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When her father found the washing machine crammed with everything from her sneakers to her barrettes, 12-year-old Jennifer Traig had a simple explanation: They d been tainted by the pork fumes emanating from the kitchen and had to be cleansed. The same fumes compelled Jennifer to wash her hands for 30 minutes before dinner. Jennifer s childhood mania was the result of her then undiagnosed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder joining forces with her Hebrew studies. While preparing for her bat mitzvah, she was introduced to an entire set of arcane laws and quickly made it her mission to follow them perfectly. Her parents nipped her religious obsession in the bud early on, but as her teen years went by, her natural tendency toward the extreme led her down different paths of adolescent agony and mortification. Years later, Jennifer remembers these scenes with candor and humor. What emerges is a portrait of a well-meaning girl and her good-natured parents, and a very funny, very sharp look back at growing up."… (more)
User reviews
"Scenes" aptly describes the book because, as Traig herself makes clear, her battles with the disease were sporadic. Plus, the book has scattered
Traig and her family, as presented in the book, are immensely likable and weather the bizzare with good humor. There are colorful portraits of them as well as of Traig; no member of her immediate family is there as a mere prop to her own story, which is a real strength in the book, something that helps make it more substantial than many of the more "me-centric" memoirs.
Religion plays a heavy part in this memoir, something that many readers may not expect, but it was the key piece of Traig's disorder. I personally found it fascinating to read about, as so many elements of Orthodox Judaism were unfamiliar to me, and, again, I thought it gave the book a good deal of substance. Some readers may be put off by this element of the unfamiliar, while others may find it intriguing (and it certainly makes this book stand out from any other OCD memoir). The book becomes not just a "book about a girl with OCD" but also a more profound look at a girl coming to terms with her identity and faith. And again-- to be able to make all of this side-splittingly funny reveals rare talent indeed!
Very highly recommended.
Jennifer
This book is quite funny throughout and shows that the author is comfortable looking back on who she was as a child. I believe there was also some pain, but that's not part of this book. I took away from Jennifer's story of her childhood a sense of her love for Judaism, her love for her family, and her delight in being who she is. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged I was with her story and think others will find this a pleasant read as well.
When I started "Devil in the Details," it was with the expectation that it would be about Jennifer Traig's struggle with OCD, maybe with a funny lean to it since she is known in the McSweeney's circuit. I was
Don't get me wrong, there are some funny parts, and Traig manages to get the feeling of helplessness (for lack of a better term) -- against OCD and especially against the religious compulsions -- across. I felt for her. I felt for her parents, I felt for her sister, I felt for everyone who has read this book and felt like they HAD to finish it even though it becomes a chore about halfway through the book.
In addition, the whole book felt disjointed, as Traig bounced back and forth in time and topic. Maybe this was her intent and I should have read it as a book of essays instead of a whole-piece memoir.
I can't really recommend this one; although I'm sure a few people WOULD enjoy it, I can't think of any of them offhand. The cover is pretty, though!
Jennifer is born and raised in an interfaith household, and while neither parent is very serious about their religion, Jennifer leans more toward her father's Jewish heritage rather than her mother's Catholicism. Since the multitude of laws and rituals of the Old Testament are so detailed and strict, and that she feels so compelled to carry out so many rituals with her OCD as well, she decides that becoming a very strict practicing Jew is perfect for her. She has a bat mitzvah after going through religious training, and finally becomes what she believes will make her complete and whole.
Throughout the years, her family struggles with Jennifer's ups and downs, and the outrageous, over-zealous and literal interpretation of her religion, along with the OCD, and tries for years to get her to change her ways.
Even though the story sort of jumped around from one age to another, and back again, and although the abrupt ending left this reader hanging.....this book was hard to put down and extremely enjoyable due to the author's natural wit and humor, and excellent writing skills.
I already have ordered two of her other books. This one is a must-read if you know anyone with OCD, or if you just need a good hearty chuckle. I commend this author for working so hard despite her illness, and receiving a PhD in literature.
Her parents were nice people, but in those days OCD had not yet been identified as a disorder so they really were at a loss. The book might have been darker written by another person because it hard to be very painful to grow up like this but Ms. Traig keeps it light and funny.
(e.g. Set This House in Order; The Pleasure of My Company, The Long Title With The Dog in the Nighttime; etc.)
However, I feel a bit worse about this one since it's a
hilarity. You can
My favorite quote from her rules for playing "Musical Chairs" (or where to decide where to sit in the house):
"9. Players may not sit on the floor, because this prompts your Father to yell, 'This
I thought that was funny, but not too much else.....
I did learn that OCD is a central brain dysfunction and it seems to suit those OCDs with religious "scrupulosity".
I enjoyed Jennifer’s tales of her obsessions, both with germs and religious
However, about halfway through I decided I didn’t need to know much more about her life, so some of the stories seemed to me a bit superfluous.
For the full review, visit Love at First Book