Something Spectacular
The True Story of One Rockette’s Battle with Bulimia
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Narrated by:
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Dina Pearlman
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By:
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Greta Gleissner
About this listen
Greta Gleissner, a longtime professional dancer, dreamed her whole life of becoming a Rockette. Then she became one and she fell into the grips of a powerful eating disorder that began poison her life from the inside out. Something Spectacular is Gleissner's raw, personal chronicle of the devastating effects bulimia exacts upon her life during her time as a Rockette. As her disorder takes over, she begins to lead a dual life: happy-go-lucky on the outside; tortured by obsessive, self-destructive voices on the inside.
Immersed in an environment in which even talent is secondary to appearance, Gleissner hides her disorder by any means necessary lying, cheating, and stealing with no regard for the consequences of her actions until she hits rock bottom and is forced to face the truths behind her disease. Her intensive odyssey of self-discovery ultimately gives her the strength to reshape her self-image, embrace her sexuality, and break free of the malignant hold bulimia has on her life. The first book to give voice to the pervasive but often unaddressed problem of eating disorders in the dance industry, Something Spectacular is a gripping expos of the insidious nature of eating-related diseases and a profound account of one woman's journey toward self-acceptance and recovery.
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Editorial reviews
In Greta Gleissner’s gripping Something Spectacular, the former Rockette reflects on one of the darkest periods of her life, during which she struggled with bulimia while simultaneously attempting to project joy, energy, and lighthearted youthfulness as a member of one of the most iconic dance troupes of all time. Gleissner tracks her own journey through illness and back up the long path to recovery, commenting the whole way on the perceptions and expectations that led her to develop such a destructive disorder.
Actor Dina Pearlman’s strong voice telegraphs empathy and respect as she performs this deeply affecting memoir. Pearlman’s pacing and enunciation are clear and conscientious, and she deftly cements listeners’ affection for this audiobook’s remarkable author.
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Story
I haven't tasted chocolate for over ten years and now I'm walking down the street unwrapping a Kit Kat. Remember when Kate Moss said, 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels'? She's wrong: chocolate does. At the age of 32, after ten years of hiding from the truth, Emma Woolf finally decided it was time to face the biggest challenge of her life. Addicted to hunger, exercise and control, she was juggling a full-blown eating disorder with a successful career, functioning on an apple a day.
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A memoir of a silver spoon, maybe.
- By S. covely on 06-05-16
By: Emma Woolf
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Agorafabulous!
- Dispatches From My Bedroom
- By: Sara Benincasa
- Narrated by: Sara Benincasa
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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One of the funniest and most poignant books ever written about a mental illness, Agorafabulous! is a hilarious, raw, and unforgettable account of how a terrified young woman, literally trapped by her own imagination, evolved into a (relatively) high-functioning professional smartass. Down to earth and seriously funny, Benincasa's no-holds-barred revelations offer listeners the politically incorrect hilarity they heartily crave, yet is so often missing from your typical, weepy, and redemptive personal memoir.
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More Fun than a Good Cry in a Bathroom Stall
- By Susie on 03-05-15
By: Sara Benincasa
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Stories I'd Tell in Bars
- By: Jen Lancaster
- Narrated by: Jen Lancaster, John Fletcher
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Older, but not wiser, Lancaster goes back to basics in this hilarious essay collection about everything from taking community policing classes to accidentally getting high with her waiter after a fancy dinner. These are the tales she'd tell if she met you in a bar... if she weren't too lazy to put on pants and go to a bar. Offering advice ranging from how to remain happily married to a man who refuses to blow his damn nose already to not creating An Incident at the cheese counter during an attempt at Whole30, she's you, only louder.
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self absorbed
- By D D H on 06-15-19
By: Jen Lancaster
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I'm the One That I Want
- By: Margaret Cho
- Narrated by: Margaret Cho
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
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I'm the One That I Want, based on her show of the same name, is filled with dead-on insights about the experience of being a woman with attitude, of flowing with the highs and lows of life, and of creating one's own identity and acceptance. It is every bit as hilarious, shocking, and irreverent as she is.
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Hilarious and deeply engrossing
- By Ling on 04-10-03
By: Margaret Cho
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You're Better than Me
- A Memoir
- By: Bonnie McFarlane
- Narrated by: Bonnie McFarlane, Alexander Cendese
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In the spirit of Mindy Kaling, Kelly Oxford, and Sarah Silverman, a compulsively listenable and outrageously funny memoir of growing up as a fish out of water, finding your voice, and embracing your inner crazy person from popular actress, writer, and comedian Bonnie McFarlane.
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Sandy!!! She wrote a book...it's crazy, a book!!!
