helping people with eating disorders. edited by bob palmer. wiley: chichester (2000) £17.99 pp. 273...

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European Eating Disorders Review Eur. Eat. Disorders Rev. 9, 133–136 (2001) Book Reviews Helping People with Eating Disorders Edited by Bob Palmer Wiley: Chichester (2000) £ 17.99 pp. 273 ISBN 0-471-98647-X Written by one of the leading authorities in the field of eating disorders in this country, this book is simply a gem. I was trying to think what it is about the book that makes it so unique and eminently readable. As you go through the book it feels like you are having a very personal and at the same time highly informative dialogue with someone who knows everything there is to be known about eating disorders and who really understands the people suffering from these disorders. Bob Palmer guides you through the bewilderingly complex and often contradictory scientific evidence and manifold opinions experts and the lay public hold about eating disorders. He strips things back to the essence of these disorders, and the essence of our knowledge about them. He never overwhelms the reader with detail, never lectures or bores with dry useless fact. He uses metaphors and stories effectively to illustrate his points. His conversational style is further enhanced by the personal notes and reflections at the end of each chapter which give the book additional spice. The ‘chattiness’ of the book notwithstanding it is highly focused, well-organized and clear. It has helpful summary boxes and a good index and the referencing is judicious. Overall, the book provides the reader with an extremely well- balanced, thoughtful and highly up-to-date account of causes and treatments of eating disorders. As Bob Palmer says in the introduction his guiding principle throughout has been to make the book clinically useful, something he does indeed achieve. I very much enjoyed reading this book. It will serve a wide range of readers for many years to come. Ulrike Schmidt Anorexia Nervosa: A Survival Guide for Families, Friends and Sufferers Janet Treasure Psychology Press (1997), £9.95 (paper back), pp. 161, ISBN 0-86377-760-0 After the very successful self-help manual Getting Better Bit(e) by Bit(e) and Clinician’s Guide for Bulimic Patients (both with Ulrika Schmidt), Janet Treasure, an eating disorders specialist from London’s Maudsley Hospital, has written an European Eating Disorders Review Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. 9(2), 133–136 (2001)

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European Eating Disorders ReviewEur. Eat. Disorders Rev. 9, 133±136 (2001)

Book Reviews

Helping People with Eating DisordersEdited by Bob PalmerWiley: Chichester (2000) £ 17.99 pp. 273 ISBN 0-471-98647-X

Written by one of the leading authorities in the ®eld of eating disorders in thiscountry, this book is simply a gem. I was trying to think what it is about thebook that makes it so unique and eminently readable. As you go through thebook it feels like you are having a very personal and at the same time highlyinformative dialogue with someone who knows everything there is to beknown about eating disorders and who really understands the people sufferingfrom these disorders. Bob Palmer guides you through the bewilderinglycomplex and often contradictory scienti®c evidence and manifold opinionsexperts and the lay public hold about eating disorders. He strips things back tothe essence of these disorders, and the essence of our knowledge about them.He never overwhelms the reader with detail, never lectures or bores with dryuseless fact. He uses metaphors and stories effectively to illustrate his points.His conversational style is further enhanced by the personal notes andre¯ections at the end of each chapter which give the book additional spice. The`chattiness' of the book notwithstanding it is highly focused, well-organizedand clear. It has helpful summary boxes and a good index and the referencingis judicious. Overall, the book provides the reader with an extremely well-balanced, thoughtful and highly up-to-date account of causes and treatments ofeating disorders.

As Bob Palmer says in the introduction his guiding principle throughout hasbeen to make the book clinically useful, something he does indeed achieve. Ivery much enjoyed reading this book. It will serve a wide range of readers formany years to come.

Ulrike Schmidt

Anorexia Nervosa: A Survival Guide for Families, Friends and SufferersJanet TreasurePsychology Press (1997), £9.95 (paper back), pp. 161, ISBN 0-86377-760-0

After the very successful self-help manual Getting Better Bit(e) by Bit(e) andClinician's Guide for Bulimic Patients (both with Ulrika Schmidt), Janet Treasure,an eating disorders specialist from London's Maudsley Hospital, has written an

European Eating Disorders ReviewCopyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. 9(2), 133±136 (2001)