A couple weeks ago, The Virtual Book Tour sent me a copy of ‘Devil in the Details‘, a memoir by Jennifer Traig recounting the troubled youth of an OCD sufferer. The praise on the back cover hails the book as, “hilarious, frightening, good-natured, and deeply moving all at once…” I did laugh at Traig’s wit and intelligent writing, but I’m not so sure that’s accurate.

    What did I get out of this book? A lot of food for thought, but in the end, all I wanted to do was run up to Jennifer, give her a hug, and tell her that I’m sorry life sucks. It must not have been my style of comedy, because I certainly didn’t find her story the least bit funny. Sure, in hindsight it may be funny for her now, but I’ve known too many kids with similar problems to think this was a rollicking good time.

    ‘Devil’ did certainly make me pause and reflect on my own experiences mentoring a variety of kids in situations similar to hers, which proved quite interesting, even a little alarming. Traig’s account of her childhood reminded me strongly of a young girl I used to work with. Both were raised in interfaith households (Christian Mother, French-Jewish Father), both developed OCD, both became anorexic, both used orthodoxy as an expression of their compulsions, and the list goes on. It was baffling and very concerning. Reading ‘Devil’ proved useful in that it led to hours of research into the heredity of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but still, can’t find the funny.

    This is the fourth time I’ve written this review. The first was an extremely long thesis on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, based off the hours of research. The second and third, eh, just slightly shorter diatribes about compulsive behavior. I’ll spare you my psych student babbling and say this – in my opinion, ‘Devil in the Details’ is a victim of misdirected advertising. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Yes, it was well written, yes, it was a remarkably thorough examination of the inner workings of obsessive compulsive disorder. But did I enjoy it? I don’t think so, simply because it didn’t meet the expectations laid out for me by the hype. Instead of funny, I got thought-provoking and slightly depressing. By the time I reached the last page, my sides weren’t aching from laughter. Instead I was determined to figure out why so many Jewish teenagers I know are suffering from the exact same problems. If it weren’t for the promises of hilarity, I might have viewed the reading experience differently. But now I’m just entirely confused and concerned. Concerned for Jenny Traig, and concerned that people actually found all this funny.

    Bottom line, if you’re looking for a light book to make you smile, I don’t recommend ‘Devil in the Details.’ If you’re interested in troubled coming-of-age stories, psychological studies, compulsive behavior, or child development, you’ll love it. Just don’t believe the packaging.

    (Thanks go out to The Virtual Book Tour, Kevin Smokler, and of course, Jenny Traig.)