![]() ![]() Maybe the most interesting aspect of Wilensky’s book is the connection between OCD and Tourette’s. I wonder how ambivalent she feels drawing so much attention to herself by writing this memoir. She hates to have people point out her strange behavior, because it makes her feel especially self-conscious. She managed to have friends, to do well in school, and even to have a romantic life in college, partly by surrounding herself with people who were tolerant and didn’t comment on her weird movements or strange habits. She grew up with the fear that she was crazy, and she made a great deal of effort to cover up her compulsions and tics, and avoided situations where they would be exposed. ![]() Wilensky grew up knowing that she is different from other people, but it wasn’t until she was in college that she even suspected that there was a name for her condition. ![]() On the other hand, it’s clear that living with OCD and Tourette’s is no picnic either. So this is not the kind of memoir where we learn of the author’s suicide attempts and multiple hospitalizations, and the great achievement of her life is simply to simply to have lived to tell the tale. I heard her recently on National Public Radio, reporting on a cheese expert, I seem to recall. She is married and lives in New York City. She was born in 1969, so she is still starting her career–she went to Vassar College and also graduated from Columbia University’s M.F.A. Amy Wilensky’s memoir is about her experience of obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. ![]()
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