Holy Anorexia

“A brilliant, disturbing study of anorexic behavior amongst medieval Italian female saints . . . original, controversial, superbly executed.” — Kirkus Reviews Is there a resemblance between the contemporary anorexic teenager counting every calorie in her single-minded pursuit of thinness, and an ascetic medieval saint examining her every desire? Rudolph M. Bell suggests that the answer is yes. “Everyone interested in anorexia nervosa . . . should skim this book or study it. It will make you real