Out of Print--Limited Availability.
Select delivery location
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Bracha Goetz
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Searching for God in the Garbage Paperback – December 2, 2017

by Bracha Goetz (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 125 ratings
See all formats and editions
Searching for God in the Garbage is an extremely candid memoir of how Bracha Goetz, a Harvard grad, became an observant Jew and overcame food addictions. Welcome to a transformative experience that speaks to our souls, nurturing the beauty in each of us.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    230 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    December 2, 2017
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.52 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1635540887
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1635540888
  7. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

So what do you think - when you are overeating, is it your body that is hungry or your soul?  How can you fill the inner emptiness and find the lasting pleasure you genuinely crave?

About the Author

Bracha Goetz is a Harvard-educated author of over thirty children's books. Her first published piece was a poem that appeared in McCall's magazine when she won a "Junior McCall's" contest as a twelve-year-old. Years later, she helped coordinate and contributed an essay to the anthology, Women Look at Biology Looking at Women, while at Harvard, which became a text in women's studies courses nationwide. In addition, she writes articles for many newspapers and magazines and has had essays published in Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies and Torn: True Stories of Kids, Career & the Conflict of Modern Motherhood. Goetz is represented by Loiacono Literary Agency.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W & B Publishers Inc. (December 2, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 230 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1635540887
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1635540888
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.52 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 125 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Bracha Goetz

Bracha Goetz

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Bracha Goetz is not your typical Harvard grad - she's the author of 42 picture books that help children grow spiritually, inspiring each uniquely beautiful soul to shine.

Instill gratitude early on for a joyful life!

Ever wonder why these bios are written in the "third person"? It's so it looks like she wasn't the one writing this about herself - but she really was! :)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
125 global ratings
A young woman's journey from pain to happiness & from secular searching to spiritual fulfillment
5 Stars
A young woman's journey from pain to happiness & from secular searching to spiritual fulfillment
This is truly a remarkable book that I read from start to finish without stopping. I really was unable to put it down. As a published author myself, I can assure this doesn't happen to me very often. Bracha displays searing honesty and penetrating self-awareness as she describes the unhealthy lifestyle in which she was entrapped and which is so common among educated young women at America's elite universities. We share her pain which manifests itself in serious eating disorders as she struggles to find purpose in her life. Interspersed throughout in uplifting prose are her bright observations about life that resonate with authenticity. Like a forest painted on a theatrical stage backdrop, her parents and her Jewish heritage are always visible but the reader is kept in suspense as to eventual effect. Is it just possible that the college experience as it is currently constituted is deeply damaging for young women? Is it just possible that eating disorders are really a spiritual malady? Is it just possible that we are all hardwired for connection with God? These and many other questions will swirl around the foundations of your worldview as you read Searching for God and answers will pop out at you from every page. If this book was fiction it would be quite irresistible. Being as it is all true, it is hauntingly unforgettable. And the ending...especially because it really happened this way, will put a smile on your face and a bounce in your step. This book not only entertains, it also educates and inspires. Best of all it is soul-renewing. As soon as you've finished it, two things will happen. You'll quickly page back to find episodes you want to reread in the light of the ending, and second, you'll mentally compile a list of people to whom you want to recommend this book just as I am recommending it to you.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

lia
5.0 out of 5 stars Messages for everyone in this book
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2018
Verified Purchase
Our children grew up with our reading Brocha Goetz's books to them and now we are buying them and reading them to our grandchildren. How delighted I was to see that she has written a book for adults! This book has surpassed those high expectations of well written, fun to read and take away lots of food for thought as her children's books are; coming away a better person than when I picked up the book. There are profound messages for so many types of people and their struggles: If you struggle with your relationship with food, you will find solace and support,. If you want to understand why some Jews want to learn more about their religion, and perhaps choose to become more involved and observant, you will find wonderful insights. For that matter, it doesn't only apply to Jews, it can be anyone that is curious about exploring and deepening their own religious roots. On the other hand, if you want to learn more about observant Jews, that's interspersed in this book too. What an incredible role model Brocha is when dealing with her relatives who she loves very much but they don't understand her journey. If you want to learn about navigating family relationships, standing in your own truth while continuing to love those who are not coming along for the ride on your journey, this book will show you some invaluable tips. If all you want is a book that is a fun read that you will not want to put down, this is the book for you! I applaud Brocha for her courage and candor in sharing her story! I am eagerly awaiting her next book for adults...and I think that our grandchildren are awaiting her next book for them!!!
Helpful
 Report
suziqzee
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful memoir that shows the evolution of a soul from pre-teen through adulthood
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
Bracha Goetz was born at the height of the American Baby Boom. Her short memoir, which begins at age twelve, is a wonderful coming of age story that also chronicles a unique time in American history.

