Writer Emmeline Clein often finds herself drawn to characters and pop culture figures long after they have reached the peak of their popularity. OC brooding and beautiful Marissa Cooper. Lindsay Lohan in her 20s. Queen Bee Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl .
"When I was researching female hysteria, I discovered a lot of symptoms of eating disorders in the fictional characters, celebrities, and female writers I was obsessed with," the 29-year-old debut author tells Bustle. “I realized that eating disorders were what tied all these numbers together.”
Eating disorders, in turn, serve as the connective tissue in Klein's sharp, urgent collection of essays, "Death Weight: Essays on Hunger and Hurt," in which she examines the impact the condition had on herself, early tabloid stars, and even France The influence of philosophers such as Simone Weil. “Eating disorders touch not only ‘high literature’ but also ‘low literature.’ They touch our mainstream film and television industries as much as they touch every aspect of our health care system .” said Klein, a 2022 graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program. To capture this vast scope, she incorporated everything from "highly evocative footage." , some of which read like AIM chat logs, epidemiological data, and articles about Gossip Girl . "
While the book contains Klein's reflections on the women who inspired her fascination, she urges readers to think beyond individual figures. "I never want to demonize someone who fits this impossible ideal of beauty because she might just be reading the same magazine I was reading 10 years ago," Klein said. What she would rather demonize is a system “that the companies that seed beauty ideals in our media are themselves funded by advertising from weight loss companies.”
Below, she reflects on The Simple Life , Marlboro Gold, and Renata Adler.
About the out-of-print book she couldn’t put down:
Eliza Callahan's The Hearing Test , out next week, is a completely engrossing, surreal account of the narrator's brief experience of sudden deafness. I'm also reading a book called "The Second Suspect," which unfortunately is out of print. It was written by Heather Lewis, a wonderful lesbian novelist. The book follows a sadomasochistic trio between a young, vulnerable sex worker, an extremely wealthy man and his wife. All of her work is just one of the most explicit and volatile depictions of sexual trauma I've ever read.
On making serious topics lighter:
If I'm feeling really confused and questioning whether I'm "intellectually serious enough," I'll read a book that's absolutely subpar in terms of wording. Renata Adler's Speedboat is one I always go back to, or Pitch Black . Anything she writes helps me when I'm having writer's block because she reminds me that you can be involved in politics, relationships, and gossip all at the same time—and you can do it in a really fun way thing while still making a serious point.
On viewing simple life as research:
I watch a lot of old reality shows [to procrastinate], like The Simple Life or an episode of America's Next Top Model . I spend a lot of time thinking about Nicole Richie and the brutal treatment she received from the media for looking slightly different than Paris Hilton in The Simple Life . I wrote in the book about how people stopped asking her to lose weight in the most cruel way, and then as soon as she did, she was on the cover of Vanity Fair , accused of being anorexic.
On her post-writing vices:
I'll smoke a Gold Marlboro cigarette, depending on how [the writing] goes. I need to do less, but it's a nice punctuation to the day.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity .
