Is there a resemblance between the contemporary anorexic teenager counting every calorie in her single-minded pursuit of thinness, and an ascetic medieval saint examining her every desire? Rudolph M. Bell suggests that the answer is yes. "Everyone interested in anorexia nervosa ...should skim this book or study it. It will make you realize how dependent upon culture the definition of disease is. I will never look at an anorexic patient in the same way again."--Howard Spiro, M.D., Gastroenterology "[This] book is a first-class social history and is well-documented both in its historical and scientific portions."--Vern L. Bullough, American Historical Review