Her generation, the first to grow up with television from birth, enjoyed unmatched financial prosperity as well as a relentless message that one's value lay in one's appearance, possessions, and accomplishments, rather than the quality of one's character. We watch Bracha succeed by all external benchmarks, including gaining admission to Harvard and later medical school. But her soul is starving. She begins binging, purging and starving herself to achieve the slender body that is de rigeur for women of the Ivy League elite. She finally decides to explore how best to nurture her soul.
Bracha's personal evolution coincides with major shifts in American society, including the Womens movement and Vietnam.
The book, told through diary entries, original poems and prose, show a beautiful, brilliant soul approaching life with courage and curiosity.
I felt like asking for more, more, more --- a great way to leave the reader.
Helpful
 Report
Dassie
5.0 out of 5 stars A Personable, Quirky, Meaningful & Candid Memoir
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2018
Verified Purchase
It's great to read a memoir that leaves you really liking the author even though you've never met her.

I loved the way Bracha Goetz discusses deep topics and inner struggles in a way that makes you feel she's giving you a friendly conspiratorial wink as she confides her deepest insecurities and conflicts, and how she resolved them.

It also brought back some powerful feelings and impressions from my own youth, like the way pre-teen girls are catapulted into a persona and system that is portrayed as "growing up," but in reality, contains no growth or maturity, and is actually stunting and damaging.

Prior to this, I hadn't read so much by Bracha, but I never forgot her poem "Fragile Wings," which appeared years ago in a now-defunct magazine, and just based on that poem (which also appears in "Searching for God in the Garbage"), I wanted to read this book.

At first, I wasn't so happy about how the entire book was a series of journal entries, but halfway through, I realized that this was the best way to write this kind of book and I think it works out very well as a series of journal entries.

I got a lot out of it. And while I was never the ambitious successful Ivy League type with an eye toward a prestigious career, I could relate to her food issues, her search for God and authenticity, and so much more.

Highly recommended!
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Goldie
5.0 out of 5 stars Changing Direction from Self-Destructive Behavior – An Inspirational Memoir
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
If anyone had it all, it was Joanne Singer. Attractive, intelligent, popular, Harvard grad, headed for greatness. So why was she obsessed with being thinner, more popular, especially with boys? Obsessions that took over her life. This important book is for anyone who is trying to find their way back to a place of equilibrium, to restore themselves to a life of real meaning. While the author’s eventual saving came through tradition and religion, the lessons can apply to anyone who realizes their value and worth are not dependent on their looks or popularity but from more traditional behaviors and teachings.

Through diary entries and beautiful soul-searching poetry, we see Joanne evolve and realize she had a higher calling than popularity. Her poetry, like Dr. Seuss, seems so simple, but it’s not. It’s very profound, giving voice to feelings, questions, uncertainty, and confusion. I read this book in one day, couldn’t put it down. While I don’t identify with any of the behaviors Joanne went through, I still got sucked into the private hell she went through each day, as she described her life during those bad years.

I think Joanne, now known as Bracha, has shown incredible courage to bring this book to light, to try to help others. The important message is that no one has to be stuck in that cycle, that it is possible to totally change the direction of one’s life completely for the better. It’s an amazing thing to me that Bracha did it without medication, without formal therapy, just by the strength of her own will, along with her own open eyes to see that there was a better path out there.

If even one soul can be saved and encouraged by reading this book, Bracha would have succeeded.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Irene H.
5.0 out of 5 stars A an amazing book and beautiful writing !
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2022
Verified Purchase
I really enjoy it when I read a book and the language is easy to read and interesting. It feels like you are pulled into reading it more and more. This is how I feel about this book. Bracha is such an amazing writer. It's hard to put one's thoughts onto paper like that. This book is so beautiful.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Sandie
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Canada on September 20, 2020
Verified Purchase
Love this book. It is witty and easy to read.
Report