Warrior

January 4, 2016
This uneven memoir ties a woman’s demons, manifested as bulimia, to her high achievement. Larson, writing with Eisenstock (Ten on Sunday: The Secret Life of Men), was a college softball champion, a fitness model, and a platoon leader in Iraq. The scenes set among her fellow Marines zing: she is hazed into putting a rabbit eyeball in her mouth, shocks a bunch of 19-year-old guys by beating them all in a foot race up Heart Attack Hill, and delivers an eloquently profane dressing-down to male soldiers who called her an ugly name. Unfortunately, Larson’s narrative gets gummed up with the vague reassurances of self-help: to manage her bulimia, she learns that some things are beyond her control, that she doesn’t have to be perfect, and that things will be better if she eliminates the toxic influences from her life. It’s the rare memoirist who can convey the experience of a psychological illness and its impact on a person’s everyday decisions in words that resonate with those who haven’t experienced that particular form of suffering. Larson never quite manages it.

January 1, 2016
A doctor of physical therapy and former Marine lieutenant tells the story of her painful struggle with bulimia. Born the only girl in a family of boys, Larson drew close to her mother, Mary Ann. But when Mary Ann died of cancer, a 10-year-old Larson was suddenly left without her main confidante. She disassociated herself from "girly" behaviors, friends, and activities and immersed herself in sports. She became a star softball pitcher who earned a full scholarship to Villanova, where she also became involved in the Marine Corps ROTC program. A high achiever, Larson also became involved in a program called Fit Forever to help her stop a pattern of "yo-yoing between salads, fruits, and healthy snacks and burgers, pizzas, and desserts, often late at night." While the program earned the author a second-place finish in a Fit Forever competition and a reputation as the "campus fitness queen," it also--inadvertently--reinforced the yo-yoing habits she had been trying to eliminate. Once she graduated from Villanova, she continued her military career with the Marines by going through basic training and, later, military engineering school. Though one of the top trainees, Larson still faced a sexual double standard that made her push herself even harder. The demands of her work and of the fitness competitions she entered drove her to regurgitate the unhealthy food she often ate. In Iraq, she became a highly respected Marine platoon leader, but the stress worsened the cycle of bingeing and purging. She eventually resigned and sought treatment for bulimia and became a physical therapist for other "wounded warriors." By turns honest and heartbreaking, Larson's book is a celebration of inner strength. It is also a poignant reminder that the mark of a true warrior is not just someone who fights wars, but who also knows how to "ask for help" in times of crisis. A courageous and inspiring memoir.

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April 1, 2016
Larson learns to fly an F-18 and leads a platoon in Iraq, but her biggest battle is with bulimia. While serving in Fallujah, she tells a navy psychologist that she forces herself to throw up. He thinks she just needs to learn to manage stress. In her memoir, cowritten with seasoned author Eisenstock, Larson sets the stage for her troubles by describing how she felt inferior, even damaged after losing her mom to cancer as a girl. At 19, she transforms herself into a ripped marine and assumes that, as a warrior, she can deal with her bulimia on her own. But she can't. Tough as she is (she is told that she has big brass ovaries ), she realizes she needs to go home to heal. A colonel thinks she is lying about her eating disorder, and her own brother tells her, You let everybody down. But she follows her instincts and leaves Iraq, gets married, and takes care of herself. Larson's tale will inspire readers to think more deeply about gender and mental-health issues in civilian and military life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)