Straw Man

Jacob just wanted control. He felt as if he lacked the power to regulate his emotions and how his peers perceived him. When he discovered weight loss, Jacob thought that he’d found what was missing.

In Straw Man, author Jacob Roth shares his compelling battle with anorexia, a journey that would take him from perceptions of isolation as a young boy to recovering from the most challenging obstacle he’d ever face. Anorexia was not just an illness—it was a lifestyle. Jacob cut calories to a point at which he’d fast for days at a time. Anorexia nervosa was like a fanatical religious conviction to him, and he’d undertake precise rituals that he had to perform correctly to avoid overwhelming fear. If Jacob consumed one too many calories, ate one too many grams of fat, or weighed one too many pounds, he thought that he’d defied his religious obligation.

In the pursuit of that elusive control, Jacob reduced himself to a man as fragile as one made of straw. Join Jacob as he shares not only how he indoctrinated himself into the lifestyle of an anorexic but how he was able to recover.