Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking: A Life Lived Obsessively

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She then goes on to describe him as “a nice man” and wants you to believe he was some gentle, tortured soul trying to make a lovely sweet theme park full of rainbows and happiness because he was scared to die…yeah right, whatever. Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking is a culmination of a life spent obsessing, offering a glimpse into Marianne's brain, but also an insight into the lives of others like her. Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking is a non-fiction book about being neurodivergent and having OCD. This is a personal memoir of OCD, autism and ADHD, in the form of a series of short, unconnected essays on subjects like time, death, Disney (special interests… if you know, you know!

I'll definitely be picking this book up in physical form when it's out, and also the cover is gorgeous. It’s a distinction that feels unnecessary, since the bulk of the essays follow a similar narrative arc: an obsession plagues the author; it sets her on a fractured, sometimes frustrated mode to healing; by the final paragraph, a mix of exposure therapy and self-realisation means the obsession is largely resolved.I hadn't come across Marianne Eloise before but I'm now going to look for everything else she has written. I was, sort of, enjoying this at the beginning as I felt like bits of me were scattered here and there. I'm not trying to say the author owes the reader all the ins-and-outs of her trauma, but if you are writing a memoir focusing on your mental illness and neurodivergency, dancing around the real nitty gritty is pointless. The book didn't disappoint - it follows her obsessions (LA, the sea, Disneyland), her fears (fire, Medusa) and the ways in which autism, OCD and ADHD have affected her over the course of her life.

This memoir was ultimately less a memoir of her life and more a memoir of her brain and thought patterns.I found a lot of things to relate but mostly what struck me is how different neurodivergent brains manifest and how the way we grow up shapes the experience again. In her candid, witty memoir, Marianne Eloise offers a powerful account of what it is like to feel trapped by mental health problems and obsessions … A brave book that puts vulnerability fully on show. I liked the fact that she doesn't only explain how her OCD diagnosis (and her autism, but the essays focus more on the obsessive compulsive thoughts) affects her, she also shares her obsessions, lovingly writing about her favourite rides and her favourite parts of LA, her regular trips to California.

Overall, I found this book a massive disappointment and would have made for a far stronger blog post. I've been a fan (if that's the right word) of Marianne Eloise for a while - I feel like she was one of the first women my. Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking is the culmination of a life spend obsessing, offering a glimpse into Marianne's brain, but also an insight into the lives of others like her. When I was seeking diagnosis, I met with a different, thoughtless psychiatrist who told me: ‘a diagnosis isn’t a cure, you know’.It felt as though the author had just copy/pasted certain passages about the same thing in multiple chapters and although this repetition is quite fitting for the subject material, it just doesn’t make for a great read. The first essay in particular, 'I am old now, but I wasn't then,' is a work of art, but in general, I loved going down the rabbit hole of Marianne's obsessions, her observations on pop culture and the tales of her travels as each essay unfolded. That said, I still recognised much of myself and some of my loved ones within her experiences and thought processes. In the condition’s derangement of cause and effect, OCD creates an alternative reality, too: one that seems utopian in its promise to clarify the universe, but is policed by fear, hostility, and a deep monomania.

i feel so fortunate to have been able to read this ahead of its publication date next month; i've been a fan of marianne's work for a while and this feels like a brilliant expansion of events and moments i've seen her briefly allude to online over the years. As someone who grew up in the same generation with the same interests as Marianne, I felt a real kinship with her throughout the book - from the pop culture references to incidental things that happened during her childhood growing up in a small English town. Would I sometimes like to soften my sensory processing issues, wear anything other than cotton without having a screaming fit? I enjoyed the fact it wasn't all gloomy - her obsessions make her incredibly anxious, but they also make her very focused and determined to follow the healthier ones. Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times In her candid, witty memoir, Marianne Eloise offers a powerful account of what it is like to feel trapped by mental health problems and obsessions .the essays will leave readers feeling secondhand joy and maybe even encouragement to own their love for their own less-than-cool favorite things.