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Passing for Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion
 
 
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Passing for Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion (Paperback)

by Amy S. Wilensky (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Price: £9.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 221 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner (7 Aug 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0684866390
  • ISBN-13: 978-0684866390
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 656,744 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

Amy Wilensky was 8 years old when she started to suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourettes Syndrome. Her fears and compulsions ranged from an irrational dread of odd numbers, to a love of multiples of six, from denying herself water to needing to touch wood.
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Compulsive reading..., 2 Oct 2000
Amy Wilenski suffers from Tourette's syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and in writing this book she has shared with us her deeply emotional, but often hilarious, experiences with the world. From collecting pennies in jars, to only getting out of bed when the time on the clock ends in an even number, her tale is curiously compulsive itself, always pushing onwards when you imagine that there can be nothing left to tell. Anyone who has ever felt judgemental about people, or felt judged themselves by another, will acknowledge that Wilensky's frank and honest writing is among the most eye-opening you can get. Wilensky's writing style is at times disjointed and although not difficult to read, I found myself frequently having to reread passages to make sense of them - possibly it is just the American speech patterns which clash with my own British way of following words! Still, the book is enormously interesting and heartwarming with it. Wilensky is a perfect example of someone who has used something potentially destructive to her advantage, and I'd like to think that anyone who reads it can learn a little something from her experiences, too.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stands out in its genre, 30 Mar 2007
By SJSmith (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Passing for Normal: Tourette's, OCD and Growing Up Crazy (Pocket Books) (Paperback)
With non-fiction the synopsis usually tells you all you need to know really. However I thought I'd just add my thoughts so that if you're thinking about reading it I might help you make the decision :-)

I've read a fair few of this genre and when this was recommended to me a by a good friend from my reading group I was pleased. It was right up my street. It is typical of its genre in that it's someone's memoirs and yes it does all turn out alright in the end but I felt the journey from the first page to the last page is what makes it stand out.

It felt 'real', let me try to explain this. I can read memoirs forever (not the celebrity kind, but real ones) and I can read them with a sense of detachment and an imaginary pat on the shoulder for the writer safe in my own world knowing that it could never happen to me. This felt more gritty and substantial - she told it like it was.

'Passing For Normal' packs a lot of punches and is worth the read. It is informative whilst not ramming the theory down your throat. I was engaged and interested and didn't skim through any of it, which I sometimes find myself doing with memoirs as there are inevitably bits I'm often not wanting to know.

Read it!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing, 11 Jan 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Passing for Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion (Hardcover)
I couldn't put this book down. I have a son recently diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome. I've wondered in the past about myself maybe having Obsessive/Compulsive type symptoms going on, but it was only as I read this book that I realised I could have been reading about myself. Amy Wilensky has proved that this neurological condition need not hold anyone back - possibly quite the reverse. Thank you Amy for sharing your life with us. I would certainly recommend this book to everyone - it's a great read!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and insightful portrayal of Tourette Syndrome
This autobiographical account of life with TS and OCD gives a revealing insight into the actual reality of living with TS and, commonly associated, obsessive compulsive... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Dr. R. S. Beckwith

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but just... flat, somehow
Well, this 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... Read more
Published 7 months ago by E. Potten

3.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening regarding Tourettes and OCD but not a great read
This was a decent read but the very beginning and the end was very boring and by the end 40 pages I was just scanning through the pages.
Published 16 months ago by J. Kisseih

4.0 out of 5 stars amy's not crazy
Amy suddenly develops tics and twitches at the age of 8, she also suffers from OCD. Her father suffers from OCD too and it looks like his mother also had it. Read more
Published on 17 April 2007 by E. Dale

5.0 out of 5 stars Really helpful and informative
AS a fellow suffer of OCD I found Amy's book top be an informative and affirmative tale of growing up with this disorder. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 1999

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