Best Body: Pretty, Miserable, Perfectness - Softcover
December 19th, 2001: Author Jordan Lee Knape is thirteen years old and admitted to a psychiatric unit days before Christmas to treat a severe eating disorder. Her parents are told she might not survive the night.
The #1 killer in the world of mental illness, eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are deadly diseases that all too often go unnoticed for far too long by friends and family members because we think the victims are beautiful and disciplined.
The truth is people with eating disorders are struggling with a disorder that is part mental illness, part addiction. And if those struggling do not find recovery, they will die from the disorder.
Eating disorders have more to do with major depression and addiction issues than with the common phrase, "I just wanted to be beautiful." Hospitalized days before Christmas at the age of 13, Jordan struggled with anorexia, bulimia and major depression before tapping into her fierce inner determination to take back her life on her own terms.
The BEST BODY story could have been a tragedy but with a fighter's spirit and a willingness to pursue a "disruptive life," Jordan created the real life she wanted -- and serves as a reminder to even the most sick that full recovery is possible.
Much more than a tell-all but just as captivating, BEST BODY weaves together the intimate story of Jordan's descent into a life-threatening ED with her decade-later, bluntly insightful commentary about how and why her life nearly ended.
BEST BODY offers some much-needed hope and understanding to those struggling from eating disorders, depression and anxiety and offers a realistic guide to how recovery is possible -- and worth it.
The #1 killer in the world of mental illness, eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are deadly diseases that all too often go unnoticed for far too long by friends and family members because we think the victims are beautiful and disciplined.
The truth is people with eating disorders are struggling with a disorder that is part mental illness, part addiction. And if those struggling do not find recovery, they will die from the disorder.
Eating disorders have more to do with major depression and addiction issues than with the common phrase, "I just wanted to be beautiful." Hospitalized days before Christmas at the age of 13, Jordan struggled with anorexia, bulimia and major depression before tapping into her fierce inner determination to take back her life on her own terms.
The BEST BODY story could have been a tragedy but with a fighter's spirit and a willingness to pursue a "disruptive life," Jordan created the real life she wanted -- and serves as a reminder to even the most sick that full recovery is possible.
Much more than a tell-all but just as captivating, BEST BODY weaves together the intimate story of Jordan's descent into a life-threatening ED with her decade-later, bluntly insightful commentary about how and why her life nearly ended.
BEST BODY offers some much-needed hope and understanding to those struggling from eating disorders, depression and anxiety and offers a realistic guide to how recovery is possible -- and worth it.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From the Author:
As seen in BubbleLife Author Q&A with Jordan Lee Knape:
"Q. What did you think about while writing "Best Body"?
A. First disclosure is "Best Body" is a memoir, which means I wrote while crying -- essentially. It's not easy looking back at a time you'd much rather forget but I like memoirs, I devour memoirs and I believe that reading memoirs is important. Go figure I'm a (huge) Joan Didion fan and that essential line, that "we tell ourselves stories in order to live," I believe with a full heart. Even when it hurts to read, even when it hurts to write, even if and when you'd rather not look back. If you lived through something so difficult you consider yourself a survivor... honesty is what I'm after. Because it makes all of this hurt worth something.
Q. How did you come up with the title?
A. You have to read chapter two! "Best Body" is not a random title. Actually I had another title I was going with for years -- I've been working on "Best Body Memoir" for eight years now -- but then another, Really Big Deal Writer took the title -- of course without knowing -- all I had going for me with the title was the name in a Word Doc. That's reminder #1 for a writer: You can take eight years but eventually you're going to have to hand the writing over. I learn that again and again in my day job as a copywriter. These stories and ideas don't belong to anyone. I'm certainly not the only woman who has recovered from her eating disorder, certainly not the only person still standing after they've hit rock bottom too many times to count. I don't mean to say that our individual stories don't matter -- I write memoirs-- but I think there's huge value collectively. You don't just write for yourself."
