Ho Hum
I can tell that this book was written by someone accustomed to writing shorter pieces. Although the topic was interesting, the book rambled and lurched along in a largely unrecognizable structure. Many of the author's (interesting, even) ideas were obscured due to the lack of cohesiveness of the book as a whole. Too bad a good editor didn't get on this one and whip it into better shape, because the topic as a whole is rife with possibility, and the author has an interesting and likeable voice.

Here's the problem...
I don't hate this book, but it's not the book I thought it would be. From the review I'd read and from the title itself, I was expecting a book about food addiction. But it's not just about binge-eating, as William Leith is also heavily into coke, drinking and anything else that you might become addicted to (cell phones, casual sex). By the end of the memoir he seems to have become addicted to walking, though I'm not quite sure if we're supposed to think this is a positive thing or not.

You could argue -- as Leith does -- that the basics of addiction are the same no matter what you are addicted to, and you'd probably be right. However, I still feel that snorting coke and drinking yourself unconscious is on a whole other level than unhealthy eating, because you need to cross a social threshold to do drugs. For me this threshold is very high, and that makes it difficult for me to grasp the kind of world where doing coke recreationally is normal, never mind doing it until you collapse.

I was hoping to find a book about the love-hate relationship a binge-eater has with food, but Leith's memoir is more about how a traumatic childhood can trigger compulsiveness. The language itself is even a little compulsive, with repeated sentences like, "I am, and I am not;" "We are empty, and we are not empty." There are several lines in a row that begin with the word "And," and five or six chapters end with the same sentence, in order to drive a point home.

All in all this is not a terrible book. It doesn't offer any final solutions, it's humorous and sometimes thoughtful, and with its bite-size chapters it's an addictive read. But it's not really a book about food addiction.

As hard to put down as a handful of peanuts...
... and like peanuts, a moderate amount of this book is good, but you'll consume more than you need. Leith's writing is addictive -- stream of consciousness about his inability to stop consuming food, drugs,alcohol, sex -- and I found myself unable to turn away from observing his uncensored mind at work -- saying to myself 'just one more of his 3-page chapters'. I finished, even though I found nothing particularly original or profound in his repetitive chatter about how consumed we are with consuming and how empty the resulting guilt makes us feel and how looking within ourselves for greater contentment and rewards is a better solution. So be forewarned, once you're into this for a few pages, you'll be hooked, but you may feel a bit guilty afterward .

Honest, but tedious and mundane throughout
I tried to like William Leith's book but I found his writing tiresome and surprisingly unperceptive. The author has little insight into why he eats all the time, he just talks about how much of it he does, and though I could relate to his food addiction, I could not relate to his outlandish social commentary. What was his point in writing this memoir? I came away from the book with no definite answer to this question. I admire his courage in writing this book, but I don't think his writing style is engaging or enlightened.

Finally Takes a (British) Man to Question this "Extreme Makeover" Culture!
William Leith gets it. While this culture disingenuously and hypocritically tsk-tsks over scary skinny Hollywood and New York starlets, and prepubescent anorexia cases; the height of this obsession has started to migrate across the pond--to England.

So, we have a scathing diatribe against externalities of any sort, including dieting. (And especially plastic surgery!) Even credit cards and cell phones! Dieting will give you a substitute slim body with which you could appear not to have ever stuffed your face and/or had problems. Cell phones image to the world that you are oh-so-very-well-connected!! (I do not own a cell phone, and will use someone else's only if paid to do so.) Don't even get me started on plastic surgery--suffice to say, I am fine with my droopy facial skin. All of these external changes function as fashion statements. These fashion statements contribute to surface, ersatz existences!

Leith probably has the resources and much of the gumption to have afforded a personal trainer to help him physically work out some of his body image issues and obsession with fashion (usually women's territory)--instead, with formidable intellectual courage, he explores his own emotional history and, with the help of low-carbing, loses weight.

One of the main reasons I personally choose to live in my current ersatz body has been medical issues, which were not brought about by excess weight, but are aggravated by it. However, I am on a high-carb diet--it's much tougher at first, but all roads eventually lead to the same end--restrictions and strait jackets.

This book was written as an object lesson. It should be required reading for therapists, dietitians, nutrition coaches and weight loss group entrepreneurs (but it probably won't be).

In any case, as a woman I got the message, whether intended or not.