I found this book to be very similar to what goes through the minds of eating disordered women (I am one of them). It is a sad look into a society that places all the emphasis on the female form and not on what really counts. Unfortunatley, societal pressure has a way of ingraining itself on your soul, and this book is a great example of that. I didn't feel it was romanticized at all. On the contrary, there is nothing even remotely "romantic" in about this story.

Jenefer Shute's Life Size is both darkly comical and hauntingly tragic. Narrating from her hospital bed, Josie the book's emaciated antagonist, recounts her downward spiral into anorexia nervosa and her brave and often inspirational climb out of it. This book will forever change the way you look at eating disorders, erasing the national stereotype that anorexics and bulimics destroy their bodies, minds and selves simply to emulate 90's "it girl" Kate Moss.

This is one of only a handful of novels describing a victim of anorexia nervosa. Although I do not know if Ms. Shute has ever had anorexia, she did a fabulous job understanding and explaining it without encouraging it (when I first read this book, I was utterly disturbed by Josie's compulsions) or unwittingly doling out "tricks-of-the-trade". Josie is a 25 year-old female graduate student. After her roommate accidentally walks in on her in the shower, she freaks and calls Josie's parents. Unwillingly, Josie allows her parents to admit her to an eating disorders treatment facility. Yet she rebels and has scorn for the insistence of the doctors and nurses that she is dying; at 5'2'' and a mere 67 pounds, it is Josie's goal to sustain herself as a skeleton living off of air. It is only under the threat of hyperalimentation (a frightening method of intravenous nutrition) that Josie begins to eat.

The novel skips around a lot, giving subtle detail, and in parts, it is hard to understand. However, this is an accurate portrayal of the shrunken, distracted mind of an anorexic. The novel expresses all aspects of anorexia--degrading sexual experiences,perfectionism, our culture's emphasis on thinness, and family conflicts--not just offering a wrap-up explanation. Josie's acrid wit and humor are needed to keep the novel lively and give you a glimpse into the hidden pain and masked frustration she is faced with. I like how Josie is shown to be, despite her frailness, a woman who is not immature and weak (like anorexics are often betrayed) or on her knees at the hands of an omniscient therapist. Her pain has left her wary, and she is determined not to let anyone take control of her body away from her, even if accompanied by a loving hand.

This is a book that will leave you simultaneously in awe and terrified. Practically every sentence in it could be used as an important quote. I wish I owned this book, it left that kind of an impact on me.

Extremely creative construction of this short novel - inserted use of press releases, etc., to carry the story forward, otherwise being told in the first person. Reminded me of Ellis' American Psycho, but from female perspective. A quick read.

The story of Christine Chandler, thirty-eight year-old lawyer, graduate of Harvard, a woman whose conspicuousness and facade of clear-minded control keeps everyone, even friends, from discovering her destructive love affair with a much younger man. Scott DeSalvo, twenty-six years-old, is a magazine photographer, indolent, ignorant, and "raised on MTV". However, Scott also has a temper and when things do not go Scott's way, his anger transforms into passionate rage. The relationship was initially based on the mutual, unemotional grounds of fulfilling sexual needs in both parties. Yet merely ten months after she meets him, Christine is facing charges with a horrible crime of mutilation, an act so repugnant she is now known as the "Boston Fury" and attracting national renown.

We hear the novel in the aftermath of the assault as Christine, who pleads guilty to her actions, is attempting to gather wisps of memory together to assist her prominent feminist defense attorney. She chronicles the aberrating events that led from a one-night stand to a sadomasochistic gratification to a murderous and insane jealousy. The book gives information punctuated with the depositions and testimonies of her aghast friends and colleagues, cold and unsympathetic parents, and the articles and transcripts of talk shows and tabloid magazines, who are having a field-day with the story of a woman who had it all, but whose emotional melt-down froze to an icy rage.

This book was a wonderful read. I enjoyed the wry and offbeat humor of Shute's Christine and could recognize her style emulating that of previous works without repeating. Although this book can be provocative due to its sexual deviance, you can really empathize and appreciate this tale of a woman who bears the knowledge that she has committed a crime, yet leaves the reader wondering if she is ever really guilty of it at all.

Sex Crimes is the second novel of author Jenefer Shute, ensuring that after her substantial debut with Life-Size, she is more than just a one-night stand of an author. I look forward to reading much more of her future writing.

I look for fine craftsmanship with the English language...fine descriptive powers, and also for fine insights into the human psyche. I also happen to like books that (this does sound idiotic) are not that long, given my time/energy constraints. This book has all of the above, and while anything but graphic or gratuitous in the handling of the sex topic...the last thing it is is steamy...the subtext of sexual obsession certainly keeps it more interesting than a review of an IRS manual. Especially if you've been there in relationships where conversation wasn't the focus but falling together in a frenzy of body heat again again WAS the issue, this book hits home. Good stuff.