Goldman, Leslie

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Goldman, Leslie

PERSONAL:

Married; husband's name Dan. Education: Holds an M.P.H.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Chicago, IL. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Freelance writer. Health writer for the American Medical Association for five years.

WRITINGS:

Locker Room Diaries: The Naked Truth about Women, Body Image, and Re-imagining the "Perfect" Body, Da Capo Press (Cambridge, MA), 2006.

Also author of the blog The Weighting Game. Contributor to periodicals, including Chicago Tribune, Health, Marie Claire, People, Runner's World, Shape, Women's Health, and Redbook.

SIDELIGHTS:

Leslie Goldman writes for the American Medical Association and contributes articles on health-related issues to magazines and newspapers nationwide. She was motivated to write her first book, Locker Room Diaries: The Naked Truth about Women, Body Image, and Re-imagining the "Perfect" Body, after learning about a "no nudity" policy that was enacted in the locker room at a local gym. Appalled by the implications of such a rule, Goldman spent five years researching in locker rooms by eavesdropping on self-disparaging comments and interviewing women of all body types. She shares in the book her extensive firsthand and professional knowledge of the damage caused by poor body image and eating disorders, and she promotes an attitude of self-acceptance. Her Active Life contributor Bridget Sullivan remarked: "Part memoir and part ethnography, the book weaves together the perspectives of women of all shapes, ages and ethnicities (coupled with advice from the experts) as it chronicles the complex subculture of the locker room. Goldman deliciously crafts a page-turner that is provocative, honest, hilarious and heartbreaking." A critic for Kirkus Reviews commented that "interviews and stories will resonate with readers and provide inspiration for maintaining a positive self-image." Whitney Scott commented in Booklist that the book is an "eminently suitable addition to women's studies."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2006, Whitney Scott, review of Locker Room Diaries: The Naked Truth about Women, Body Image, and Re-imagining the "Perfect" Body, p. 10.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2006, review of Locker Room Diaries, p. 8.