Final Response

"The awakened and knowing say: body I am entirely, and nothing else; and soul is only a word for something about the body."
-Nietzshe, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

The story, Wasted by: Marya Hornbacher, was a memoir about anorexia and bulimia. The author, Marya Hornbacher, wrote a powerful story that I believe everyone can relate to. She talks about how people would never be satisfied with their selves and her struggle growing up that lead to her disease(bulimia). Everything eventually connects once as you progress your way towards the ending.

I found the book really interesting. I felt as if she was teaching the reader as she told her story.
For example through out the book she would talk about how bulimics would eat and throw up, and how they don't enjoy eating. When she was hospitalized she talked about how some people in the facility actually "falls in love" with food. They would either find pleasure in the movement of the food in their mouths and move it around in a rhythm formation.


The author would use quotes in the beginning of each different events in her life. She would use different lines from books, ex: Alice in Wonderland, and sometimes she would use short strong poems. The quote above was in the introduction and everything in the book just falls into this.

I loved the way Horbacher wrote this. She would use little 1's and 2's next to a specific word/phrase that either refers to a reference or something that makes you understand what she is saying better; it was similar to a really complicated dictionary/encylopedia.

I really enjoyed it, and I would definitely recommend it.

Reading Response to The Names: A Memoir

"... stricken... blind in the keep of some primordial darkness. And yet it was their time, and they came out into the light, one after another, until the way out was lost to them."

I loved how the author, N. Scott Momady, wrote this. It almost felt like when he was writing this he was spilling his heart out, but at the same time he transformed that personal writing into a huge mystery making it a huge question.

I loved how descriptive he wrote it in the beginning describing the ending of summer and how he captures every little detail making bringing them out.

"... the white light a whirlwind moves far out in the plain, and afterwards there is something like a shadow on the grass, a tremor, nothing."

"A spider enters a small pool of light on Rainy Moutnain Creek, and downstream, at the convergence, a Channel catfish turns around in the current and slithers to the surface, where a dragonfly hovers and darts... somewhere in a maze of gullies a calf shivers and bawls in a tangle of chinaberry trees. And high in the distance a hawk turns in the sun and sails."

Bottom line, I thought it was beautifully written and I was inmediately sucked in.

The Diseased Ending

(Journal 1)

Looking back on my childhood, being outside was a must. From playing house with the neighbors to scraping my knees from playing tag, the great outdoors was my television set. Ok, maybe not the totally "great outdoors" but the "great backyard". The wheater set my channels and the presence of others set my remote.Even though I loved bathing under the sun's rays, I would soon realize that I would become extremly attrated to the delicate rain.

I remember being trapped in the garage when the rain started, but of course like any other beginning of any rain storm there were sprinkles. I ignored them. I was too busy playing house with the neighbors and my sisters. Everyone started panicing once they felt the gentle touch of water and since I was the mommy of the house, they asked me if it was ok. I declined their requests since they didn't "cook".

Eventually the neighbors had to leave and my sisters got tired of staring the "delightful" scene of mud-soup."Fine! Leave! I shouted as they ran back to the REAL house, "You're a waste of food anyway!"Angrily I shut the garage door. The carmel garage door had an uptight security lock, the kind without any knobs and a bolt from the inside, so like any "good mother" I locked it shut.

The gentle drops of rain started to get more and more violent. I remember hearing them drum on the roof of the garage and feeling uneasy. My mom shouted out my name and fiercly demanded me to get inside. As ordered I placed my stick broom away and opened the bolted steel door.Uh-oh. The rain was worst than I thought. I remember comparing the water from the sky from the water in the shower, except the water from the sky was giving the whole world a shower. When I touched the sidewalk with my little toe, I inmediatley shot back to the garage. Wanting to cry, but not wanting to appear weak infront of my siblings I jumped. I figured that if I jumped, maybe I'll make it back home faster and dryer. As I leaped out of the garage I landed in the lawn. As I made another giant leap I felt something different. My right foot seems more at ease somehow and I could feel something smooshy underneath. Looking down, I realized that I lost my golden sandals. But I didn't cry, no. I smiled. I took off the sandal on my left foot and jumped. I didn't understand why my parents were always so picky about where people walked. I didn't see nothing wrong with it at the moment. The hard drops of water from the gray skies changed their mood. Suddenly, they weren't that bad no more. They became soft and gentle. When I lifeted my face to the great endless sky, it felt as if the tiny thousand drops were swiftly dancing across my face. There was something about that moment that drew a huge smile across my face. I felt good being under the gentle drops with the mild absence of sunshine.

I felt a hand jerk my ear. I turned and it was my mom. She had an umbrella with her shielding the amazing effects of water and the expression on her face was a mixture of both confusion and anger.

The next day, my head felt like it was going to explode. Yeap, you guess it! I got sick! As I ate my soup under the cozy covers I heard something familiar. I managed to gather enough strength to open the bright yellow curtains my mom had closed yestarday night. It was raining, again! Feeling the need to be in my bed rather than to dance outside, I smiled and gently fell back on my feather-like pillow.