- By Jonathan Placek on 03-02-16
By: Bonnie McFarlane
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Good Enough: A Novel
- A Novel
- By: Jen Petro-Roy
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Before she had an eating disorder, 12-year-old Riley was many things: an aspiring artist, a runner, a sister, and a friend. But now, from inside the inpatient treatment center where she's receiving treatment for anorexia, it's easy to forget all of that. Especially since under the influence of her eating disorder, Riley alienated her friends, abandoned her art, turned running into something harmful, and destroyed her family's trust. If Riley wants her life back, she has to recover.
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WOW!!!
- By Jennifer E Pate on 04-15-20
By: Jen Petro-Roy
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Confessions of a Carb Queen
- A Memoir
- By: Susan Blech, Caroline Bock
- Narrated by: Aimee Jolson
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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By the time Susan Blech was 38 years old, she weighed a staggering 468.1 pounds. She binged. She was "only a little chubby," or so she convinced herself. Gripping, sometimes shocking, and ultimately inspiring, Confessions of a Carb Queen is the story of how Susan changed her life to save her life, ultimately losing 250 pounds without surgery. Susan speaks candidly about eating binges, fat sex, and other topics no obese person has dared to address.
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Negative reviews are ridiculous.
- By Heather Marie on 01-07-16
By: Susan Blech, and others
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Hot Mess
- By: Emily Belden
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Twenty-something Allie Simon is used to playing by the rules - until Chicago's most sought-after, up-and-coming culinary genius, Benji Zane, walks into her world and pulls her into his. The only thing more renowned than Benji's mouthwatering masterpieces and equally luscious good looks? His struggle with addiction and his reckless tendency to live life on the edge, no matter the havoc he wreaks along the way. But loving someone means supporting him no matter what, or so Allie tells herself.
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Just finished...
- By Joanne Cunningham on 01-08-19
By: Emily Belden
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Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight?
- Confessions of a Gay Dad
- By: Dan Bucatinsky
- Narrated by: Dan Bucatinsky
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2005, Dan Bucatinsky and his partner, Don Roos, found themselves in an L.A. delivery room, decked out in disposable scrubs from shower cap to booties, to welcome their adopted baby girl - launching their frantic yet memorable adventures into fatherhood. Two and a half years later, the same birth mother - a heroically generous, pack-a-day teen with a passion for Bridezilla marathons and Mountain Dew - delivered a son into the couple’s arms.
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A Parenting Book with Humor and Heart
- By The Reading Date on 02-05-14
By: Dan Bucatinsky
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I Like You Just the Way I Am
- Stories About Me and Some Other People
- By: Jenny Mollen
- Narrated by: Jenny Mollen
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Jenny Mollen is an actress and writer living in Los Angeles. She is also a wife, married to a famous guy (which is annoying only because he gets free shit and she doesn't). She doesn't want much from life. Just to be loved - by everybody: her parents, her dogs, her ex-boyfriends, her ex-boyfriends' dogs, her husband, her husband's ex-girlfriends, her husband's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriends, etc.
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Hmm...Why am I listening to a bio of Jenny Mollen?
- By Elisabeth W. on 09-16-15
By: Jenny Mollen
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Fat Girl Walking
- Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin...Every Inch of It
- By: Brittany Gibbons
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Fat Girl Walking is a collection of stories from my life, my thoughts about the issues that I have faced as a woman, wife, mom, daughter, daughter-in-law, and Internet personality in regards to my weight. I have tried to be as honest as I possibly could - apologies in advance to my husband and parents, but hopefully any discomfort you feel is quickly replaced by laughter.
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One Woman's Body; One Woman's Story
- By Meghan Matt on 06-03-15
By: Brittany Gibbons
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In the Water They Can't See You Cry
- A Memoir
- By: Amanda Beard, Rebecca Paley
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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At the tender age of 14, Amanda Beard walked onto the pool deck at the Atlanta Olympics carrying her teddy bear, Harold, and left with two silvers and a gold medal. She competed in three more Olympic games, winning a total of seven medals, and enjoyed a lucrative modeling career on the side. At one point, she was the most downloaded female athlete on the Internet. Yet despite her astonishing career and sex-symbol status, Amanda felt unworthy of all her success. Unaware that she was suffering from clinical depression, she hid the pain beneath a megawatt smile.
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I applaud Amanda - but her editor's were lame
- By Heather on 03-10-15
By: Amanda Beard, and others
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Breaking Night
- A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
- By: Liz Murray
- Narrated by: Liz Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age 15, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. Then, when Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny.
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unbelievably inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-12
By: Liz Murray
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Notes on a Banana
- A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression
- By: David Leite
- Narrated by: David Leite
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Reminiscing about the people and events that shaped him, David looks back at the highs and lows of his life, from his rejection of being gay and his attempt to "turn straight" through Aesthetic Realism, a cult in downtown Manhattan, to becoming a writer, cookbook author, and web publisher, to his 23-year relationship with Alan, known to millions of David's readers and listeners as "The One", which began with (what else?) food.
