The Good Eater: The True Story of One Man's Struggle With Binge Eating Disorder by Ron Saxen252 pages
Completed 9/26/10
This memoir takes you from abused, chubby little Ron to unhealthy-habitted model Ron, to self-destructive Ron. And the whole while, you want to feel for this guy, but I found that you just can't. It took me quite some time to get through this one; not because it was dull or didn't interest me, but because I honestly just wanted to smack the character through the book.
Binge eating, which affects millions of Americans, was the focus of this book; but not really addressed. Yes, it was clear as Saxen shoveled multiple Big Macs and one pound bags of candy followed by entire loaves of fried bread that this was unhealthy binging at it's finest. But the author seems to have used this book to connect his feelings to the food (which I know is the reasoning behind binge eating, but not the reasoning behind this book); if he was unhealthy, unhappy, tired, wary, scared, uneasy, pleased, or overwhelmed - in went the food. Skyrocketing from 204 lbs. to almost 300 in an unbelievably short amount of time, Saxen was just hard to feel for.
Yes, the short peek into the male modeling world and crazy dieting ideas Saxen tries was entertaining, albeit sad, but towards the end of the book, I found myself completely uninspired. Instead of addressing his clear binge eating disorder, Saxen chooses to close the book out by introducing his new love interest and simply summing it all up by saying "I am happy now." For this to be the explanation behind why he doesn't binge eat anymore is absurd. For people looking to this book for advice or reaching out for help, Saxen addressed BED terribly, especially connecting his happiness with healthiness and leaving it at that.
