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This Mean Disease: Growing Up in the Shadow of My Mother's Anorexia Nervosa book cover

This Mean Disease: Growing Up in the Shadow of My Mother's Anorexia Nervosa

by Daniel Becker
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SKU 9780936077505
In the first book written by the child of someone who died from an eating disorder, Daniel Becker shows us the heartbreaking details of his mother's anorexia nervosa—her unrelenting obsession with food and her inability to nourish herself. His earliest memory of her is watching as she packs her suitcase for the first of numerous hospitalizations. From the observations of that confused child to his realization of helplessness as an adult, Daniel conveys the inner world of an anorectic and her family. He provides an intimate portrayal of how he, his father and his two brothers each struggled to balance their loyalty to Mom against the increasing awareness that only by separating from her could they ensure their own survival. In the end, Daniel must come to terms with his mother’s slow demise and begin to lead a life out from under the shadow of her illness.

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Book details

Author
Daniel Becker
Imprint
Gurze Books, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
Published
Formats
Paperback
Subjects
Biography & Autobiography › Memoirs
Self-Help › Eating Disorders & Body Image
Topics
eating disorders · family memoir · children of parents with mental illness · grief and loss · mother-son relationships · eating disorder mortality
ISBN-13
9780936077505

About the author

DANIEL BECKER is a public administrator and the author of This Mean Disease.

The first two chapters of This Mean Disease earned a finalist spot in the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association’s annual literary contest. Becker holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Columbia University and a degree from Dartmouth College; his writing has appeared in Salon.com and Backpacker Magazine.

When he’s not writing, Becker draws on a career spanning legislative work with Representative Barbara Boxer, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, policy positions with the City of Seattle, and four months living and working in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Much of his nonfiction reflects that breadth of public-sector and international experience.

Daniel lives in San Francisco.

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Format: Paperback