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Finished it in a day!
- By Kathryn on 08-23-17
By: David Leite
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Some Women
- By: Emily Liebert
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Annabel Ford has everything under control, devoting her time to her twin boys and keeping her household running smoothly. But when her husband of a decade announces that he's leaving, she's blindsided. And suddenly her world begins to unravel. Piper Whitley has always done her best to balance it all - raising her daughter, Fern, by herself while advancing her career as a crime reporter. Only now that she's finally met the man of her dreams, Fern's absentee father shows up, throwing everything into a tailspin.
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Great Book!!
- By femmefatale on 01-12-23
By: Emily Liebert
What listeners say about Something Spectacular
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Christine
- 06-06-15
Amazing
Excellent book for anyone with an eating disorder or loves someone with this. The author knows what she's talking about.
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- Gwendolyn
- 08-13-24
Very honest & insightful
The author does not hold back, and never glamorizes her eating disorder. She shares her darkest times, what kept her sick, and how she eventually recovered.
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- Jodi Francis
- 08-06-18
Great Support Book for Recovering Bulimics
Gleissner's memoir tells it like it is without glorification or gratuitousness, and Pearlman's voice really helps to convey the sort of character I imagined Gleissner to be based upon her own characterization. Parts of the book felt vague if not discarded -whatever became of her journey with her sexuality or her ability to deal with her past traumatic experiences?- however, overall, the book suggests hope not only for Gleissner but anyone who has ever combated an eating disorder and wanted "to win."
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- Susie
- 11-18-13
High Kicks and Heaving
Greta Gleissner doesn’t pull any punches describing the experience of Bulimia, from the daily junk food shopping frenzy to techniques of “purging” and hiding the evidence. I was horrified, and spellbound listening to this.
I learned quite a bit from this book about the similarities of eating disorders and addiction, and the psychological toll of the quest for perfection and love.
Gleissner goes deep in to her background and you can see how something like this would develop long before she was a dancer. Critical mom, unintentionally cruel dad, depression. coming to learn that when she was sick, people paid attention and that “sick equals love.” BOY
Dina Pearlman really sinks her teeth into this reading, like all these worlds are the thoughts scrolling through her head in real time.
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1 person found this helpful
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- NNN
- 10-09-17
A Good Memoir, Badly Narrated
The book itself was compelling - eye-opening, heartbreaking, honest, and, ultimately, hopeful. But the narrator was not a good fit at all. It almost ruined the book for me.
The narrator sounded like a midwestern 90s soccer mom, but the book was about a young woman in her 20s. It just was not a good match. The narrator also had a bad habit of inserting mirthless chuckles into the reading. Like a short, humorless laugh. It was weird and it happened a lot. By the end of the book, it was driving me crazy.
Ultimately, I’d say listen to the sample before buying. You can hear the narrator’s quirks and decide if it’s something you can get past. I got past it, but barely.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Sarah Charlotte
- 07-29-24
Thank you
Amazing, wonderful raw and real. She was so honest it was scary, I connected to her within the first 5 minutes and I just want to say thank you Greta your book has really opened my eyes and given me hope
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- Margie Fink
- 09-13-15
same journey
true to life story......have walked same journey same journey with with my own daughter. bulimia is a horriid monster
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- Kacy Ray
- 03-24-14
Therapeutic just to listen to
If you could sum up Something Spectacular in three words, what would they be?
Therapeutic, Open, fluid
Who was your favorite character and why?
I wouldn't say character simply because the book is about someone's life, but I definitely felt like I had so much in common with Greta, it takes so much to be able to bare yourself open specially when dealing with an addiction.
Which character – as performed by Dina Pearlman – was your favorite?
I personally LOVED Dina Pearlman's narration of the story, it really gave life to the narration.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Definitely the closing chapter, I felt very moved by her remarks.
Any additional comments?
I recommend this book to anyone going through any sort of addiction, is very relatable, very honest, and certainly taught me a few things about dealing with bulimia.
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- 1980sfan
- 05-25-17
A Survivor
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Cannot believe all she went through. This book is scary. The author suffered so much. Some of it is hard to listen to. It does not romanticize; it scares the reader away from these behaviors. But the insights into life as a dancer are interesting.
What other book might you compare Something Spectacular to and why?
I have read a lot of eating disorder memoirs, but none revealed to me the pain and suffering of the disorder as vividly as this, or frightened me as much.
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- Sallymac
- 12-30-18
WOW
Raw and real story of an amazing and awful journey. I laughed and cried all thru the book. I will listen to this again for sure.
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