From the dust jacket: “Unable to deal with the mounting stress at home, in school, and with friends, Marni’s compulsion to pluck out her eyebrow, eyelashes… even the hair from the top of her head, helped her to quiet her mind and escape the pressures of the world around her.  Marni first began pulling the summer just before entering high school, and she was immediately hooked.  Unfortunately, by the time she discovered that her habit was an actual disorder—trichotillomania or “trich”—it was way too late.”

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I tend to stay away from nonfiction accounts, especially recent publications, because I find them very depressing.  One of my students handed this novel to me the other day and asked me to read it, as he/she would like permission to read it for our outside reading project.  Of course, I obliged, though with trepidation. 

Bates is a gifted writer.  She is able to transcend her thoughts to the paper in beautiful prose, evoking passion within the reader.  I really did enjoy the writing style.  The memoir itself, however, was less to my liking.  I was surprised to find that a very small portion of the memoir actually deals with Bates’ obsession with pulling.  I read through 90 pages (of the 159 page book) before “trich” was even mentioned, save the very beginning of the novel.  Yet, when the topic first comes to light, even then it is not elaborated upon.  After a few more chapters, the pulling Bates subjects herself to does come to the forefront, but I was disappointed that such a small portion of the novel was actually dedicated to pulling, especially since that is what the synopsis claims the memoir is about.  

Instead, Bates’ memoir deals with every bad incident that ever happened to her; I believe she does this to lead up to her reasons for pulling, but I think this tactic actually has an adverse effect on the reader.  The more I read, the more I began to hate her father, her sister, her teachers, her peers… because Bates presents everyone in a horrible light.  Although she later tries to portray some of these people in a more positive way, the damage has already been done… nothing she could say could make me like her family any better.  I think this is one of the reasons memoirs can be very dangerous.  In this day and age, society tends to focus on everything negative; we play the victim far more often than not.  I don’t know why we do that, but I’m guilty of the same, and it is with a constant effort that I have to remind myself of all the good things I have in my life.  I think Bates needs to do the same in order to begin to heal.  Constantly dwelling on the bad in our lives is a depleting activity that leaves everyone depressed.  Hence, I am not really a fan of this memoir.  However, I am interested to see my student’s reaction to this novel, so I am putting it on the list.  Until then, I’m giving it one star.