The Luckiest Girl in the World: A young skater battlres her self-destructive impulses - Softcover

Levenkron, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140266259 ISBN 13: 9780140266252

Publisher: Penguin, 1998

Synopsis

A bright and attractive figure-skating star, Katie Roskova appears to be the luckiest girl in the world. However, the smile she presents to others cannot camouflage the pain she feels inside - panic at the thought of failure, anger at the ambitious mother she seems never able to please, and disappointment in the father who walked out on her when she was a small child. Unable to express her feelings outwardly, Katie internalizes her pain and experiences episodes that she terms "spacing out." There is a way to stop this feeling, what she calls her own private craziness, but it isn't pretty: Katie brings herself back to reality by cutting herself - taking a pair of scissors to her arm until she draws blood. Terrified that her shameful secret will be discovered, she only cuts herself in private and hides her scars beneath long-sleeve shirts. However, as the pressures mount, her self-injurious wounds become more serious - and soon she is no longer able to hide them from others. In this powerful novel, Steven Levenkron demystifies the shocking syndrome of self-mutilation - just as his best-selling The Best Little Girl in the World helped millions to understand anorexia.

About this title

About the Author:

Steven Levenkron has treated anorexics and cutters as part of his full-time psychotherapy practice in New York City since 1970. He has held positions in many hospitals in the New York metropolitan area, among them, clinical consultant at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, clinical consultant at The Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia in New York City, and adjunct director of Eating Disorder Service at Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Westchester, New York. Currently he is a member of the advisory board of The National Association of Anorexia and Bulimia (ANAD) in Highland Park, Illinois.

His previous book, the groundbreaking novel The Best Little Girl in the World, dealt with the subjects of anorexia and bulimia, and was made into a television movie.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0140266259
• ISBN 13: 9780140266252
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192