Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves

by Crystal Renn

Hardcover, 2009

Status

Available

Genres

Publication

Simon & Schuster (2009), Edition: First Printing, 256 pages

Description

Now available in paperback, Hungry is an uplifting memoir with a universal message about body image, beauty, and self-confidence, and an inspiring, cautionary tale for women of all ages. At fourteen, I was a regular junior high school student in Clinton, Mississippi, when a modeling scout told me: You could be a supermodel...but you'll have to lose a little weight. For glamour, fame, and escape, I lost seventy pounds. This is a photo of me at sixteen, when I signed a big modeling contract, moved to New York City, and started traveling around the world. It is also when I developed a ferocious case of anorexia and exercise bulimia. Until I decided enough was enough--I wanted to live. And so I ate. And ate. Offering a behind-the-scenes peek into the modeling industry, as well as a trenchant look at our weight-obsessed culture, Hungry is an inspiring and cautionary tale that will resonate with anyone who has battled society's small-minded definitions of beauty. This is me now, the leading plus-size model in America.… (more)

Media reviews

Winnipeg Free Press

Renn is driven, smart, current, clever and funny. She successfully navigates the much-discussed societal issues that are the nightmares of her past, and injects them with bits of humour, intelligence and a whole lot of style.

User reviews

LibraryThing member littlebones

I knew next to nothing about Crystal Renn before reading this book, aside from her being a total babe. This was an interesting read, which certainly inspired me to be a little more interested by the fashion industry as a whole, and not just in its unjust treatment of not-stick-thin women. Crystal

comes off as a likable, vivacious person, and the book often feels as though she's telling you her story in person, as a friend. Admittedly, I haven't read too many memoirs, so that may just be par for the course.

I do know that I enjoyed this book, and I found Renn's recovery from anorexia to be very inspiring as well as very lucky. If only every person afflicted by an eating disorder could have the same sort of epiphany as Crystal Renn.

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LibraryThing member Meggo

This is the story of Crystal Renn, the girl who was discovered by a model scout and became a high fashion model, and on the way became an anorexic and bulimic who obsessively exercised in an attempt to lose weight. Only after realizing that the standard of beauty demanded of straight size models

was impossible to sustain and she began eating again did Crystal Renn truly become a supermodel, and a happier person. A harrowing tale, but an optimistic one for all that, this was an interesting read.

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LibraryThing member akmargie

An interesting look at the modeling world. I like Crystal's message about accepting your body.

LibraryThing member BraveNewBks

Crystal Renn is one of my favorite models to begin with, but reading about her struggle to become a model (hint: anorexia figures prominently) and her eventual success as a full-figured model was extraordinarily inspirational. Fun fact: she loves Bikram (hot) yoga.

LibraryThing member LibraryCin

When Crystal was 14-years old, a modelling scout saw her and told her she needed to lose a lot of weight (she was 5’9’’ and 165 lbs), but if she did, she could make it in the modelling world. Crystal decided this was what she wanted to do, and went down to 95 lbs before heading to New York

City to seek out that scout and the Agency he was a part of. She suffered for three years with anorexia before she pulled herself together, only to become bigger, still (no pun intended!), in the plus-size modelling world (at a size 12 once her weight settled).

I thought this was really interesting. Horrifying how skinny she became. She did share photos in the book, as well. After her bout with anorexia, she seemed so much more positive about her body-image as a plus model. I did look her up online after, though, to see that she’s gone down a couple of sizes since. What an awful world that is, though – the fashion industry.

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