SyndicationAug182009
These struggles are depicted alongside
These struggles are depicted alongside a loving portrait of an Italian-American family (the most affecting part of the book), a family that in many ways served as an enabler for this favorite, full-figured son to devour everything in sight.
There are wonderful snapshots of his mother and his paternal grandmother, both excellent cooks and ardent champions of the philosophy "more is better," particularly in the kitchen. But then the entire Bruni clan is defined by meals served and consumed.
Bruni's ravenous appetite, of course, had consequences: a constant battle with weight that grew more fierce as he grew older and his seemingly futile attempts to reach what he describes as "the wondrous Xanadu of the willfully emaciated."
Purging. Pills. Spurts of intense exercising, particularly after the openly gay Bruni started dating. Nothing seemed to work for very long. The only thing that remained constant was his appetite — as he went from college to a career in journalism and eventually a job at the Times. It was an appetite that was put to an extreme test when Bruni was given the high-stress assignment of covering George W. Bush's presidential campaign.
There are wonderful snapshots of his mother and his paternal grandmother, both excellent cooks and ardent champions of the philosophy "more is better," particularly in the kitchen. But then the entire Bruni clan is defined by meals served and consumed.
Bruni's ravenous appetite, of course, had consequences: a constant battle with weight that grew more fierce as he grew older and his seemingly futile attempts to reach what he describes as "the wondrous Xanadu of the willfully emaciated."
Purging. Pills. Spurts of intense exercising, particularly after the openly gay Bruni started dating. Nothing seemed to work for very long. The only thing that remained constant was his appetite — as he went from college to a career in journalism and eventually a job at the Times. It was an appetite that was put to an extreme test when Bruni was given the high-stress assignment of covering George W. Bush's presidential campaign.