The Art of Not Eating

Cons are that it is a bit disjointed and quite vague. It should have been a memoir that inserted points of history... trying to market it as the history of not eating misplaced my expectations and then it was a disappointment because there is very little depth, no real order and it lacks interesting details. It is more about mentioning historical instances of not eating and then how the author feels about herself and fails to connect her feelings to the historical instances she brings up. The vagueness is the real culprit here as it becomes frustrating the more you read and crave real information. The obsession with Dr Cheyne distracted from the point rather than bolstering it as it is clear the author is trying hard to do.

Pros are that the way the author expresses her feelings surrounding diet culture and cultural expectations surrounding food are very relatable and she makes some observations that aren't really talked about (like the charade of not really eating even in so-called feminist or progressive circles as a signal of morality or goodness). Hamel-Akré has the writing chops to write an excellent memoir so those aspects of the text were compelling!