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Reviews
Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying (Among Other Things) by Abby Sher
heathercottledillon's review against another edition
3.0
Abby's story was really interesting to me, due to my own obsessive-compulsive and anorexic tendencies. It was fascinating to compare the way she thought when she was sick to the way I did. Sometimes I felt like her thoughts came straight from my own head, and other times she sounded crazy to me. There are a few parts that seemed a bit dull and dry to me, but overall, I enjoyed it and it made me think.
nssutton's review against another edition
4.0
My brother has OCD and I don't understand it. I mean, I understand it the way someone who was a psychology minor in undergrad understands it, but to see someone you love so much suffering so greatly makes it harder to find any comfort in that clinical understanding. I want so badly to know the right thing to say, to have the answers for him, or at least for myself. My brother's ability to describe the nuances of his own struggle are brave and incredible, but I still feel like at such a loss.
So I sought comfort in my own compulsive reading. Spending time with Shear's story was both helpful and hurtful, seeing things that mirror his life and things that don't. They both developed these behaviors after an unexpected loss, although there were signs before that. They are both incredibly creative individuals who want so badly to protect others. There are things they cannot say, cannot do, because of the way they believe the world works. But her path led her to physical self-abuse, where my brother is in a constant battle with his mind. She chose cognitive behavioral therapy and he has not.
I appreciated the candor with which she told her story, even when it wasn't easy. I felt frustration with her at times, but mostly because I recognized the situation in which she was in, or put others in, and that opened the gate for feelings I have about my own family situation to present themselves.
This was a read that I needed.
So I sought comfort in my own compulsive reading. Spending time with Shear's story was both helpful and hurtful, seeing things that mirror his life and things that don't. They both developed these behaviors after an unexpected loss, although there were signs before that. They are both incredibly creative individuals who want so badly to protect others. There are things they cannot say, cannot do, because of the way they believe the world works. But her path led her to physical self-abuse, where my brother is in a constant battle with his mind. She chose cognitive behavioral therapy and he has not.
I appreciated the candor with which she told her story, even when it wasn't easy. I felt frustration with her at times, but mostly because I recognized the situation in which she was in, or put others in, and that opened the gate for feelings I have about my own family situation to present themselves.
This was a read that I needed.
liralen's review against another edition
3.0
Not the book for me—partly because there was far more parental death in here than I was prepared for (not the book's fault—I'd had it on my to-read shelf for years and didn't reread the description before checking the book out) and partly because there was a bit more navel lint than I wanted. Maybe a better fit for someone for whom the OCD part of the story connects more viscerally.
canuckmum's review against another edition
4.0
Abby Sher tells her story of how she lives with OCD. Recommended by Sno-Isle Libraries.
jeremyhornik's review against another edition
5.0
I really liked this book. I plowed right through it in two sittings, couldn't really put it down. Stayed up too late to finish it, and now have to write a bit before I'll be able to sleep.
It's quite good. She vividly evokes that feeling of responsibility you get when you just feel responsible for things that are clearly out of your control. The whole thing reads a bit like a thriller... she is so often just barely on the edge of control, and you read headlong with this sick feeling of fear for what might happen. And it's funny, too.
There's this whole second level to my reading it, though, which most people won't have. See, I knew Abby. I know her best from improv circles, and then directing her in a show that briefly merits a mention halfway through the book (the one where she plays the bearded lady.) At the time, I found her talented and extremely interesting, and really was happy that she was in the play. It was much better for her having been in it. I had no idea that she was afflicted with OCD. Reading this now... it's not so much like, "I'm dumb... how could I have missed it." It's more like, here, at this one point in my life, was this person who I barely knew but found really talented and interesting. And now, fifteen years later, I discover this whole massive book all about who she was... where she came from, what she was going through, and who she became. And the funny thing is I think I always wanted to know. I am a nosy bastard by inclination, and since I think this is basically a weakness, I try hard to respect the walls of privacy people put up around themselves. This is like some kind of crazy gift that I can't imagine how it ever got to me.
This is a good book even if you didn't ever direct Abby Sher in a show where she plays a bearded lady. But that improves it.
It's quite good. She vividly evokes that feeling of responsibility you get when you just feel responsible for things that are clearly out of your control. The whole thing reads a bit like a thriller... she is so often just barely on the edge of control, and you read headlong with this sick feeling of fear for what might happen. And it's funny, too.
There's this whole second level to my reading it, though, which most people won't have. See, I knew Abby. I know her best from improv circles, and then directing her in a show that briefly merits a mention halfway through the book (the one where she plays the bearded lady.) At the time, I found her talented and extremely interesting, and really was happy that she was in the play. It was much better for her having been in it. I had no idea that she was afflicted with OCD. Reading this now... it's not so much like, "I'm dumb... how could I have missed it." It's more like, here, at this one point in my life, was this person who I barely knew but found really talented and interesting. And now, fifteen years later, I discover this whole massive book all about who she was... where she came from, what she was going through, and who she became. And the funny thing is I think I always wanted to know. I am a nosy bastard by inclination, and since I think this is basically a weakness, I try hard to respect the walls of privacy people put up around themselves. This is like some kind of crazy gift that I can't imagine how it ever got to me.
This is a good book even if you didn't ever direct Abby Sher in a show where she plays a bearded lady. But that improves it.
coldinaugust's review against another edition
5.0
The book was totally engrossing, and the writer talented. I can't tell you how comforting and fascinating it is to read about someone *else's* obsessive fears & compulsive behaviors & relationships to stave those fears off, to try to keep them at bay. OCD isn't about liking things clean or organized; it's about trying to control things you can as a way to compensate for things you can't, even (and especially) when it gets in the way of the rest your life, just for a little more room to put air in your lungs where the anxiety has created a vacuum. Sher is really, really talented at quite poetically putting that into words, into stories.
A sad & emotional book to read, definitely coming with a trigger warning for folks with disordered eating/eating disorders and/or self-harm issues, but powerful and really well-written. I loved the way she wrote about her father in the beginning, the way her voice almost sounded like the 10-year-old child she was at the time the story took place, how very much she loved him. I felt myself missing her father throughout the whole book. A lot of times I couldn't put it down.
A sad & emotional book to read, definitely coming with a trigger warning for folks with disordered eating/eating disorders and/or self-harm issues, but powerful and really well-written. I loved the way she wrote about her father in the beginning, the way her voice almost sounded like the 10-year-old child she was at the time the story took place, how very much she loved him. I felt myself missing her father throughout the whole book. A lot of times I couldn't put it down.
jessferg's review against another edition
3.0
An okay book but a good book club read. There is lots to discuss about mental illness, obsessive-compulsive disorder, parenting, eating disorders, religion and faith, etc. I probably wouldn't have finished if it wasn't a book club book but overall was well-written. The author definitely puts herself out there which is commendable. Just not really my thing.
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