We Turn Skeletons Into Goddesses And Look

When You Deal With Nonfiction You Deal With Human Characters.

We Think Of Bulimia And Anorexia As Either A Bizarre Psychosis, Or As A Quirky Little Habit, A Phase, Or As A Thing That Women Just Do. We Forget That It Is A Violent Act, That It Bespeaks A Profound Level Of Anger Toward And Fear Of The Self.

In Her Presence, I Was Reminded Again Of Why I Was An Anoretic: Fear. Of My Needs, For Food, For Sleep, For Touch, For Simple Conversation, For Human Contact, For Love. I Was An Anoretic Because I Was Afraid Of Being Human. Implicit In Human Contact Is The Exposure Of The Self, The Interaction Of The Selves. The Self I'd Had, Once Upon A Time, Was Too Much. Now There Was No Self At All. I Was A Blank.

I'm A Driven Perfectionist, Very Self-critical.

When You're Teaching Creative Nonfiction, It Helps To Have Written About Your Life In A Very Open Way, Because You Can Say, 'look, How Much Are You Willing To Risk Emotionally To Write? How Careful Can You Be With The Other People You're Writing About?