The Hungry Years: Confessions of a Food Addict

This book started off well and then progressively deteriorated. It would seem that Leith forgot what the point of the book was about halfway through. His ramblings about the Atkins diet and the media were unbelievably annoying (mainly because of their length). I started to feel like he ran out of things to write about, so he decided to go off on various tangents ... crack addiction, cell phones, smoking, alcoholism ... "Gotta make it to 300 pages ... hmmm ... let me throw in a useless description of plastic surgery ... that will do the trick!" Ugh. Give me a break. It seems to me that, instead of using his own creativity, Leith attempted to follow the footsteps of Frey. Sadly, it was not an effective strategy. He has the potential to show more write an amazing book ... he just needs some guidance. show less

I loved this book ! I enjoyed his writing so much that I went out and bought his two other books.

I can understand how this would not be a 5 star book to some, but to me it was as it is was so relatable to my own life and horror stories of having binge eating disorder for 33 years, self loathing, clothes that fit one week but not the next, the shame, the self-disgust, the endless attempts and failures of trying to lose weight but getting nowhere fast for decades.

This is a warts and all book, it is not prettified so as not to disgust others. It is a book written by a drug taken, alcoholic, binge eating man in England.

I enjoyed it and nearly every page I found myself smiling saying, ' yep, been there done that William, it is not only you '.

A

A compulsively (I couldn't resist, sorry) readable memoir that I finished in just two days. Leith chronicles his struggles with food, as well as drinking and drugs, and the slow process of recovery. It is rare to find a book on any type of eating disorder by a man, so that is one reason I would recommend it. Another reason is that it is funny and true. I would recommend this book to just about anyone, but especially anyone who has had any sort of compulsive behavior in their lives, or in the lives of their loved ones.

I have to say that the author is one sick fellow. Compulsive, addicted to food, drink, drugs, women, he is the soft underbelly we all possess but don't dare show. I was alternately repelled and drawn to this story, and found it an uncomfortable one to read, in part because it struck so close to home. Worth reading, but be warned - this book will make you look twice at your own coping behaviours.

A collection of essays from the author, which deal with his obsession and difficulty with food and his weight.

I liked the autobiographical essays the best, and found them warm, funny and sympathetic. However, some of the essays simply felt like the reader was being lectured to, and I found these less enjoyable. I also found the origins of MacDonalds Restaurant to be rather drearily told, and almost put the book down for good at this point.

Nonetheless, it is still worth reading, although I felt a sense of anger and self-pity running through it.

The story of one man's obsession with food and the effects that had on him and his life. It also details the love-hate relationship he had with carbohydrates until he met Dr Atkins and started the atkins diet quite successfully. Though it does segue after that into a morass of drug use and self-abuse and I'm not sure where he was going with the end of the book. It's an interesting look at self-image, food and how it's consumed by people

an interesting book, but I wasn't that wowed. There was a lot of back and forth to when he was thin(ner) but he didn't seem to be willing to make changes. He knew what he was doing wrong and how Atkins might have helped - but seemed to be treating it as more of a toy. Maybe some of his other writing is better, but I didn't find this to be well put together