Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia was declared in 2015 to be one of the top ten eating disorder books of all time. This memoir was beaten to the number one spot only by Clare Beeken's 2001 account of her journey from anorexia to compulsive over-eating and back again struggle that was made into the movie "Catherine" by Maureen Dunbar.
Originally published in 1998, Wasted is an autobiographical account penned by journalist Marya Hornbacher, who dealt with an eating disorder for fourteen years. The duration of her battle is all the more surprising when you consider she wrote the book at the age of twenty-one. To some, the idea that her battle began at the age of seven might seem shocking. However, eating disorders have no set time to appear and aren’t picky about who they prey on - an explosive fact that often seems ignored.
The book was quick to receive both critical acclaim and commercial success, and people were genuinely surprised at the quality and honesty in the writing considering the author was so young. What makes Hornbacher's account different from the others is not just the early onset of her anorexia, but the way in which she tells the reader about it. She is brutally candid about the day-to-day specifics of the anorexic life, a rare item when eating disorders are so secretive. However, the fact that she is so candid should serve as a warning to anyone who is struggling or has struggled with an eating disorder because it can be upsetting and lead to a relapse.
Wasted has sold over one million copies in the United States alone, and was subsequently translated into fourteen languages. Although the book catapulted Hornbacher to international success, it was the final nail in the coffin of her first marriage, to Julian Beard. Her contentious divorce led to an emotional unravelling that became the subject matter for her second autobiographical success, Madness: A Bipolar Life; Hornbacher was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2006.
Hornbacher lives in California with her second husband, and is still working as a journalist and non-fiction essayist.
