Slip, Mallary Tenore Tarpley
Slip, Mallary Tenore Tarpley
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Slip
Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery

Author: Mallary Tenore Tarpley

Narrator: Jennifer Jill Araya, Mallary Tenore Tarpley

Unabridged: 11 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/05/2025


Synopsis

Written by journalist and professor at the University of Texas-Austin Mallary Tenore Tarpley, Slip offers a groundbreaking framework for understanding eating disorder recovery and interweaves poignant personal stories, immersive reporting, and cutting-edge science.

When Mallary Tenore Tarpley lost her mother at eleven years old, she wanted to stop time. If growing up meant living without her mother, then she wanted to stay little forever. What started as small acts of food restriction soon turned into a full-blown eating disorder, and a year later, Tarpley was admitted to Boston’s Children’s Hospital. With honesty and grace, Slip chronicles Tarpley’s childhood struggles with anorexia to her present-day experiences grappling with recovery.

This book tells Tarpley’s story, but it also transcends her personal narrative. A journalist by trade, Tarpley interviewed and surveyed hundreds of patients, doctors, and researchers to provide a deeper understanding of eating disorder treatment. She draws on this original reporting, as well as cutting-edge science, to illuminate what has changed in the years since she was first diagnosed.

As Tarpley came to learn, “full recovery” from an eating disorder is complicated. And that idea provides the basis for the groundbreaking new framework explored in this book: that there is a “middle place” between sickness and full recovery, a place where slips are accepted as part of the process but progress is always possible.

With new insights and an uplifting message, Slip brings much-needed attention to an issue that affects many. It offers a beacon of hope with its revolutionary perspective on recovery. This inspiring and life-affirming book is a must-read for individuals with eating disorders, their loved ones, educators, medical professionals, and anyone seeking to understand eating disorders and the path to recovery.

About Mallary Tenore Tarpley

Mallary Tenore Tarpley is a journalism and writing professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication and McCombs School of Business. Her writing has appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington Post, the Los Angeles TimesTime, and Teen Vogue, among other publications. She is the recipient of a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant, which helped support her research and writing. Mallary graduated from Providence College and has a Master of Fine Arts in nonfiction writing from Goucher College. She lives outside of Austin, Texas, with her husband and two children. Slip is her first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ruth on January 12, 2025

This is a phenomenal book and an essential addition to the literature on eating disorders. The author begins each chapter describing her own struggles with anorexia- as a child, a preteen, a teen, a young adult, a wife, a mother. After her own reminiscinces she includes reasearch and facts about ano......more

Goodreads review by Stacy40pages on July 30, 2025

This was a great memoir. It was a perfect blend of experience and research, which many memoirs do not have. I loved how the author recognized experiences differ, especially among race, gender, and nationality, and included quotes and experiences from others. You can tell that this was a heavily rese......more

Goodreads review by Abby on July 07, 2025

A must read for anyone who is struggling with or recovering from ED. As well as loved ones, family members, and doctors who are in the care of ED patients. I loved how the author highlights that most pediatric doctors usually write off ED because patients don't fit the description or symptoms. Also......more

Goodreads review by Theresa on August 14, 2025

As someone who struggles with an eating disorder, this book is truly inspirational. It shows the ups and downs of the recovery process, which is not talked about enough. Recovery is not linear, and sometimes I forget that. This books gives a great perspective. There are so many aspects of the books......more

Goodreads review by Jen on March 05, 2025

A brilliant addition to the collection of eating disorder recovery books. With a mix of personal memoir and detailed reporting, Tenore vulnerably and accurately portrays the process of recovery.......more