I wrote this book because I believe some people will recognize themselves in it -- eating disordered or not. I wrote it because I disagree with much of what is generally believed about eating disorders. I wrote it because people often dismiss an eating disorder as a manifestation of vanity, immaturity, madness. It is, in some ways, all of these things. But it is also an addiction. It is a response, albeit a rather twisted one, to a culture, a family, a self. I would do anything to keep people from going where I went. This book was the only thing I could think of.
-- Marya Hornbacher

Wasted is a brutally honest look at Marya Hornbacher's life-long struggle with herself -- and anything else she can consume.

An especially bright and sensitive girl, at age nine Marya is already concerned with her weight. All Marya's life she's been surrounded by a dsyfunctional family with many issues about food and weight. So she tries throwing up. From there, Marya begins her struggle with bingeing and purging, then on to excessive exercise, and, by age 15, severe anorexia. Marya's low self-esteem and issues with her weight also lead her to escape into drug and alcohol abuse along with many casual sexual encounters.

Marya's body slowly begins to fail her as she is sent to numerous schools, homes, and hospitals in an attempt to cure her and her obsession with weight. But Marya can't escape her eating disorder...and more importantly, her mixed-up sense of self. Even when she thinks she's cured, slowly her eating disorder sneaks back up on her. Until finally, weighing 52 pounds and given only one week to live, Marya finds the strength to try and recover. At the end of the book, she is 23 years old, married, and an internationally published author. However, her body is seriously and permanently injured and, although her eating disorder is under control, she knows it will be with her for the rest of her life.

Wasted shows the side of eating disorders that everyone needs to see. Instead of being portrayed as a quick fix to weighing more than you want, you see the side where you'd rather die than eat, where food is your whole life. By reading this book you have no choice but to realize how eating disorders slowly shut down your body, take over your life, and put you past the point of saving yourself before it's too late.

If you read this book, you'll truly see how serious eating disorders are and how anyone can fall into this trap that can easily kill you before you manage to get out.