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Reviews
Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying (Among Other Things) by Abby Sher
liralen's review
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
4.0
Abby Sher tells her story of how she lives with OCD. Recommended by Sno-Isle Libraries.
jeremyhornik's review
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
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
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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