Amy S. Wilensky

As a mild sufferer myself, I can honestly say that this book is an accurate depiction and a fantastic reading experience. This, I suspect, is especially so for those with the disorders, but I think it could also be very interesting to those just wanting to gain insight.

The most common criticisms seem to be about structural or flow problems, or random bits of information that don't get drawn on in detail although they may seem significant to the reader. There is at least one, if not a few references the author makes to her writing process, where she explicitly states that it takes her hours to accomplish very little, because she is constantly erasing and rewriting, obsessing over tiny details, struggling to control her tics enough to keep writing. With this is mind, I think readers should accept that she probably did the very best that she could in writing this memoir. Thought processes for EVERYONE are often quite random; histories, stories, experiences, feelings: these aren't always easy to pack neatly into paragraphs, sections, or chapters.

While she is not the warmest of characters, I personally don't think this detracts from the book too much, because whether you like her or not, the book is useful for understanding what it's like to have this disorder.

The main benefit is gained insight and understanding, and she certainly achieves this, with an interesting variety of facts, anecdotes, and explanation of thought processes and the complexity of feelings regarding the issue. Those who suffer themselves will almost certainly relate, and those who don't will likely finish the book with a deeper understanding of Tourette's and OCD, and hopefully more respect for sufferers.… (more)

Not much to say about this one, as it pretty much does what it says on the label. Amy Wilensky tells her story: how she started to develop odd physical tics as a child, how these developed into full-blown tics, rituals and obsessions which dominated her life, and how she battled those around her - and herself - until she finally got her diagnosis and started learning how to live with her disorders.

There are some mistakes in the book which could have been ironed out, and Wilensky doesn't always come across as a particularly pleasant young woman, particularly at the beginning. She warms up towards the end of the book, so it's hard to tell whether to attribute her less savoury side to honesty and self-deprecation, recreation of her feelings as a child, or to pure self-obsession. Either way, it's a fine line and she sometimes appears very selfish and rude, seeming to think little about the feelings of those around her even in the retrospect allowed by the autobiographical form. Towards the end, as her understanding of her disorders improves, she detaches a little and this uncomfortable self-interest lessens in favour of genuine insight.

In conclusion - an interesting book, but perhaps a different one might have been better suited to gaining insight from outside the disorder. It is actually a pretty mundane autobiography, which could have been vastly improved by including information gleaned from her own research (which is mainly confined to a couple of pages in the Afterword) to balance out her own rambling everyday experiences. This one might appeal more to people who suffer - or think they might suffer - from Tourette's and OCD, as they can gauge their own experiences against Wilensky's. Contact details for two major OCD and Tourette's associations are included at the end of the book, which might also prove useful - though they may be American institutions rather than international ones. Worth a read but nothing special.… (more)