Sociologique

Ariela Haro von Mogel April 27th, 2008

I met Marya Hornbacher last week on Thursday the 17th of April. I wish I was able to post about this sooner, but my blog was having some technical problems with the server.

For the first time in my life, I was honestly starstruck. I’d like to mention that I am from Los Angeles, and I have seen my share of stars. But it takes a lot for me to be starstruck. I absolutely adore Marya Hornbacher’s work. Her first book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, is my favorite book. I have read it many times. So I drove out all the way to Edina, Minneapolis from Madison, Wisconsin, and it was worth the trip.

Marya’s reading from her new book Madness: A Bipolar Life, was at times riotous and frightening. There were so many people at this reading. A lot of people had to stand and sit on the floor. If Marya has books on tape/CD, I will most definitely buy it.

During the Q & A session, I got to ask her how she felt to have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Wasted. She said her editor called her up and told her if she wasn’t sitting down, then sit down because she had just been nominated for the Pulitzer. Marya then said that she wouldn’t win it (which, unfortunately, she didn’t) and that there was nowhere to go with her career after that. She said she could accept a Pulitzer after a lifetime of work, at the age of 60, and not at the ripe age of 23!

During the book signing, I nervously asked her several questions and took a picture with her. First, I told her I drove all the way from Madison, WI to Edina, MN to see her. She gasped and thanked me for driving such a long way to support her. She then admonished me not to read and drive, to which I retorted was a lot easier said than done with the insipid radio programming that’s on the dial.

Second, I asked who got the Pulitzer instead of Wasted. Hell if I know, she said, and laughed. I then told her that she should have gotten the Pulitzer. She laughed and told me I was sweet to say so. I then told her she has a marvelous writing style and she is my favorite author.

Lastly, I told her that I love her book Wasted so much because it is one of the very few books in popular culture that does not romanticize eating disorders, mental illness and one’s own personal hells. She tells her story with a frightening candor and realism. Eating disorders are UGLY. And that is the truth. They are not glamorous. She fiercely nodded her head and told me that was her main intention, to tell people that eating disorders can be a serious problem if left unchecked.

So after I left with three of my books signed, a picture of myself and her, and a very giddy feeling as I left the Barnes and Nobles, I realized the quality of the picture was very blurry. I thought that she wouldn’t mind if I asked her for another picture, especially since I drove for almost 5 hours that day to see her. So I went up to her and her entourage standing in front of the bookstore and asked if I could have another picture. She was more than happy to accomodate me. Her photograher friend, Mark Trockman, even took a picture of us with his fantastic camera after I joked with her that I wish I had his camera to take our picture!

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