Slim to None: A Journey Through the Wasteland of Anorexia Treatment

by Jennifer Hendricks

This eloquently written, heart-wrenching book shares a brave but tormented young woman's candid chronicle of her long and ultimately fatal battle with the eating disorder anorexia. In Slim to None, the late Jenny Hendricks speaks to you from her own carefully detailed personal journals--a practice suggested as treatment by one of her many doctors.

Gently edited and narrated by her father, this book vividly illustrates Jenny's intense emotional struggles--her pride at improving her health clashing with her undefined guilt over eating, her internal conflict between will and reason, and the dispiriting war between self-confidence and self-doubt that plagued her. Most of all, here is an amazing account of the efforts to understand the root of an illness that continues to confound the mental-health system, even at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Genres: Memoir, Psychology, Mental Health, Nonfiction, Mental Illness, Biography Memoir, Health

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2003

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I'm reading this right now and I have to say it's one of the hardest books I've ever tried to get through. The poor girl in this story is absolutely abused by her various mental health providers. It is the story of a girl who was treatable, and was made a terminal case by those who were supposed to help her. I have fought the urge to launch the book across the room several times and have only restrained myself because it belongs to a friend. It's rough reading, but has an important message to those of us working in mental health- it's a strong lesson in compassion.

[Liralen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a really important story in this book - although treatment for eating disorders has improved drastically since its writing, there is still much to be improved on and much to be understood.

That said, I immensely disliked the format. Because the author died, her father wrote the book around her diary entries - certainly valid. However, he wrote more from her perspective than from his own, which I felt was a huge mistake. It was difficult not to question his assertions about his daughter's feelings, etc. - there's no way to know for sure what somebody else is thinking, after all. I would have greatly preferred the non-diary portions of the book to have been written differently.

That said, the book really does highlight how damaging bad treatment can be. Quite painful in places.

[Alli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hendricks' Slim to None was painfully beautiful and a torrent of raw emotion. The pure honesty she had just blew me away, and I have yet to find a book that can compare.

The main theme up until a certain point of this book was to try. Not to succeed, or to be the best, but to put forth genuine effort. Therapist and specialists alike all failed to tend to the wounds Hendrick's had after the sexual abuse she sustained as a child, and the twisted perceptions she had of herself. As she struggles to find approval from her mother and distance herself from her father, I can't help but see myself in her shoes. Her battle with Anorexia is so raw and honest, that I can understand her in ways that I could not understand my own eating disorder. She makes clear through her struggles what others cannot see in their own, and maybe that is the legacy she meant to leave behind. Maybe she knew her diary would help others the way it's helped me.

I do NOT recommend this book to people who do not feel compassion for others. It is extremely difficult to get through for people who have struggled with an eating disorder, because it hits so close to home, and for the weak of heart, is is an emotional atomic bomb. Slim to None was the best book I've ever read, and I will never find a book that has touched me the way that Hendricks' did.

Rest In Peace Jenny.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sad story. Quite repetitive. People say treatment for Anorexia has gotten better since this book was written. Personally, I think the whole psychiatric and a good part of the psychological industry was never really real and has only become a machine for pharmaceutical companies to make big money based on a book that has only about 2% real brain malfunction in it. I am by no means saying that Anorexia is one of those that are not real. I think it is one of the few that is...sometimes.

[Norma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slim to None is a book filled with despair. Jennifer Hendricks chronicles eleven years of her life battling anorexia nervosa. Her dad's unending support and his promise to see her personal journals published was accomplished after a decade of work. Treatment for eating disorders was in its infancy in the 1980's and the complexity of the problem was poorly understood. I was particularly struck by Jennifer's statement. "Being healthy is terrifying. I don't know where to go emotionally. I'm overwhelmed with the idea of life, and I feel incapable of meeting life's expectations. When I starve myself, I'm isolated and my fear goes away." This was a difficult read for me.

[Jen Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is important for you to know that this story is sad. But what is equally important to know is that it is story that NEEDS to be told. The topic of anorexia has been almost glorified with media and celebrities when actually those you never see... like your neighbor, your friend, your daughter, your sister, your wife. THEY are often struggling in silence. Or, they are trapped in a health system that hasn't quite understood how to treat their illness.

[Heather Blaylock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is brutal. It is an example of how there are some really terrible therapists out there. There are excellent ones out there, but this poor girl seemed to find some really awful ones. It makes you wonder if the outcome would have been different if she had found a better therapist and better programs to help her.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely tragic. Such a sad, sad read.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book, although also very disturbing. I did find myself really connecting with the storyline and the experiences throughout. Have tissues in hand!

[Becky Vallejo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sad story. Anorexia is such a misunderstood illness. My heart goes out to all who are or have been effected by it’s grip.

[Izabelle Meairs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like every teenager needs to read this book.. it’s a true story about a woman’s feelings and what she all went through. 10000/10 like everyone go read now

[Logan Polk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel so bad for this poor little girl! She is trying to just get through this alive.-Logan Polk

[L. E. Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devastating, fascinating and horrifying. Will have to keep thinking about it.

[iza ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i cried

[Katrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad story of a girl that lost her life to an eating disorder and failure of insurance and mental health staff to help her.

[Rachael Steil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange reading a book from the girl's perspective as written by her father. Wasn't sure how much to believe since how could he know what she was thinking and what if he skewed what she was thinking? Was he part of the problem??
Very informative for treating eating disorders since it revealed her journal entries and innermost thoughts. However very repetitive too (as it would be with any eating disorder) but this is probably only "enjoyable" or interesting for those learning to treat eating disorders or who are directly connected to an eating disorder.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best account of AN I've read so far. Nothing is simplified or glamorized unlike other books I've read, it goes into every detail of Jennifer's life leaving the reader to come to their own conclusions. It's easy to point blame at one thing or person, but reality is far messier than that. These cases of severe AN are often so complex and mired in issues of medical ethics that many medical practictioners won't touch them.

I'm not sure how many reviewers had suffered an eating disorder themselves, because I was personally shocked at how underrated this book was.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very sad and very repetitive. About half the book is Jenny's diary entries and the other half is her father's imaginings of what she was thinking. There's really no way to know what Jenny was actually thinking so her father really discredits the book. There's a good point in here somewhere about the mental health care system but it gets lost in all the repetition.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking real life story of Anorexia which has lead me to change my major and specialize in eating disorders. Its a very real inside look that we have no idea what we are dealing with. I hope to find out.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. It has so far failed me as to the reason I was reading this. That's alright I guess. That's what the World Wide Web is for...A must read if you'd like to delve into the mind of someone who is anorexic.

[Tierra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a great book, but I wish that Jennifer's (the "author's") father hadn't written so much from her perspective. I imagine a lot of the story has been fictionalized because of his assumptions about his daughter's feelings and experiences.

[Sue Behera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely thought it would be mostly words from Jennifer Hendricks. It is mostly narrated by her father, and talks about how the healthcare system failed his daughter who had severe anorexia nervosa.

[Amanda]

I had to take a break from this one. Every time I picked it up to read, I got really sad and too upset to even focus on it. One day I hope to finish it. It's still on my bookshelf.

[Kezia · Rating 4 out of 5]

very sad

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to put down

[Hily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was like the Diary of Anne Frank for anorexia

(don’t worry, I can say that- I’m Jewish & have a severe eating disorder)

[Bastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

a compassionate novel.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

an emotionally tough read

[LiLitH · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Adelgazar hasta morir".

[Wondy · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a wearing book, goddamn.