Written in journal format, we follow the life of Danielle Levine, a senior who has OCD and feels like an outcast. Danielle loves to read and write and doesn’t like much about herself. Her English teacher assigns the class a lot of writing assignments and we get to read Danielle’s attempt at them. I say “attempt” because Danielle does get off topic but that is what I like about reading Danielle’s essays, we learn about Danielle and what makes her tick. We also get to see Danielle’s grades and the comments from her teacher, Ms. Harrison which sometimes is rather harsh. Having OCD, Danielle knows that her life is different and she has accepted it and she tries to explain her thinking in her writing so other know where she is coming from. She connects with her fun and crazy aunt and through this connection she feels accepted and loved. When she watches the Big Lebowski, she realizes a lesson about life.
I enjoyed reading Danielle’s essays and seeing things from her perspective. I haven’t seen the Big Lebowski so I think that might be on my movies to view soon. I do like the lesson she learned from it. I don’t think the cover of the book gave the book the justice it deserved.
“There must be a better way to love and to live, a way to be a lover of things without attaching.”