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Traci Foust wasn't a "normal" seven-year-old girl. When all the neighborhood kids were playing outdoors, Traci was inside making sure the miniature Catholic saint statues in her windowsill always pointed due north, scratching out bald patches on her scalp, and snapping her fingers after every utterance of the word God. As Traci got older, her OCD blossomed to include panic attacks and other bizarre behaviors, including a fear of the sun, an obsession with contracting eradicated diseases, and the idea that she could catch herself on fire just by thinking about it.While stints of therapy—and lots of Nyquil—sometimes helped, nothing alleviated the fact that her single mother and mid-life crisis father had no idea about how to deal with her.
So, it wasn't a total shock when she became a teenage runaway on the poetry slam beat in the hippie beach towns of Northern California and had to be dragged home by her family. It also wasn't too surprising when her mother could no longer stand the stress of having Traci under her roof, so Traci had a stint of living at a family-owned nursing home, in a room with a seventy-five-year old WWII Vet who kept mistaking her for a prostitute.
In this heartfelt, funny, and candid account of her struggles with a variety of psychological disorders, Traci shows that there is nothing special about being "normal."
Traci Foust grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and received a degree in American Literature from UCSC. Her writing credits included contemporary short fiction in The Black Satellite Anthology (2000) to winning the Northern California Olympiad of the Arts award for the same category. She has also been published in Hyperlexia Literary Journal (3/09). She currently lives in San Diego, CA. Nowhere Near Normal is her first book-length work of nonfiction.
LBrechureux
Posted May 19, 2011
I knew after the first chapter I was in love. Foust's style is similar to Dave Eggers and Anthony Doeer. These sentences are so poetic and sometimes just outright chilling (though not surprising seeing how the author quotes Bjork and Marilyn Manson in the openings) From a girl who thought, actually wanted to be possessed by the Devil rather than deal with the voices in her brain telling her she may get up and stick knived in her throat or catch on fire if she fell asleep, to a girl who was sent to live in a board and care home for simply being "different". I can't really relate to OCD but I know what it's like to have poetry (as well as use your sexuality) to make yourself feel as if somehow you fit in. My only gripe would be I think it ended a bit too abruptly. She isn't cured or even over her obsessions (maybe that's just the way it is with OCD) but I wanted more of a reason to cheer for her to keep moving forward in the end. Still, I read this book in three days. A record for me, considering that Foust is a complicated writer, using black humor and a Thomas Pynchonesque style to convey what it's like to be in the mind of a girl who is never really happy with herself or satisfied with the world around her.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.spreezeP
Posted April 21, 2011
I bought this for my girlfriend who has some ocd issues but decided to read it with her. This girl can write. This book isn't just a great story (im about halfway through) but Tracy's style is so vivid and gorgeous. Some of it feels like poetry. If you want an easy read that will not make you think do not buy this book. I just read some fiction stuff off her blog and have to say she's got a new fan!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 19, 2011
I found myself laughing out loud and loving all of the beautiful phrases (sometimes terrifying descriptions) to show what the author went through. Hope there's a sequel because I was sad when this book ended. Foust describes her friends and family much like Sedaris tells of his in Naked.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.centralsam
Posted April 19, 2011
My first Nook Book, and what a way to begin. Foust's memoir made me laugh and brought tears to my eyes. Most of all it made me come back to appreciate what a well written memoir can do to the soul, as I haven't been this engaged in a non fiction story since The Liar's Club. Traci writes so well in the voice of a child who is confused, angry and has no outlet for her yet undiagnosed OCD. As the book goes on she delicately weaves the voice of a young woman growing up to find her way our of the darkness that is a dysfunctional life. Never really getting it all the way right, Traci's story isn't a fairytale with a happy ending. Instead she takes us through the truth of what it's like to dive into the darkness of mental illness. Her images are breathtaking and use of wording so intense, at times you can truly see why she was so drawn to poetry. I loved this book (and oh yeah, I love my NOOK!)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.EStarker
Posted April 17, 2011
To be honest, it was the cover that caught my attention as I'm not a really big fan of all things memoir. But this story reads like a novel, from page one where Foust describes seeing the butchered animals at the meatpacking plant where her mother works, I knew this style of writing would hook me completely. The author's imagery and descriptions are beautifully poetic. In the part where she's "tripping" off a combination of cold medication and her mother's sleeping pills (a teenager at the time) she writes "Tinkerbell was all lit up in my mouth... you could have made a clever woodland poem out of me." The story can be very sad a t times, especially towards the end (won't give it away) but I finished this book with a new appreciation of what kind of torture people with depression and anxiety go through. The story read a bit like Prozac Nation but with prose so descriptive it draws you in from the beginning. (Nook seems to have a glitch on pg 234)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 11, 2011
HARD TO PUT DOWN. EVEN HARDER NOT TO LAUGH AND CRY OUTLOUD
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.KK75
Posted November 17, 2011
I love the approach to this book about OCD. It is not easy to tell someone that does not have OCD about OCD. I feel someone without OCD can read this book and get a great understanding of it. I love the humor Traci uses although hard to live with she still found humor in it from her early years on. I could not wait to turn the page to see what she was going to tell about next and how I related to it..
