This book has a ton of interesting information regarding Victorian America, and the stressors that came with the fast-changing times. The author obviously did extensive and in depth research regarding this book, which contributes to the vast amount of fact and well-drawn conclusions included in the book. However, it seems that the text does not flow well because there is too much information. In reading this book, I felt that the author included all the research she found, without recognizing that some could have been saved for another project. Initially, I expected the focus of the book to be about Mollie Fancher, but she is just a starting place for a dissertation on the origin of modern diagnoses of neuroses. The book is very interesting, yet did not hold my attention as I had hoped.

This was a very different book...with different meaning in a good way. Stacey did a tremendous amount of research into both the family of Mollie Fancher, and the times in which she lived. Just as in a hundred years when people read about the predominance of anorexia nervosa, they will not totally understand the mechanisms and stressors behind girls of our time literally starving themselves to death...we cannot possibly understand the workings of Mollie Fancher's decisions to alter the controls of her own life without understanding the immense pressures she was under. There is this prevailing concept now that things were 'easier in the good old days' because our own world is so complex and often so violent. Yet, we too quickly forget that the 'old days' including frequent deaths by bear children, terrible diseases that took the lives of children who lived past the first year and adults, crowded and polluted conditions in cities, and total lack of respect for women as shown in how little say they had in their own lives.

Mollie had experienced almost all of these things by the time she reached sixteen. From a middle class family, she lost her mother early to childbirth, she had lost brothers/sisters to disease, her father remarried and abandoned the original family (which seemed to happen a lot according to my eugenics research), Mollie was fast approaching the age where she would be required to leave school, and marry and have children. The final straw was getting her long skirts entangled in a street car upon leaving it, and getting dragged for a long period of time.

Stacey makes it clear that the decisions Mollie made to remain bedridden were probably not consciously overt decisions. Mollie must have retained a phobia concerning childbirth after seeing what it did to her beloved mother, and she was given a pretty good education only to be expected to submerge that education and her independence upon marriage. By choosing to invalid herself, she managed to retain some control over her own life...but at costs not only to others like her family who had to take care of her, but also to herself. Mollie was not a traditional anorexic as we are familiar with all too well these days. She may have gone through an early stage of fasting and food avoidance, but her invalidism did not have a significant effect on her length of life. Her photos look like she was fairly well-fed and at middle life, was heavy as so many of us women get. The mystery in this book is not concerned as much with the claim by others mainly that she lived on relatively little food. She may have not eaten a lot, but being bed-ridden with no exercise would certainly not have demanded that she eat a lot to retain a decent figure of health. The real mystery has to do with the reaction of society towards Mollie, the scientists who fought to prove she was a 'fake' though she was relatively uninterested in celebrity, and the absolute fascination that the press and society with Mollie's abilities and her problems.

That Mollie was fooling herself is discernible in Stacey's fine writing. That others allowed Mollie's sure belief in herself to close their own eyes to reality is also obvious. As usual, scientists (usually minor ones too) were quick to jump on any available media soapbox to promote their own 'scientific' ideas against any possible spiritual reason for Mollie's continued existence. Not much has changed in 140 years. Scientists are still jumping on any available media soapbox to promote their ideas...and the quacks with their speculations, unproven theories, risky practices, and self-conceit are all around us again (including some Nobel prize winners who make ridiculous statements to the press!).

I found the history of all this incredibly fascinating. Stacey wandered a bit from Mollie's story, yet the wanderings were interesting and added to the general understanding of Mollie's frame of mind, as well as that of the scientists and her own rabid supporters. One thing this book does it make you look at your own beliefs and prejudices to see if they hold up under inspection.

