224 pages
English language
Published Feb. 3, 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Rachel is twenty-four, a lapsed Jew who has made calorie restriction her religion. By day, she maintains an illusion of existential control, through obsessive food rituals, while working as an underling at a Los Angeles talent management agency. At night, she pedals nowhere on the elliptical machine. Rachel is content to carry on subsisting—until her therapist encourages her to take a ninety-day communication detox from her mother, who raised her in the tradition of calorie counting.
Rachel soon meets Miriam, a zaftig young Orthodox Jewish woman who works at her favorite frozen yogurt shop and is intent upon feeding her. Rachel is suddenly and powerfully entranced by Miriam—by her sundaes and her body, her faith and her family—and as the two grow closer, Rachel embarks on a journey marked by mirrors, mysticism, mothers, milk, and honey.
“A ruthless, laugh-out-loud examination of life under the tyranny of diet culture” (Glamour) Broder …
Rachel is twenty-four, a lapsed Jew who has made calorie restriction her religion. By day, she maintains an illusion of existential control, through obsessive food rituals, while working as an underling at a Los Angeles talent management agency. At night, she pedals nowhere on the elliptical machine. Rachel is content to carry on subsisting—until her therapist encourages her to take a ninety-day communication detox from her mother, who raised her in the tradition of calorie counting.
Rachel soon meets Miriam, a zaftig young Orthodox Jewish woman who works at her favorite frozen yogurt shop and is intent upon feeding her. Rachel is suddenly and powerfully entranced by Miriam—by her sundaes and her body, her faith and her family—and as the two grow closer, Rachel embarks on a journey marked by mirrors, mysticism, mothers, milk, and honey.
“A ruthless, laugh-out-loud examination of life under the tyranny of diet culture” (Glamour) Broder tells a tale of appetites: physical hunger, sexual desire, spiritual longing, and the ways that we compartmentalize these so often interdependent instincts. Milk Fed is “riotously funny and perfectly profane” (Refinery 29) from “a wild, wicked mind” (Los Angeles Times).
I was told this book has an unlikeable protagonist, but I only ever wanted the best for this hungry, horny woman and fully rooted for her the entire time.
Especially when she "ruined Shabbat." Ooh, girl, I've been there!
What does a girl have to do to read a feel-good story about lesbians? Turns out it's quite heavy on the mommy issues and the eating disorder side of things -- I came here to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked rn?
Some bits were painfully relatable and some meant absolutely nothing to me. Sometimes funny and sometimes cringe. Lots of (orthodox!) Judaism which was nice cuz always in to learn a bit about it (shoutout to my boy Aron xxxx). Still an easy read and yes I was actually quite hooked - what, no, i didnt enjoy it you enjoyed it!
This got mixed reviews and I was willing to put aside the bad ones and judge for myself but then I got about 15% in and wasn't really convinced of where this was going so decided not to spend any more time on this. DNF
