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Health Issues

Becky Adlam

Monkey Taming - 2007/05/19 13:33 I've just finished 'Monkey Taming' by Judith Fathallah and thought it a superb book. It is an extremely honest book in which Jessica suffers from Anorexia and struggles with the voice of her 'monkey' inside her head that insistently tells her she's fat. It gives an insight into what anorexics go through, blaming much larger issues such as fractured families, bereavement and a loss of childhood not just peer pressure and skinny celebrities. I highly recommend this book for everyone - in particular teenagers, parents and anyone who has ever known an anorexic.

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Colin M

Re:Monkey Taming - 2007/05/20 08:31 I found it refreshing to read an "issues" book that doesn't hide behind a story, or use a plot to justify it's own existence. Monkey Taming just says, 'Sit down and listen; this is what it's like.' For that reason, the subject of the book is always at the fore.

It reminded me of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: fiction that reads like an autobiography. There is something totally genuine about the author's voice, an authority and an honesty that convinces you they must have been through something similar. Whether that is true doesn't really matter; as a reader, the fact that it feels convincing, does.

Superb.

Colin M

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Nikki Gamble	Re:Monkey Taming - 2007/05/22 16:25 Readers may want to know that an indepth interview with Judith can be heard at One Word Radio. It costs just 30p for downloads. https://oneword.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=679 We will also be featuring an interview with Judith, which wil be uploaded to the Write Away website inthe not too distant future.
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Roberta Giacchino

Re:Monkey Taming - 2007/05/25 07:09 I've not yet read Monkey Taming, but another book on the same topic. Skin by A.M. Vrettos is a very moving story told from the point of view of the younger brother. Although you do get an insight into the mechanisms of anorexia, the book also tackles the issues of how it affects those around them, how you almost don't see it coming till it's too late, and struggle with feelings of helplessness.

Roberta Giacchino

Post edited by: bobbiegiacchino, at: 2007/05/25 07:10

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Luisa Plaja	Re:Monkey Taming - 2007/05/29 19:27 I agree with Colin. Monkey Taming read like a memoir to me too - it was wonderfully authentic-sounding and occasionally painful to read. Another YA book which tackles the effect of anorexia on the family is Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, where the main character's sister is a sufferer.
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Carolyn Swain

Re:Monkey Taming - 2007/06/18 19:30 I too found this moving but wasn't around to contribute to the life forum.

I thought I knew quite a bit about the topic but I was quite shocked by some of the home truths revealed about anorexia, e.g. sitting in the middle of the room as far away from the radiator as possible because you burn more calories when you are cold. It was the small details such as this which made me realise how little I really knew about the condition.

I also found the theme of control fascinating and operating on many levels - the monkey's control, the hospital's control, her mother's, her own etc. I may be naive but although I guessed that an anorexic is battling against a problem of some kind, I hadn't considered that controlling what you eat might make other problems more manageable. How fine the line is between feeling empowered and disempowered. A thought provoking read I felt.

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