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Wasted
- A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
- Narrated by: Marya Hornbacher
- Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins
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Wasted
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Publisher's Summary
Precociously intelligent, imaginative, energetic, and ambitious, Marya Hornbacher grew up in a comfortable middle-class American home. At the age of 5, she returned home from ballet class one day, put on an enormous sweater, curled up on her bed, and cried because she thought she was fat. By age 9, she was secretly bulimic, throwing up at home after school, while watching Brady Bunch reruns on television and munching Fritos. She added anorexia to her repertoire a few years later and took great pride in her ability to starve.
Marya's story gathers intensity with each passing year. By the time she is in college and working for a wire news service in Washington D.C., she is in the grip of a bout of anorexia so horrifying that it will forever put to rest the romance of wasting away. Down to 52 pounds and counting, Marya becomes a battlefield: her powerful death instinct at war with the will to live.
Why would a talented young girl go through the looking glass and slip into a netherworld where up is down, food is greed, and death is honor? Why enter into a love affair with hunger, drugs, sex, and death? Marya Hornbacher sustained both anorexia and bulimia through five lengthy hospitalizations, endless therapy, the loss of family, friends, jobs, and ultimately, any sense of what it means to be "normal."
In this vivid, emotionally wrenching memoir, she recreates the experience and illuminates the tangle of personal, family, and cultural causes underlying eating disorders. Wasted is the story of one woman's travels to the darker side of reality, and her decision to find her way back again - on her own terms.
What listeners say about Wasted
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-08-2022
Hypnotic and haunting
As the father of a child with an eating disorder this was both disturbing and compulsive reading.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- melissa
- 26-10-2017
Brilliant but hard to read
This book is legend of course and for good reason it's beautifully written and gives fantastic insight into the writers mind and eating disorder. However the writer is so bright that combined with her unique writing style this book is harder to read than most. Not an easy listen but well worth the effort thanks
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-10-2017
a harrowing tale.
It's pretty quick and ruthlessly honest. I like listening to audiobooks read by the author themselves, it makes Wasted particularly raw.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- debbie williams
- 25-10-2017
Haunting
A well written book that gives insight into the mind of an addict. Sad and thought provoking.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Blackmagic
- 12-07-2016
Fascinating, sad and shocking.
By the end I wanted to listen to more. Some of the story shocked me though the poetic writing of the scenes are beautiful. It did take a few chapters to draw me in. This true story is quite sad.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rachel
- 15-07-2015
Beautifully well-written
I can't believe the author was only 23 when she penned this book. So powerful and riveting. I loved it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-12-2022
Loved it
A bit triggering but really well written and overall good story, I recommend this book
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-12-2018
audio is shocking
I couldnt get through 1 chapter of this without off. the worst audio I've ever heard. who do I contact for a refund?
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Joseph
- 15-06-2016
Indulgent and monotonous
Indulgent and monotonous. Ended up not caring whether the wasted away or not. Dull reading
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