I remember 'hearing' that anorexics were using food as both an attention-getter and as a power struggle within the family and society. To an extent, I think the power theory has validation, but I no longer believe that these girls (and occasionally men) do this as an attention getter. They are actually the opposite...sneaky, trying to avoid eating at all costs, using any means to void the body of nutritional benefit. These people truly do not understand after a certain point their own self-destructive behavior. Though Mollie may not have been a traditional anorexic, she also did not totally understand her own unconscious decisions...because in letters and statements she had made to others it is clear she 'missed' being able to do certain things. Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh

Michelle Stacey's book, THE FASTING GIRL, is a lucid and compelling examination of the life of Mollie Fancher, a young Victorian woman who, after a streetcar accident in 1865, manifested bizarre physical symptoms including weakness, various paralyses, and apparent blindness and claimed to live twelve years without food. Because newspaper and other reporters picked up Mollie's story, celebrated her, and made her famous, Ms Stacey has been able to document the bizarre occurances in Molly's life which might seem too improbable to consider from a less diligent researcher. Ms Stacey's research is unimpeachable.
She describes Mollie's life in transfixing detail and presents alternative possible realities of Mollie's claims for twenty-first-century readers. I think anyone would like this book, but especially readers interested in the psychology of Victorian "hysteria," which today would probably be the companion of philosophers' "mind-body connection," physicians' "psycosomatics," and neuroscientists' relatively new field of "psychoneuroimmunology;" in other words, what your mind can, however improbably, make your body do without your knowledge or consent.
I love this book. Fascinating stuff and a romping good read!

Dr. McCulley presents his case for homocystene as a risk factor in heart disease and there is some useful material here. However, he is so intent on convincing his audience that cholesterol is meaningless that he distorts the data. Several times he lumps the effects of cholesterol in the diet (probably of little importance) together with cholesterol in the bloodstream (shown to be important in hundreds of studies). In the end I decided that I wasn't sure that anything he said was not very biased. Heart disease is probably not a case of homocystene OR cholesterol but homocystene AND cholesterol. I hope all readers of this book will also read other sources such as Kowalski for a balanced presentation. Fortunately there are other sources of information on the importance of homocystene. Reader beware.

Dr. McCully presents sound nutritional advice to those at risk for heart disease as well as the rest of the public. He advocates cutting refined foods from our national diet - it is the refining of grains (especially white flour) that depletes the B vitamins in foods. As a result we experience a decreased capacity for clearing methionone from our blood. It is this methionone that is converted to homocysteine - a substance in the blood that Dr. McCully feels plays a big role in heart disease. Yes, this is new information for most of the public - but the bottom line is the same. To decrease one's risk for developing heart disease, McCully informs us that one must eat more servings of whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes. Additionally, one must avoid fatty, processed foods like cakes, cookies and muffins. Dr. McCully also advocates intake of high quality protein, especially lean proteins like fish, poultry and lean cuts of pork. This book will be valuable to anyone who wants to reduce his or her risk of developing heart disease. This book will also be of value to anyone who just wants a healthier way of eating. As a clinical dietitian with a master's degree in nutrition, this book will have it's place in my own personal library.

Dr. McCully has written, in simple prose, an easily understood summary of his years of original research. His perseverence in the face of hostility and underhanded back-biting has been amazing. And the results can help us all. Several years ago, I was at a scientific meeting at which the data on cholesterol were reviewed: it turns out that the medical establishment forgot, in its misbegotten war on cholesterol, that it has a crucial function in neurotransmitter synthesis. Lowering cholesterol below YOUR personal set-point will lower serotonin, increasing depression, accident rates, and weakening impulse control. So the case is even stronger than Dr. McCully indicates. Read his book -- and eat wisely.

Forget about this book. It goes on and on and on... Did I mention it's a little repetitive too?

Excellent, wonderful book. Cuts through all the garbage and clearly shows us why we, as Americans, are so fat. Thought provoking,intelligently written, a must read for anyone who wonders why there are so many conflicting reports on weight loss. Completely freed me of my many food obsessions and enabled me to lose (forever) 40 pounds,while ONLY eating foods I enjoy. I can't thank the author enough.