Devil in the details
Subtitle: scenes from an obsessive girlhood
By: Jennifer Traig.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Little, Brown
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 246
Subjects: Traig, Jennifer; Obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescence -- Patients -- Biography; Obsessive-compulsive disorder -- Religious aspects -- Judaism; Scruples -- Scrupulosity
Genres: Biography.
Description: "Being a teenager is hard enough. Jennifer Traig's adolescence took angst to new heights, adding a layer of obsessive-compulsive drama that made ordinary mortifications like bad hairstyles and fashion errors feel like the good parts. Devil in the Details is her unforgettable, hilarious, wrenching account of growing up weird." "Jennifer Traig's adventures in obsession began at the age of twelve, when her religious studies introduced her to a body of rules that she hadn't known existed. This unleashed a level of religiosity completely alien to her upbringing. Psychiatrists call this disorder scrupulosity - her family just called it strange. Fervent prayer was only the beginning. On a given day, Jennifer might be putting all her possessions in the washing machine to cleanse them of the pork fumes emanating from the kitchen. Or clipping the lawn according to Old Testament regulations. Or covering her hair with Kleenex while she maintained her constant state of prayer." "Jennifer's family treated her condition with humor ("Ready for your big casserolectomy, Dr. Traig?" her mother asked as Jennifer scrubbed her hands for thirty minutes before a meal). But her obsessions wore increasingly on her, her family, and her few friends, leading to a crisis that not even joining every single school club, no matter her level of interest, could save her from."--BOOK JACKET.