy and awe.
When she couldn't move her body due to the excruciating pain in her joints, she visited a doctor. She had stopped getting her periods for more than a year, reports showed that she had osteoporosis and was misdiagnosed with an autoimmune disease. It was time for Portia De Rossi to face the music.
The process of recovery was agonizing to her. She described how lying in treatment was a common custom, as there is shame involved in describing these bizarre rituals and abnormal practices. When she finally joined rehabilitation she had gained 27 pounds and believed she was too fat to be anorexic.
Despite being an intense and accurate account of her disorder, I have my issues with this book. De Rossi presents these disorders with a distinct glorification and romanticization; from calling anorexia a disorder of the highly accomplished, cultured, and beautiful people to declaring the disorder explicitly to be her first love, she sends a dangerous message to the audience, that despite these disorders almost taking her life and ruling her mind, it still lead to her reaching extreme weights, which she lovingly called poetic. Somehow De Rossi manages to pull an entirely opposite problem too, on multiple accounts De Rossi express how Bulimia is a second class disorder. These are vicious conceptions that shouldn't be churned out in a book intended for the masses.
By the time De Rossi was bagging substantial shoots and shows she had memorized 34 24 35 as her meant to be measurements, which she could never fit into. At the height of her career she was staring in Ally McBeal as a strong, assertive, and attractive lawyer; all the qualities she had difficulty associating herself with.
Public eye and perceived fear of scrutiny worsened De Rossi's anorexia and bulimia. She experimemted with appetite suppressant pills but later switched to chainsmoking for the same purpose. When embarking on an extreme diets, she would eat as little as 300 calories per day; but as if in a franzied trance, her starved body would eat the entire amount of whatever food sat in front of her, leading to feelings of guilt and purging. De Rossi had nightmares of consuming soft drinks and wouldn't live with another person for she desired her fridge to be bare.
In throes of these eating disorders Portia De Rossi was featured in shape magazine, a magazine which is supposed to portray persons at peak fitness. The irony isn't subtle. Her condition kept derailing; she installed treadmills at her work and home; in privacy she would lunge instead of walk. She had become delusional with fatigue and hunger, moulding and disregarding her nutritionist words to fit her standards and perceiving widespread magazine reports on her eating disorders as being laced with envy and awe.
When she couldn't move her body due to the excruciating pain in her joints, she visited a doctor. She had stopped getting her periods for more than a year, reports showed that she had osteoporosis and was misdiagnosed with an autoimmune disease. It was time for Portia De Rossi to face the music.
The process of recovery was agonizing to her. She described how lying in treatment was a common custom, as there is shame involved in describing these bizarre rituals and abnormal practices. When she finally joined rehabilitation she had gained 27 pounds and believed she was too fat to be anorexic.
Despite being an intense and accurate account of her disorder, I have my issues with this book. De Rossi presents these disorders with a distinct glorification and romanticization; from calling anorexia a disorder of the highly accomplished, cultured, and beautiful people to declaring the disorder explicitly to be her first love, she sends a dangerous message to the audience, that despite these disorders almost taking her life and ruling her mind, it still lead to her reaching extreme weights, which she lovingly called poetic. Somehow De Rossi manages to pull an entirely opposite problem too, on multiple accounts De Rossi express how Bulimia is a second class disorder. These are vicious conceptions that shouldn't be churned out in a book intended for the masses.
mckernantm's review
3.0
This book gave an incredibly clear description of life with an eating disorder. Her ability to so candidly write about her eating disorder's voice was brave and admirable.
craalm's review
4.0
This is an incredibly powerful book, shocking and brutally honest, with a highly important message that I think many women, whether in their teens or older, could really benefit from learning. The book is graphic, going right into the little details of Portia's eating disorders, and I think that the book really benefits from this. As I was reading, learning what Portia was doing and yet reading in her own words (as if she were back at that point in her life) that she wasn't anorexic or bulimic, that she was just a successful dieter who had figured out the secret of being thin when all the professionals were wrong, I found that that really hit home. The passage just before the epilogue where you finally see pictures of what Portia looked like at her lowest weight, after reading so much about Portia defending herself against all those who said she was too thin, was incredibly powerful. After reading about her weight loss, seeing it was something completely different. I thought the epilogue was carefully done, too. The message she writes there, after coming through it, is so important. Really, hats off to Portia for writing this book and going back to the darkest moments in her life in order to do it. It couldn't have been easy.
I dropped the last star though because I really would have wanted more detail about her recovery. It is mentioned in the epilogue, but to read that in the level of detail in which the rest of the book was written would have made this book even better. She could have really showed us what recovery is like, rather than simply telling us in a few paragraphs. From the other reviews here, it seems I'm not the only one who would have liked to see this.
I dropped the last star though because I really would have wanted more detail about her recovery. It is mentioned in the epilogue, but to read that in the level of detail in which the rest of the book was written would have made this book even better. She could have really showed us what recovery is like, rather than simply telling us in a few paragraphs. From the other reviews here, it seems I'm not the only one who would have liked to see this.
agob187's review
4.0
View this review on my blog @ http://booksandalana.blogspot.com
Last night, I finished reading Portia de Rossi's ( Now Portia DeGeneres)Unbearable Lightness.
