Over and Over
A Review of Passing for Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion by Amy Wilensky
You are reading my review of this book, and as you read, you
read every word, because that’s the only way to fully understand what this
review is about. However, Amy Wilensky could only read every sixth word in
this paper, six times. This compulsion, and the many others that she had
developed, affected every aspect of her everyday life. Passing for Normal
is a memoir of the author’s experience with OCD and Tourette’s. At a young
age Amy realized that the compulsions and twitches she did wasn’t her
fault. She says, “I know more than ever how unconnected the ritual is with
anything at all, let alone my personal safety or happiness or success”
(Wilensky 91). When she figured this out, she understood that nothing was
wrong with her; rather, something was affecting her. Even though it takes
her many years to find out she has OCD and Tourette’s, this quote
foreshadows Amy’s drive to find out what’s wrong with her. For a long time,
Wilensky’s ‘tics’ proved to be a catharsis and helped to placate her when
she felt stressed or angry. Her friends thought these ‘tics’ added to her
panache, thinking she was just a quirky little girl. She finally learns
that she has these diseases as a young adult, she receives treatment and
feels liberated enough to really live her life.
Just as Wilensky moved on in her life, one of my goals is to move on
in mine. Her success, in getting treatment gave her happiness and a feeling
of security. My goal- of getting a job- will also give me happiness and a
feeling of security. Some obstacles I know I will face are my age, and
school, which will only allow me to work for the summer. From the book, I
know that I can overcome these simple obstacles, if I also find a friend my
age who has a job, or is looking, can help me with my goal. In the book,
Wilensky meets Bryant in college; he also has OCD and Tourette’s. They
become congenial friends, and help eachother with getting treatment for
their diseases. Getting a job makes me a little trepid, but another section
of this book inspires me not to be afraid, when Amy goes to her first TSA
meeting. She thought it would be full of crazy people, until she recognized
a movie producer at the meeting, she said, “I was surprised and secretly
comforted to find Lowell mingling with the like of us” (Wilensky 28). This
sighting of a successful person helps Wilensky understand that OCD and
Tourette’s doesn’t have to completely hinder her life.
This book was very interesting; the structure was in chronological
order, the chapters’ dividing up different events of Wilensky’s life until
she received treatment for her diseases. The beginning and end of the book
connects in that they compare with eachother. You can see from the
beginning how bad Wilensky’s compulsions were, and at the end, how she got
treatment for hers, and even her father, I laud the book for its vivid
descriptions, it was also a very cogent book; it used a lot of large words.
However, there were some weaknesses, it was verbose, and many ideas were
restated.
I also like the facts that were included in this book, one of which
stated that the British Medical Journal believed that Mozart may have had
Tourette’s, he was often seen leaping, twirling, and he loved nonsense
words. Howard Hughes, a famous Hollywood producer, who produced Scarface
and Hell’s Angels, was afraid of germs for most of his life, and wouldn’t
touch anything.
In conclusion, this book was very inspiring. People should care
because a person with OCD and Tourette’s was able to sit down and write a
book. This really inspires me, considering how crippling these diseases can
be. I would recommend this book to some of my friends, because I know it
would inspire them too. In lieu to the first sentence of my review, I’m
sure that Wilensky would be able to read every word of this essay, and
she’d be proud.

Imagine you are in class, and you are listening to the teacher. While you are taking notes, you hear one of your classmates scream obscenities across the room, and when you look up, you notice other classmates twitching and contorting involuntarily. All the while, your teacher keeps talking, like nothing ever happened. This is how Amy’s first meeting went for people who suffered from OCD and Tourette syndrome.  The biggest difference is that Amy’s meeting was a catharsis for her, to be around people just like her, seeing how some lived normal lives, with good jobs; while others have a hard time accepting themselves. The book describes Amy’s disease in a new way, she came to understand her ‘tics’ weren’t normal, and the worse the got, the harder it became to hide from her family- especially her father, who looked at her in disgust when she had an episode- and friends.

In my opinion, this book is more interesting than I thought it would be. I like how descriptive Wilensky is, even when describing the most diminutive things. The book also gives an insight into OCD and Tourettes, diseases that aren’t very common. The only thing I don’t like, is how her father treated her when she had an episode, instead of trying to help, he called her crazy, imitated her and even sent her looks of disgust.

So far, the book is exploring Amy’s adventure to accept who she is. After the first meeting, where she meet a filmmaker and a doctor, she understands that she doesn’t have to hide, and that she shouldn’t be ashamed, because it’s not her fault that she has this disease. I think a proper theme to describe this is don’t be concerned with what other people say or think about you. An example, is how inspired she became when she learned that the filmmaker at the meeting didn’t hide like she did, he went out and pursued his dream. She had even seen one of his documentaries, and was surprised to see him among other OCD sufferers.

I think that I will enjoy the rest of this book, not only because it is different, but its inspiring in its own way; teaching people to accept who they are, but not to be hindered by it, but instead, work around it and pursue your dreams.