My Twisted Eating Disorder by Kabi Nagata Review

Lordy, life is difficult for some people, eh? Kabi Nagata’s previous autobiographical mangas have focused on her difficulties with her homosexuality, then becoming a drunk, then dealing with pancreatitis as a result of said boozing, and now her latest book, My Twisted Eating Disorder, is about her bulimia! She even mentions at the end of this book that there are other struggles she’s avoiding discussing so I dread to think what other burdens this poor woman is going through.

But I hope she manages to find a healthy equilibrium to keep going as her slice-of-life mangas dealing with dark, real subject matters are unique and might help those also going through something similar. And, like many of her other books, I thought Twisted was decent, if flawed.

The chapters deal with a different type of food that Nagata is obsessed with eating, like soaked-through cold noodles or pastries with extra margarine (butter is too expensive in Japan). All the more so as mushy foods are easier to throw up.

It’s morbidly fascinating to read how she lived during this time but it also feels a bit repetitive - each chapter is more or less the same and reading about the different kinds of cravings different foods gave her, like home-made curry vs. frozen bento sides, isn’t that interesting.

I do appreciate that the ending she provides isn’t simple or pat. She didn’t have these problems and then solved them and she’s now happier, like in some trite feel-good memoir. No, she’s very much still living with bulimia - she’s not even fully over her alcoholism either! I luckily don’t know first hand but I imagine a lot of addicts relapse or fail to find solutions to their destructive habits because life is not as straightforward as it’s presented in books.

For that, and the way that she presented these obviously painful experiences in a way that’s not too upsetting, I think makes the book not just easier to read but also more helpful for people to understand some of the behaviours or those going through the same things themselves to access.

There’s overlap in this book with her other books - there’s a chapter recounting her alcoholism and a chapter on her pancreatitis - because she started this one before those, but then put that on hold while she focused on completing those before returning to this. But there is relevant detail in those chapters that relates to the subject matter of her relationship with food.

I feel like there wasn’t really enough material for an entire book, so it ends up feeling a bit slight and overdetailed in a way that makes it boring at times, but Kabi Nagata is also a strong enough comics storyteller to keep the book from being too dull regardless. It’s not the most gripping read but there was enough here that held my attention.

My Twisted Eating Disorder continues building up this complex and compelling, if bleak, portrait of Nagata and so is a decent addition to her other books and worth reading if you’re a fan of her manga (this isn’t the best place to start though - try My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness or My Alcoholic Escape from Reality first), and might also be worth checking out for those who are affected by this disease as well.