Obsessed: America's Food Addiction and My Own

In this multifaceted overview of the widespread, and unhealthy, fixation on food, Brzezinski (Knowing Your Value) shares her personal story of disordered eating that began with binges in her high school years. As she reviews the merit of a "healthy thin", she considers not only obesity's direct blows to personal health but also its toll on one's earning potential and health care costs. Co-author Smith's personal story of food struggles, which for her culminated in obesity, serves also to summarize some of the country's most popular diets, pills, and surgeries throughout the years. Research revealing the highly addictive nature of processed foods is woven with personal tales over-consumption. Effortlessly shifting from a biochemical focus to a spectrum of other harmful inputs, with dips into food philosophy along the way, the book addresses matters like self-soothing with food following trauma. The inconsistency of format and narration proves mildly distracting; however, this does not the tales of their power. When Brzezinski tackles large-scale solutions, she endorses specific governmental action, particularly that undertaken by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The authors have produced a thorough compendium to benefit those embattled with food as well as readers curious about the background of a dangerous epidemic. (May)