Rating: 
Summary: Funny - NO WAY !!!! Pathetic - YES !
Review: 1. Don't bother reading it. 2. I bought it because of the reviews and I have wasted my money. 3. The author jumps about various topics. 4. There is no coherent structure to the contents of the book. 5. If any of this is true - the author needs serious help!!! 6. If none of this is true - why the book ??
Rating: 
Summary: Great sense of humor about her situation.
Review: After reading Emily Colas' book, I read Lauren Slater's "Prozac Diary." Although both authors took Prozac, the two books were very different. As light and humorous as Colas' book was, Slater's was heavy and literary. Slater suffered primarily from depression, with OCD a minor, last minute added symptom. Colas never seemed depressed, just obsessed. She seemed like she would be fun to be around, if you didn't have to live her obsessions. I'm reminded of Margaret Cho's stand-up comedy act. She once said that her stage personality was much stronger than her real personality, even though she was the same person, talking about the same life. Colas' book is real, funny, and strong.
Rating:
Summary: Great sense of humor about her situation.
Review: After reading Emily Colas' book, I read Lauren Slater's "Prozac Diary." Although both authors took Prozac, the two books were very different. As light and humorous as Colas' book was, Slater's was heavy and literary. Slater suffered primarily from depression, with OCD a minor, last minute added symptom. Colas never seemed depressed, just obsessed. She seemed like she would be fun to be around, if you didn't have to live her obsessions. I'm reminded of Margaret Cho's stand-up comedy act. She once said that her stage personality was much stronger than her real personality, even though she was the same person, talking about the same life. Colas' book is real, funny, and strong.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story
Review: As a person who has a very light case of OCD I was very interested in learning about it more. Many other books out there about OCD are just facts; this book is great. It takes you into the life of someone with a full-blown case of OCD. It doesn't tell you scientific things or give you medical research but allows you to actually see what it's like. It's not only an interesting read but it will leave you yearning for more.
Absolutely Wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible book.
Review: As an OCD sufferer, I found myself able to relate to Colas' description of her illness completely. She details the absolute control over one's life that this disorder can have, how it affects relationships, self-image, etc. Particularly interesting to me was Colas' reluctance to take any anti-obsessive medication (something I've personally struggled with) because it would change her life so drastically. I would recommend this book to both those struggling with this disorder or family and friends of sufferers. Those with OCD will find a lot in common with Emily Colas, and those that do not have the disorder will be able to learn a lot about it. This book is also very well-written, and would even be interesting to someone without any serious interest in OCD.
Rating:
Summary: Describes life with OCD perfectly.
Review: As an OCD sufferer, I found myself able to relate to Colas' description of her illness completely. She details the absolute control over one's life that this disorder can have, how it affects relationships, self-image, etc. Particularly interesting to me was Colas' reluctance to take any anti-obsessive medication (something I've personally struggled with) because it would change her life so drastically. I would recommend this book to both those struggling with this disorder or family and friends of sufferers. Those with OCD will find a lot in common with Emily Colas, and those that do not have the disorder will be able to learn a lot about it. This book is also very well-written, and would even be interesting to someone without any serious interest in OCD.
Rating: 
Summary: Recipe For A Worry
Review: Before you frown at the 'below average rating' of three stars that I've given this book-I'd like you to read the actual review. Maybe then you'll understand my rating a little better. Emily Colas is a well-educated mother of two with an amazing husband and is overall a normal homemaker. But as you can see from the title of this book, she has a secret. She suffers from OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). She gets worried that she will end up with a fatal illness from kissing or ...intercourse or just by breathing the same air as other people. She counts the number of words a person says to her in a sentence making sure that the conversation ends on a full star. (If you look to the menu on the left side of this screen you will find a link that takes you to 'excerpts' and there you will find the chapter about STARS and the way she counts them.) She worries drastically about how the cat might have gotten into the oven or the washing machine or the dishwasher and so she must keep checking on each to make sure she doesn't find the cat dead in one of the electrical appliances in the kitchen. She won't take the trash out and makes sure that her husband takes it out wearing old clothes that he can throw away immediately after going outside. As you can see, her worries are a little more developed than our own. I do not suffer from OCD but from this book I was able to understand what it feels like to have the disease at all. The book itself is like a concise dictionary on OCD divided into chapters on the difficulties she faces in daily life-things we would never have imagined. But as her friend the heroin addict says to her, "You're only as sick as your secrets." Her style of writing is certainly full of life. You can't find a single sentence in there that you feel is really part of the book, just a part of a conversation you're having with her. She's telling you a story and you are listening. That's what it feels like as you're reading the book-you're listening to her talk about herself and her problems. It's highly humorous and a worthwhile read. One thing you have to be warned of is that the book is very 'light' and breezy. This isn't something you find too often with a book that handles recovery. Therefore, if you're not prepared to laugh now and again at her shocking experiences to gain control of her life-you may be insulted by it. Be warned.
Rating: 
Summary: A humorous look at a serious disease.
Review: Coles, in her book "Just Checking," chooses to make light of a very serious illness--obsessive compulsive disorder. The strange thing is that it works. By wisecracking about the rather odd things she did over the years, and the way that her husband enabled her by going along with her strange behavior, she places the reader inside her head. While entertaining us, Coles also shows us how logical this behavior seemed to her at the time. I was both horrified and amused, as contradictory as this seems. Coles has done a wonderful job of showing us how OCD takes over the lives of its unfortunate victims until they go for the help that they need. Fortunately, the author went for help, but unfortunately, she paid a steep price for waiting so long. This book is touching, informative and entertaining. Coles is a talented and brutally honest writer. She is to be commended for telling it like it is; it must have been difficult for her to bare her soul like this.
Rating:
Summary: psychology-light
Review: Did I like this book, & specifically the author? No. Did I find the book interesting? yes, at least partly. "Just checking", seems to have been written in a hurry. It's as if the author decided to jot down some of her experiences, making them into little passages, with a cute title each. Does this note-taking make a book? A book about obsessive-compulsive disorder? No. It just makes a collection of notes on the experience of this disease. So, if you treat this book as a light read, something to finish up in a couple of hours, then fine, it's not bad. If you're looking for a deeper look on this disease, even in the form of a memoir, look elsewhere. One other thing I didn't appreciate was Colas' character, as portrayed in the book. Most readers commented on her being very "funny" & "sarcastic"...at some points, I just found her to be difficult & egocentrical. And not just because of her disease! A disease cannot be an excuse for everything...for example, I didn't much like her distaste for therapy, for no particular reason. Also, the fact that she never really gave any explanations or insights into "why" she was that way, what pushed her in the direction of this disease. Anyway, apart from all this, I suppose "just checking" is well-written enough, but to me it's not much of a memoir, since it doesn't show any pain, any self-knowledge that comes out of the disease, any change in the writer's character. Why write a memoir if you haven't got at least some kind of a conclusion?
Rating:
Summary: an ok light read
Review: did not like the writters little stories the way she jumped around so much wish she had gotten in to the why and hows of her life. well maybe next time she will. Iwould buy her bio.
|