CNBC Coverage of Best Body Memoir:
Best Body: Pretty, Miserable, Perfectness Book Offers Timely Insight for Families Seeking Eating Disorder Help Over the Holidays
"'There was a real fear that I might not survive the night," said Ms. Knape, "yet up until I was admitted into treatment by Dr. Setliff, my parents could not find a doctor who could recognize the disorder. From child practitioners to ER doctors, time and time again my parents were told nothing was wrong with me. It was only until I was so close to death that the true problem, a severe eating disorder, was finally recognized. The disparity between my actual life-threatening illness and the perceptions around me were mind-boggling.'
Ms. Knape survived and surpassed her eating disorder, but only after years of work to fight the illness. She believes the tools she used to recover are useful to those currently struggling with eating disorders. She also offers advice to family members who may be especially concerned about the upcoming holidays."
From the Back Cover:
"Q. What did you think about while writing "Best Body"?
A. First disclosure is "Best Body" is a memoir, which means I wrote while crying -- essentially. It's not easy looking back at a time you'd much rather forget but I like memoirs, I devour memoirs and I believe that reading memoirs is important. Go figure I'm a (huge) Joan Didion fan and that essential line, that "we tell ourselves stories in order to live," I believe with a full heart. Even when it hurts to read, even when it hurts to write, even if and when you'd rather not look back. If you lived through something so difficult you consider yourself a survivor... honesty is what I'm after. Because it makes all of this hurt worth something.
Q. How did you come up with the title?
A. You have to read chapter two! "Best Body" is not a random title. Actually I had another title I was going with for years -- I've been working on "Best Body Memoir" for eight years now -- but then another, Really Big Deal Writer took the title -- of course without knowing -- all I had going for me with the title was the name in a Word Doc. That's reminder #1 for a writer: You can take eight years but eventually you're going to have to hand the writing over. I learn that again and again in my day job as a copywriter. These stories and ideas don't belong to anyone. I'm certainly not the only woman who has recovered from her eating disorder, certainly not the only person still standing after they've hit rock bottom too many times to count. I don't mean to say that our individual stories don't matter -- I write memoirs-- but I think there's huge value collectively. You don't just write for yourself."
CNBC Coverage of Best Body Memoir:
Best Body: Pretty, Miserable, Perfectness Book Offers Timely Insight for Families Seeking Eating Disorder Help Over the Holidays
"'There was a real fear that I might not survive the night," said Ms. Knape, "yet up until I was admitted into treatment by Dr. Setliff, my parents could not find a doctor who could recognize the disorder. From child practitioners to ER doctors, time and time again my parents were told nothing was wrong with me. It was only until I was so close to death that the true problem, a severe eating disorder, was finally recognized. The disparity between my actual life-threatening illness and the perceptions around me were mind-boggling.'
Ms. Knape survived and surpassed her eating disorder, but only after years of work to fight the illness. She believes the tools she used to recover are useful to those currently struggling with eating disorders. She also offers advice to family members who may be especially concerned about the upcoming holidays."
"A big, flaming, red-hot spark for my eating disorder boomed on a weeklong school campout in the seventh grade. The boys in my class made a list of the girls in the class and rated them from top to bottom. They itemized them. They picked off their parts and pieces and they said who had the best what and where. Of course the list only involved looks - what else was there to talk about?... I was voted Best Body." - And so began Jordan Lee Knape's rapid descent into the darkness of anorexia - a descent that led her to hospitalization at age 14. Written a decade later, Jordan's compelling story paints a picture not only of an eating disorder's emotional and physical anguish but also of the subtle ways in which we all contribute to its deadly grip.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherSpeed Honey Press
- Publication date2014
- ISBN 10 1467585262
- ISBN 13 9781467585262
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages306
- Rating
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Best Body: Pretty, Miserable, Perfectness
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Speed Honey Press
(2014)
ISBN 10: 1467585262
ISBN 13: 9781467585262
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