Review by Booklist Review
In this hilarious medical memoir, comedian Benincasa recounts, among other things, how she urinated in bowls for a while. (She didn't want to go to the bathroom, the scene of too many past panic attacks.) With expert pacing, the stand-up comic mixes humor and poignant anecdotes from her teen, college, and young adult life. When she tells her family shrink that she feels hopeless, she says, It's kind of embarrassing because my life is really, really good. I feel like an asshole. This tale is not G-rated. The otherwise likable author uses the f-word too often and overshares about her romantic life. Of one boyfriend, she says, We even talked about having children, or anal sex. It was a real deep kind of love. At the end of the story, she meets a cabbie who tells her that the previous day he felt as if his heart was going to explode. He then asks her if she knows what a panic attack is. She does. And as her empowering tale makes clear, she survives and thrives (with a little help from family, friends, and Prozac).--Springen, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The lowest point for award-winning comedian and recovering agoraphobe Benincasa in her funny and unflinchingly honest account of her lifelong battle with panic attacks comes in college when she's too terrified to use her bathroom and is left to urinate in Le Creuset bowls. She starts having attacks in early childhood and by 16 is on a diet of antidepressant and antianxiety medications to deal with a long list of fears including driving and being a passenger, wet hair, and riding the subway and bus. When she gets to Emerson College, everything completely unravels. Rescued by her very understanding parents, she recuperates at home in New Jersey, seeing a psychiatrist and getting on the right drugs like Prozac and Xanax. The healing comes slowly, with baby steps like graduating from smoothies to solid food and being able to drive alone with the help of an inspirational mix tape. After surviving her first big test-moving 11 hours away to school in Asheville, N.C.-with only one small crackup, she decides she is ready to handle New York City, where "most people are even crazier than I am." Using humor to help her overcome the anxieties that once dominated her life, Benincasa discovers her gift for comedy and storytelling, and finds tranquility. Agent: Scott Mendel. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
