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smittenforfiction's review against another edition
3.0
It was kinda funny...not the "hilarious" that has been said from others about it...As someone who has an anxiety disorder it was a great read to be able to learn of someone else that has similar thoughts to your own...a few helpful tips.
ssalamanca's review against another edition
4.0
"Freedom is anxiety's petri dish. If routine blunts anxiety, freedom incubates it."
"The idea that those [negative] thoughts preceded the feeling of anxiety contradicted everything I knew"
"But if I was going to insist on entertaining disaster scenarios, I at least had to be honest about the probabilities"
Originally started reading this for a class, but I really enjoyed it.
"The idea that those [negative] thoughts preceded the feeling of anxiety contradicted everything I knew"
"But if I was going to insist on entertaining disaster scenarios, I at least had to be honest about the probabilities"
Originally started reading this for a class, but I really enjoyed it.
kice7788's review against another edition
1.0
I gave this my 100 page try and I just couldnt get into it. I dont know wither it is because of my mood or that it wasn't a legit book -it was a memior but I just had to put it down. I am hoping if I get in the mood for it I will try it again but for right now I just cant. What I read was good but not great. So I dont know when I will be wanting to read it again.
meghan111's review against another edition
2.0
p. 61 "What defect was responsible for this terrible anxiety? What defect? How about being a weakling? How about being a pushover? How about being shamefully, contemptibly, pathetically, unreservedly acquiescent to the wills of others? How about being so weak of will that you may as well not even have one?"
ninwren's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book. I felt that it gave me a better understanding of anxiety in general, but specifically anxiety as a mental illness. This book would have been very useful when I was in my first year of university and living with a roommate who suffered from anxiety attacks on the order of the author's experience. It certainly could have enabled me to be more empathetic.
I can also relate to the author, although my own anxiety is that of an average person's and the author's extreme. The tactics he discusses (as helpful to him) for managing anxiety can apply to anyone's experience of even mild anxiety.
I can also relate to the author, although my own anxiety is that of an average person's and the author's extreme. The tactics he discusses (as helpful to him) for managing anxiety can apply to anyone's experience of even mild anxiety.
meaglovesbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
2.0
it had its good parts, but overall it felt uneven, and i found myself glossing over bits. from the hype and number of library holds on it, i expected it to be good, but i came away disappointed.
amn028's review against another edition
1.0
This was my second attempt reading this book (the cover draws me in each time). I gave up around Chapter 6 this time. I'm not sure if the author is trying to be funny or provide insight or both, but unfortunately the writing and story fell flat with me - it outright annoyed me. It became aggravating to continue to the point where reading lost all enjoyment.
nssutton's review against another edition
2.0
As an increasingly anxious person, I normally find reading about other people's anxieties soothing. It's sort of a reminder that what I feel is part of the human experience, and greater than my own petty troubles, like did I lock the front door when I came in from work. It's finding kinship in the experience of the other person. (And also maybe .5% reminding myself that maybe my own anxiety is not THAT bad.)
But this book was too much for me. It was more memoir than anxiety and I found it hard to connect with Smith, despite our shared neurosis. When reading a memoir, it's hard to keep judgement of the storytelling and the author separate, but here I found it impossible. There's the troubling story of his coming of age, which is one thing, and then his choices with regard to his Atlantic article and personal life, that just sort of made me wonder if this story was about experience with anxiety or some sort of stab at personal exorcism.
But this book was too much for me. It was more memoir than anxiety and I found it hard to connect with Smith, despite our shared neurosis. When reading a memoir, it's hard to keep judgement of the storytelling and the author separate, but here I found it impossible. There's the troubling story of his coming of age, which is one thing, and then his choices with regard to his Atlantic article and personal life, that just sort of made me wonder if this story was about experience with anxiety or some sort of stab at personal exorcism.