"Women, Food, and God" by Geneen Roth

Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth

Genre: self-help
On my TBR list? No


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I belong to an online weight-loss support group and we decided to read this together. One of the women abandoned the book after the second chapter. I probably should have done the same, but I am compelled to finish books that I start.

This isn't a bad book, but it isn't for everyone. If you know or suspect that you are a compulsive eater and haven't found a way to deal with that issue, then you may want to read this. Since that isn't my problem, I found myself reading story after story about women who were nothing like me with eating behaviors that I found strange. I was also mildly offended by Roth's strong suggestion that everyone who is overweight has gotten that way through emotional eating and low self-esteem (barring a medical problem, of course).

Another thing to mention is that the "God" in the title is not the one of Judeo-Christian tradition. I imagine that calling the book "Women, Food, and Whatever Supreme Diety or Life Force You Believe In" would have been a mouthful. Roth draws from Buddhism and many other spiritual practices for her beliefs. I'm not bashing her for that. It is just worth noting that if you are looking for one of the many Christian guides to good health, this isn't it.

There are probably many women who will get something out of this book, especially if they are the type who find that they have inhaled an entire cake without remembering taking the first bite. However, I find it difficult to believe that, in this era of abundant information, there is a woman my age who hasn't read most of Roth's advice somewhere else.


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