What People Say

"I guarantee that this 'totally brilliant, I was utterly blown away' book (in writer Anne Lamott's words), will fill up every craggy hole you may have in your heart, and then some. I could not put it down -- I was so deeply nourished, in all the right places. The book is billed as a 'self-help' book on finding happiness. It is indeed. I felt happy reading it, and its message is bound to help me stay happy, too. But the book is so much more than that. It is a delightful, hilarious, fierce, and tender memoir about the author's life with her beloved father, Bernard, and a remarkable twenty-pound cat named Mister Blanche, and how these two taught her to love without reservation and live without the crippling fear we all have when we think of losing the ones we love.Geneen Roth is the bestselling author of When Food is Love. She is not a stranger to hard struggles, despair, and addiction. The lessons she gleaned from her sojourn with her family and Mister Blanche, and the way she brings these insights to her readers, make this book a healing tonic for anyone daunted (or delighted) by life in the human body, on planet Earth. I cannot recommend this book enough. You will howl with laughter, cry uncontrollably, want to go hug your pet or your children, and, ultimately, feel a rare and blessed peace seeping through your veins, helping you know that all is very, very well."-- from The Isabella Catalogue about The Craggy Hole in My Heart and the Cat Who Fixed It

"I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Your work has set me free and helped me love and understand myself. I have been following your work off and on for 20 years and I have always found that when I really need to 'come home' to myself and be kind, your work is what takes me there. What I love about your work is that it is the truth and its heart-based. It's simple but not always easy. I love the fact that it's about loving who I am now and that I don't need fixing. I always seem to come back to your work when I have been on a rampage of trying to fix myself!

So again thank you, thank you, thank you and your downloads are a such a treat to me here in Australia and I would LOVE to come for a retreat some time.

From my heart to yours,
- Dianne F., Australia

Dear Ms. Roth,

I just picked the book When you Eat the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair out of my bookshelf not because I'm having food issues but because I saw the name "Geneen Roth." No matter what kind of book you would write, I'd buy it just I'm a loyal fan.

I attended your workshop in San Francisco in 1992 and it was an experience of a lifetime. I suffered horribly with my eating disorder and wanted sanity, health, and happiness so desperately and was going to do anything and everything to achieve that. The "demons" will be with me forever, I'm sure, but I'm proud to say that I live a "normal" (whatever that is!) life now. I have a wonderful husband and I even let myself get pregnant and fat and didn't worry about the weight gain for two years. I have a three year old daughter, Gina Grace, who has fulfilled every one of my dreams. I also lost the pregnancy weight slowly and didn't try to achieve the unachievable of having a bikini body again (not that I ever had one, but that doesn't matter when you have food/weight/body issues!). At 42, I respect my body and am thankful it produced a healthy little girl. Now I just want it to last so I can see the day she walks down the aisle to marry the love of her life.

I'll never forget that weekend in San Francisco. Not only was it HUGE to me to be seeing you, the person whose books I read over and over again because I had so much respect for you, but it was the first time I had ever driven to SF on my own. I remember calling my therapist and telling her I was THERE, like I was at the moon or that I swam the English Channel. Funny, since then I've been to Europe, Malta -- where my family is from, and have done so many things I never thought I'd do -- it's incredible. No, life isn't perfect.... I still have my issues and always will but I look at food now and love it, eat it, enjoy it and not regret when I swallow it. That is huge. I pray my daughter never has to live the pain I lived. I had the courage to become an elected official in my hometown and leave that job when my husband retired, move to another county and pursue our dream of developing our vineyard that we've had for 10 years.

I just want to say thank you for what you've done for women like me. I'm sure you get tons of email like this, and you must be in awe that you were given such a gift that has changed so many lives for the better yet caused you so much grief at the same time. Kinda weird, huh? Well, this is one woman who will never take a trip to Santa Cruz without looking out for the woman who changed her life.

Have a great day, a great summer, and a great life.

Sincerely,
- Ann M., Roanoke, VA

Thank you! I love you! God bless you! You probably just saved my life. I just read your article in the December Good Housekeeping. I have been living off of apple juice and 4-5 crackers for the last 4 weeks just to lose weight to look good for someone else. Needless to say, I am so over that and I think it was meant for me to see your article because I never knew you existed. I DO NOW!!!

Blessings,
- Sylvia C., Folsom, CA

Geneen, you are truly a gift from God. I know this because every time I read your e-mail newsletter or an excerpt from one of your books, it speaks to me and what I'm dealing with that day in regards to food and the emotions that go with it. I am not only addicted to food, but am allergic to gluten. I struggle every single day with what I should eat and what I shouldn't and berate myself after I don't do the "right thing". Your writings speak to me because they are honest and open and say what I cannot even sometimes admit to myself about food and even then, you give support, love, and teach forgiveness of self.

Thank you for sharing yourself and your experiences with the world. It is a brave and courageous thing to do and you are helping sooooo many people so very much - as I am truly one of them. THANK YOU!

- Lisa G., Ortonville, MI

Geneen's writing has helped me change my life dramatically, helped me find my way home after a lifetime lost on the highways and byways of food obsession. Her books have helped me find freedom after being held hostage by a distorted body image and the values of a culture that I don't actually buy. She takes one of the most complicated and confusing and antagonistic parts of my life -- my body and me, my body and food, my weight, my heart, my being -- and she renders it clear and compassionate. She gently throws the lights on for me.