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Posted October 26, 2011
Though I am not so familiar with the anxiety issues mentioned in the book, it made no difference to my enjoyment of this story. Foust is a beautiful writer. This is a story of hope lost and found not just for the narrator but for an entire family that seems to be suffering from its own dysfunction. I highly recommend this wonderful book.
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Posted June 17, 2011
This is not just a story of OCD. This is a life story. One that will stay in my mind for a very long time. The descriptions are so lyrical, what Foust went through and how she articulates what goes on in the mind of a mentally ill girl. Each page kept my heart doing all sorts of things: feeling love, anger and hopeful. I have only read a handful of memoirs including a heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers. This book reminded me of mr. eggers work along with a fiction work by wally lamb called she's come undone. I will definately recommend this book to anyone.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 19, 2011
Reading Nowhere Near Normal feels like I have met the protagonists before, so close to home hit the quirks and obsessions.and I am very very sure I did meet them at some point.
Something is not at all right with the overall rating, it seems like every reviewer gives five stars but it only shows as overall 1.5 stars.
alexsal
Posted April 11, 2011
Giving this book five stars. No doubt Foust can write. It's lyrical and intelligent. But some of the content was a little too dark for my taste
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.rdermish
Posted April 17, 2011
This is not just a story Traci telling about her childhood. This also is for entire family. There are so many problems and upsets but there is love. Tracy's form of wording is beautiful and hopeful for a way out of her old life. There is not much help for relief on anxiety and panic in other countries and to see this book, knows it in the US also. I am happy to meet this author when she travels.
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Posted April 19, 2011
loving my nook and this is my first nook rating. Awesome read, heartbreaking and intriguing. Foust has a way with words that put you right in the story
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.centralsam
Posted April 19, 2011
My first Nook Book, and what a way to begin. Foust's memoir made me laugh and brought tears to my eyes. Most of all it made me come back to appreciate what a well written memoir can do to the soul, as I haven't been this engaged in a non fiction story since The Liar's Club. Traci writes so well in the voice of a child who is confused, angry and has no outlet for her yet undiagnosed OCD. As the book goes on she delicately weaves the voice of a young woman growing up to find her way our of the darkness that is a dysfunctional life. Never really getting it all the way right, Traci's story isn't a fairytale with a happy ending. Instead she takes us through the truth of what it's like to dive into the darkness of mental illness. Her images are breathtaking and use of wording so intense, at times you can truly see why she was so drawn to poetry. I loved this book (and oh yeah, I love my NOOK!)
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.jackienails
Posted April 11, 2011
Lots of poetic writing. Not a book you can read quickly. Loved it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.leojensen
Posted April 10, 2011
liked the hard, dark-style humour and that it did not fit well inside of a tidy ending. I do hope to read more from this author.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.AliSheersIsHere
Posted April 17, 2011
I can't believe I finished this book in one weekend. Not because it was easy to read-it wasn't-but because I could not put it down. I'm a memoir fanatic and this is by far the best I have read. Topping even A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and Running With Scissors. I might even say the story and style reads like a combination of the two buy much funnier. There were moments when I laughed so hard and felt just as heartbreaking. Especially when Foust describes the death of her mother. I'm not obsessive compulsive but you don't have to be to love this book. Dark, weird humor and some terrible scenes that are a little tough to imagine a child living through are sprinkled throughout. I recommend it highly!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.spreezeP
Posted April 10, 2011
I bought this for my girlfriend who has some ocd issues but decided to read it with her. This girl can write. This book isn't just a great story (im about halfway through) but Tracy's style is so vivid and gorgeous. Some of it feels like poetry. If you want an easy read that will not make you think do not buy this book. I just read some fiction stuff off her blog and have to say she's got a new fan!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 11, 2011
Beautifully written and presenting a serious topic with a sense of humor that made me laugh hard more than once.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 7, 2011
This is a must read! She has a way of writing that makes you laugh out loud.
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Overview
Traci Foust wasn't a "normal" seven-year-old girl. When all the neighborhood kids were playing outdoors, Traci was inside making sure the miniature Catholic saint statues in her windowsill always pointed due north, scratching out bald patches on her scalp, and snapping her fingers after every utterance of the word God. As Traci got older, her OCD blossomed to include panic attacks and other bizarre behaviors, including a fear of the sun, an obsession with contracting eradicated diseases, and the idea that she ...