Holy Anorexia

By Rudolph M. Bell

Book Overview

Is there a resemblance between the contemporary anorexic teenager counting every calorie in her single-minded pursuit of thinness, and an ascetic medieval saint examining her every desire? Rudolph M. Bell suggests that the answer is yes.

"Everyone interested in anorexia nervosa . . . should skim this book or study it. It will make you realize how dependent upon culture the definition of disease is. I will never look at an anorexic patient in the same way again."--Howard Spiro, M.D., Gastroenterology

" This] book is a first-class social history and is well-documented both in its historical and scientific portions."--Vern L. Bullough, American Historical Review

"A significant contribution to revisionist history, which re-examines events in light of feminist thought. . . . Bell is particularly skillful in describing behavior within its time and culture, which would be bizarre by today's norms, without reducing it to the pathological."--Mary Lassance Parthun, Toronto Globe and Mail

"Bell is both enlightened and convincing. His book is impressively researched, easy to read, and utterly fascinating."--Sheila MacLeod, New Statesman

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226042057
• ISBN13: 9780226042053
• Release Date: June 1987
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Holy Anorexia

This book is an excellent historic study of women possesed with piety, most of these women were nuns from the 14-15th century. They expressed a dedication to Christ through an aesthetic lifestyle that included starvation, self-inflicted torture, mystical hallucinations and extreme self-denial. The women who starved to death gained a martyr like status. A facinating book!