-Anne Lamott

I am from Mexico. I am reading your book When Food is Love. I accidentally found it on a bookstore when I was looking for a present for my dad. I was very attracted by the title and decided to buy it. As I started reading it, I could identify myself with almost every story you tell. I have been overweight (and suffer by it) all my life, my mom put me on diets ever since I can remember, I have had only one boyfriend (which I met by internet) and have kept myself inside a shell, blocking my feelings to avoid any hurt, staying in a comfort zone that isn't really that comfortable. By reading your book, I now have an understanding of who I really am, why I act like I do and how can I start my healing process. I thank God for finding your book and you for sharing your stories with anyone that identifies with them. Your book has released me from my own punisher, myself!

- Rosa C., Mexico

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. My friend recommended your book When Food Is Love and I am halfway through it after only one day. I was skeptical - I never knew I was looking for intimacy. I'm so glad I gave the book a chance, anyway. I have to admit - it is PAINFUL to think about what experiences led me to crave intimacy and then turn to food instead, but I know this will help me in the long run. Through tear-filled eyes, I am loving every paragraph of your honest and elegant writing.

Love and Gratitude,
- Lauren J., Topeka, KS

Dear Geneen,

I've never met you, but I wanted to tell you you've been sitting around my kitchen table with me for weeks now, hashing things out. And I hesitate to say you've saved my life, because what I would really mean is that you were the first person to listen, to show me that it was salvageable, and that I was strong enough and worth-it-enough, to do it.

I am a public health/community nutritionist, and now I feel like I can bring vibrant health and joyful eating to the people I work with, because I have succeeded in bringing them into my own life.

Thank you, a thousand times over,
- Catherine M., Salem, OR

I have had your book, Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating, for about 4 years. It has sat on my shelf. I even moved it with me to another country 9,000 miles away. Last week, I finally opened it, and it has changed my life. The weight is dropping without me doing anything other than listen to my body (the body I have ignored for so long) and give my self permission to eat what I want when I truly want it.

Thank you.
- Angela T., Clearwater, FL

There are three books that I first read in 1991 that have had a major influence on my life. One was Louise Hays You Can Heal Your Life, another Women Who Love Too Much by Robin Norwood and your Why Weight. I was going through major changes in my life when these books came my way. Your book gave me permission to quiet my mother's voice, which was always critical of my body, and to eat and enjoy food.

Now I will tell you that I gained over 100 pounds after I read your book. But I just kept telling myself two things -- I did not want to lose any weight that was not permanent and I did not want to "diet" to lose it. So I just let myself eat. And quite frankly that weight served a purpose. I was raising three boys and needed to keep my focus on them -- not "finding a man" -- and I know deep down that the weight made me feel unattractive and therefore I was able to "keep men away." I am grateful for that period in my life as today I have three wonderful grown up sons who are all thriving and healthy.

One day after they were grown I decided it was time for me to live and then the weight just started to drop. I have lost the 100 pounds in the last five years and still would like more to come off but I live by the rule to eat when I am hungry and stop before I am full -- I eat what I want -- when I want -- and I enjoy every bite.

I am happy with my mind, body and spirit and while my mother, for whatever reason God Bless Her, still has hangups about appearance -- I let her own that -- not me.

So I just wanted to thank you -- here it is 16 years later and I still think about your words often.

May Light and Love always surround you...
- Theresa L., Ridgway, CO

Thank you for helping me take back my life. I first found your books in 1998. I was browsing through the self-help section of Barnes & Noble. I didn't even know what I was looking for. I had no idea what was going on with me. All I knew what that I was depressed to the point of being suicidal and could not stop eating.

I started by reading When Food is Love. It touched me deeply. For the first time since I started compulsive overeating, I didn't feel like I was alone in my experience. Beyond that, it was a catalyst for beginning a path toward recovery.

I went on to read more of your books: Breaking Free, Feeding the Hungry Heart, When You Eat at the Refrigerator... and finally Why Weight?. For some time, your books were my only source of support. Your voice was the only one in my life who completely understood me and what I was going through. With that support I made my way toward sanity, then toward love, and eventually fulfillment.

It's over 10 years since I read When Food is Love. At that time, your words were a comfort to me. But I didn't know how I would ever have a sane relationship with food. I had no idea what life would be like without my food cravings. I lived from one box of cupcakes to the next.

Somewhere between now and then, with your help and inspiration, I managed to recover from compulsive overeating. I now have a sane relationship with food. I'm physically and mentally healthier than I was 10 years ago. And in recent years I finally figured out what my heart, mind and body truly hunger for. I have begun living my dream.

Thank you again for sharing your experiences. To me, it's made the difference between a life driven by food and a life directed by my heart.

Sincerely yours,
- Anne G., Kansas City, MO

Geneen -- how fabulous to find you on Facebook -- thank you from the bottom of my heart for the inspiration you have been to me. I have worked with your books and CDs for about a year now and I can truly say that my life is transformed. I have not yet lost all the weight, but I am usually able to follow the eating guidelines and when I don’t you have given me the tools to be gentle with myself and to find out what is going on.

I no longer loathe myself – in fact I think I’m pretty great, which is actually amazing given the depth of my previous self hatred – and while many people would think that I still have lots of work to do to lose this weight, I know that I have done the hard work – the rest will be easy in comparison!!

You are a gift Geneen – thank you SO much
- Charlotte P., College Park, GA