The Hungry Years

'Hunger is the loudest voice in my head. I'm hungry most of the time.' On a January morning in 2003, William Leith woke up to the fattest day of his life. That same day he left London for New York to interview controversial diet guru Dr Robert Atkins. But what started out as a routine journalistic assignment set Leith on an intensely personal and illuminating journey into the mysteries of hunger and addiction. In his twenties, Leith's weight had risen steadily. In his early thirties, he was slim again, but then, predictably, his weight began to creep up - and up, and up. At his worst he was driven to the kitchen, manically consuming slice after slice of buttered toast, lusting after fries, bacon sandwiches and peanut butter, wracked by a need that was emotional as well as physical. Fat has been called a feminist issue. But in this unflinching investigation into the bodily consequences and psychological pain of being overweight, Leith reveals how it affects us all. Our fat society, he tells us, is a lot like him: always hiding from the truth about itself. "The Hungry Years" charts fascinating new territory for everyone who has ever had a craving or counted a calorie. It is a story of food, fat, and addiction that is both funny and heart-wrenching.