Atria Books, U.S.A., 2010. Hardcover. Book Condition: Fine. Dust
Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. A lovely copy of the first printing signed by Portia de Rossi. Signed by Author. 308 pages. I didn't decide to become anorexic. It snuck up on me
disguised as a healthy diet, a professional attitude. Being as thin as
possible was a way to make the job of being an actress easier . . .
Portia de Rossi weighed only 82 pounds when she collapsed on the set of
the Hollywood film in which she was playing her first leading role. This
should have been the culmination of all her years of hard work,first as
a child model in Australia, then as a cast member of one of the hottest
shows on American television. On the outside she was thin and blond,
glamorous and successful. On the inside, she was literally dying. In
this searing, unflinchingly honest book, Portia de Rossi captures the
complex emotional truth of what it is like when food, weight, and body
image take priority over every other human impulse or action. She
recounts the elaborate rituals around eating that came to dominate hours
of every day, from keeping her daily calorie intake below 300 to eating
precisely measured amounts of food out of specific bowls and only with
certain utensils. When this wasn't enough, she resorted to purging and
compulsive physical exercise, driving her body and spirit to the
breaking point. Even as she rose to fame as a cast member of the hit
television shows Ally McBeal and Arrested Development, Portia
alternately starved herself and binged, all the while terrified that the
truth of her sexuality would be exposed in the tabloids. She reveals
the heartache and fear that accompany a life lived in the closet, a
sense of isolation that was only magnified by her unrelenting desire to
be ever thinner. With the storytelling skills of a great novelist and
the eye for detail of a poet, Portia makes transparent as never before
the behaviors and emotions of someone living with an eating disorder.
From her lowest point, Portia began the painful climb back to a life of
health and honesty, falling in love with and eventually marrying Ellen
DeGeneres, and emerging as an outspoken and articulate advocate for gay
rights and women's health issues. In this remarkable and beautifully
written work, Portia shines a bright light on a dark subject. A crucial
book for all those who might sometimes feel at war with themselves or
their bodies, Unbearable Lightness is a story that inspires hope and
nourishes the spirit. Check out my other items!