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Main page » Non-Fiction » Ravenous Identity: Eating and Eating Distress in the Life and Work of Virginia Woolf


Ravenous Identity: Eating and Eating Distress in the Life and Work of Virginia Woolf

 
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In this debut book, Glenny (Ph.D., English literature), a former anorexic, attributes the "omnipresence" of food in the writing of Virginia Woolf to her "premature weaning" (at ten weeks), the early death of her mother, and, most significantly, sexual abuse by her half-brother. While this densely written study breaks new ground in Woolf scholarship, Glenny goes too far by becoming an apologist for anorexia. Instead of simply showing how important food was as a metaphor for Woolf, Glenny makes disturbing comments such as "anorexia can, at its most positive, function as a bell-jar in which personal and political change is fermented." She also suggests that anorexia provides women an "effective emergency measure" in which to gain a sense of self, particularly in response to childhood abuse. Clearly, Woolf was able to quiet her demons temporarily, but her 1941 suicide attests to her ultimate status as a victim. Recommended for larger academic collections.
-Diane Gardner Premo, Rochester P.L., NY



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Tags: Woolf, Glenny, anorexia, Virginia, Eating