I actually picked this book up in Chapters back in February, and really wanted to read it. However, I have a hard time buying books like that now from big stores. The town I live in only has two bookstores, they're both independent, and one in particular, the cozy warm one, is struggling so much to pay the rent for a downtown store. Therefore that's where I like to buy my books from when I have a little extra money. So if you hear me go off about my dislike of E-readers, that's part of the reason.
The two bookstores actually didn't have this book yet, so I ordered it through the library ( IN FEBRUARY) and it finally came this week. The reason I didn't by it was because I thought, oh well, poor little rich and famous actress struggling with anorexia and bulimia who cares!? Although I love memoirs and reading about peoples deep dark struggles, I kind of rolled my eyes at this book. That is until about halfway through, when it dawned on me how crazy and intense these moments she was sharing were.
I myself don't diet, and don't really care what the scale says either. I DO however put a high priority on being fit and could definitely relate with some of the body image issues mentioned in this book. I know a LOT of people who diet and count calories and I love how this book points out how silly it is! I also didn't know a thing really about Portia aside from the fact she was on Ally McBeal and married to Ellen.
Also at random- I noticed there is an acknowledgement to Jonathan Safran Foer, with a little review quote by him on the back. He's one of my favourite authors so I just found that interesting.
I HIGHLY recommend checking this one out. Especially if you have ever been on a diet or questioned your worth by the number on the scale. Portia totally opened up and shared a very dark, very real story. You can tell SHE wrote it too, and I really liked that.
If you don't want to read it Oprah did a nice little episode with Portia about the book, in which she reads from a few pages so you get the idea. I don't watch Oprah, or listen to everything she says like so many people seem to do, but after reading this book it also helped pull everything into perspective.
So if you'd like to check it out- here ya go!
Part 1- http://youtu.be/aJMDDQFL3ro
Part 2- http://youtu.be/YwGgYs9tj_E
Part 3- http://youtu.be/RhX9os6ex68
Part 4- http://youtu.be/ZmcJ6r4GfXk
Last night, I finished reading Portia de Rossi's ( Now Portia DeGeneres)Unbearable Lightness.
I actually picked this book up in Chapters back in February, and really wanted to read it. However, I have a hard time buying books like that now from big stores. The town I live in only has two bookstores, they're both independent, and one in particular, the cozy warm one, is struggling so much to pay the rent for a downtown store. Therefore that's where I like to buy my books from when I have a little extra money. So if you hear me go off about my dislike of E-readers, that's part of the reason.
The two bookstores actually didn't have this book yet, so I ordered it through the library ( IN FEBRUARY) and it finally came this week. The reason I didn't by it was because I thought, oh well, poor little rich and famous actress struggling with anorexia and bulimia who cares!? Although I love memoirs and reading about peoples deep dark struggles, I kind of rolled my eyes at this book. That is until about halfway through, when it dawned on me how crazy and intense these moments she was sharing were.
I myself don't diet, and don't really care what the scale says either. I DO however put a high priority on being fit and could definitely relate with some of the body image issues mentioned in this book. I know a LOT of people who diet and count calories and I love how this book points out how silly it is! I also didn't know a thing really about Portia aside from the fact she was on Ally McBeal and married to Ellen.
Also at random- I noticed there is an acknowledgement to Jonathan Safran Foer, with a little review quote by him on the back. He's one of my favourite authors so I just found that interesting.
I HIGHLY recommend checking this one out. Especially if you have ever been on a diet or questioned your worth by the number on the scale. Portia totally opened up and shared a very dark, very real story. You can tell SHE wrote it too, and I really liked that.
If you don't want to read it Oprah did a nice little episode with Portia about the book, in which she reads from a few pages so you get the idea. I don't watch Oprah, or listen to everything she says like so many people seem to do, but after reading this book it also helped pull everything into perspective.
So if you'd like to check it out- here ya go!
Part 1- http://youtu.be/aJMDDQFL3ro
Part 2- http://youtu.be/YwGgYs9tj_E
Part 3- http://youtu.be/RhX9os6ex68
Part 4- http://youtu.be/ZmcJ6r4GfXk
hoopoebird's review
3.0
I have wanted to read this book ever since I saw Portia's interview with Ellen a few years ago. While it is a good read and kept me captivated, it definitely could have been executed better. As someone who has struggled with disordered eating, it was hard to me to read at times, but for others who may have never thought this way, it is a look into the mind of an anorexic. It clearly illustrates the unhealthy thought patterns and eating practices that come with having an eating disorder. I found the end of the book to be incredibly refreshing - returning to a positive mindset, treating food as nourishment and exercise as a way to get better at something. I think this book is worth a read - but don't expect it to be amazing.
heatherawatson's review
4.0
A lot more interesting than I thought this was going to be, but for no real reason i've always liked Portia De Rossi. Okay, fine, I was a casual Ally McBeal fan but that should be more than made up by the fact that I've watched all of Arrested Development, like, three times. Still, this was a good story and took me to another place for awhile. As a big food lover, this was like learning about another culture. It took reading this book to realize that (stereotypes aside) I really do live in this culture in LA. I hope more people read this book.