Rachael's review
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood
by Jennifer Traig
It's all about the "tip over the edge." In other words when do our passions become obsessions? And our idiosyncrosies become our way of life? Curious questions for me to think about because I don't think I am a particularly cerebral person when it comes to needing to doing things a certain way. I'm actually quite the opposite. To this day it drives me crazy how I still do first and then think later. And PS your picture makes you look like a doll... it's so vexing.
That's probably why I enjoy you so much - the way you dive into things without preamble is probably highly therapeutic. I struggle to reduce the amount of considering that goes into most aspects of my life and being your friend teaches me how to do that - basically, don't think so much and trust yourself.
p.s.
I'd be able to make comments about your picture if you HAD ONE. Plus, that picture of me is like more than a year old. I have terrible princess Diana hair at the moment and I'm covered in dust. Hot.
Ah. You are like me! You have OCD tendencies but not the actual disorder. I was un-nerved by how much of the author's story seemed to fit me. I remember thinking, "Oh wow.... Oh wow.... No way... Oh wow...." But I just about lost it when she started talking about her problems with driving. I am constantly looking behind me to see who I've run over. Just the other day on the news I heard of a woman hurt in a hit and run accident. My ears perked up so I could make sure the description of the vehicle didn't match mine. (And I'm a good driver!!)
I really appreciated how this author treated her disorder with frankness and humor. I think that shows real character. Some people are defined by their problems. If one of those people had written this book it would have been sad, boring and probably fairly obnoxious.
Rachael's review
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood by Jennifer Traig
Rachael's review
rating:
bookshelves:
comedy,
nonfiction
recommended for: my family but they wouldn't read it
It was slightly jarring to see so much of myself in the main character. I mean I don't have OCD or anything but I have a sympathy with her need to do those things. I don't have the compulsion but I do think about every shadow that passes my path as I'm driving and I do obsess about Salmonilla (which I still contend is totally reasonable to obsess over) and I do try to avoid stepping on tiles that are next to eachother in favor of those that are diagonal. I did make Delta stop a plane and turn it around on the runway because I didn't want to be away from my mother for a week. The inconsistencies in my childhood wallpaper kept me awake at night. I ritualize things like showering and going to the gym. I know that these things are all basically normal but I can see how easy it would be to tip over the edge. And it's all presented with a self-deprecating sense of humor and detailed descriptions of the most brutal 70's and 80's fashions, creative parenting, and compulsory summer crafting. Pl...more
It's all about the "tip over the edge." In other words when do our passions become obsessions? And our idiosyncrosies become our way of life? Curious questions for me to think about because I don't think I am a particularly cerebral person when it comes to needing to doing things a certain way. I'm actually quite the opposite. To this day it drives me crazy how I still do first and then think later. And PS your picture makes you look like a doll... it's so vexing.
That's probably why I enjoy you so much - the way you dive into things without preamble is probably highly therapeutic. I struggle to reduce the amount of considering that goes into most aspects of my life and being your friend teaches me how to do that - basically, don't think so much and trust yourself.p.s.
I'd be able to make comments about your picture if you HAD ONE. Plus, that picture of me is like more than a year old. I have terrible princess Diana hair at the moment and I'm covered in dust. Hot.
Ah. You are like me! You have OCD tendencies but not the actual disorder. I was un-nerved by how much of the author's story seemed to fit me. I remember thinking, "Oh wow.... Oh wow.... No way... Oh wow...." But I just about lost it when she started talking about her problems with driving. I am constantly looking behind me to see who I've run over. Just the other day on the news I heard of a woman hurt in a hit and run accident. My ears perked up so I could make sure the description of the vehicle didn't match mine. (And I'm a good driver!!) I really appreciated how this author treated her disorder with frankness and humor. I think that shows real character. Some people are defined by their problems. If one of those people had written this book it would have been sad, boring and probably fairly obnoxious.
