Blog on reading from Dreams and Inward Journeys

I would like to write this post on Hunger by Anne Lemott. This reading definitely made the largest impact on me in our assigned text Dreams and Inward Journeys. Anne Lemott did an awesome job in capturing me attention from the very start by beginning with the blunt statement "This is the story of how, at the age of thirty-three, I learned to feed myself". Immediately you begin to wonder: what could she be talking about? How could a thirty-three year old just be learning how to feed herself? Shouldn’t she have learned this years ago? And before you know it, BAM! Anne Lemott has you exactly where she wants you.

After reading the story a bit further, you soon realize she is discussing the topic of her dangerous, life threatening struggle with an eating disorder. In my opinion, she made an excellent decision to write this story in first person. Her very blunt and to-the-point style of writing makes it incredibly easy to follow and understand. I also found her light-hearted, dry sense of humor worked as an awesome asset in explaining this very tragic time in her life. For example, when she talks about finally becoming sober—“I felt that when I got sober, God had saved me from drowning, but now I was going to get kicked to death on the beach. It’s so much hipper to be a drunk than a bulimic. Drunks are like bikers or wrestlers; bulimics are baton twirlers, gymnasts.” This was also one of my favorite quotes from this story. In just a few sentences, she was able to express how scared and lost she was, while making you giggle all at the same time.

Furthermore, Anne’s writing does a great job in placing you in her shoes. Maybe you’ve never experienced any trouble with an eating disorder, or maybe you have, or maybe you’re even going through this difficult time as you’re reading this. No matter which applies, Hunger is an educational and/or therapeutic read. She effectively brings you along on the bumpy road to her recovery, and ends the story with her inspirational decision to love herself, and “live”.