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Hide & Seek: How I Laughed at Depression, Conquered My Fears and Found Happiness
Hilarious and refreshingly honest, this chronicle of a year-long journey of self-exploration and self-help offers solace and solidarity to the myriad sufferers of clinical depression and anxiety disorders. A far cry from the typical self-help manual, this wry and subversive account is leavened with a healthy dose of humble pie and a keen sense of the absurd. As the author navigates a series of self-help classes designed to raise her self-esteem, make her more assertive, help her find a man, lose weight, channel her creativity, and get her "energy centers" realigned, the reader will be moved and inspired by her pluck. Tackling important issues like familial dysfunction, letting go of blame and resentment, and battling negative thinking, this memoir shows it's possible to recover one's self worth without losing one's sense of humor.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
38 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Aron
2 books9 followersWendy Aron is an award-winning humorist (Society of Professional Journalists), television sitcom writer (Writers Guild of America, West) and comic playwright (McLaren Festival). Her writing has been published by The New York Times, Psychology Today, Newsweek, Pick the Brain, The Change Blog, IndieReader and Elephant Journal, amongst many other print publications and websites. She is also the author of a comic memoir about depression, which was published by an award-winning independent press just prior to its bankruptcy announcement. Despite this career trajectory, Wendy's greatest satisfaction comes from working with young people who are motivated to write simply because they find it fun and riding horses who think she's an idiot.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 5, 2009
This was a good book. It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I found Aron's quirky, wry sense of humor entertaining. There were several laugh out loud moments for me.
Aron takes us into the bizarre world of the self-help industry, complete with all its New Agey quacks & hypocrites. The reader will quickly see how the industry preys on the weak and complicates the lives of people it claims to help.
It occurred to me that Aron's life was much better than she realized at the time if only for the fact she seemed to be loaded. Such expensive therapies!
Unfortunately, the author chose to feature the various sessions she had, helping us experience the awkwardness in blow by blow fullness. These parts dragged for me. I also found her catty comments about her mother and others uncomfortable, but then again, I haven't been exactly kind in my reviews. Most of all, I found the ending unsatisfyingly short after such a long middle section. Perhaps Aron could have shared more of her well-balanced life with us.
I'll have a fuller exploration of the book on my blog and will post a link soon.
Aron takes us into the bizarre world of the self-help industry, complete with all its New Agey quacks & hypocrites. The reader will quickly see how the industry preys on the weak and complicates the lives of people it claims to help.
It occurred to me that Aron's life was much better than she realized at the time if only for the fact she seemed to be loaded. Such expensive therapies!
Unfortunately, the author chose to feature the various sessions she had, helping us experience the awkwardness in blow by blow fullness. These parts dragged for me. I also found her catty comments about her mother and others uncomfortable, but then again, I haven't been exactly kind in my reviews. Most of all, I found the ending unsatisfyingly short after such a long middle section. Perhaps Aron could have shared more of her well-balanced life with us.
I'll have a fuller exploration of the book on my blog and will post a link soon.
June 17, 2009
Thought I would like this, as I am very interested in depression and have learned a lot from a couple of other first-person accounts, but I couldn't get past about halfway through it. My three main concerns, in increasing order of importance:
1. very repetitive, both in terms of content and style. Frequent reminders that her problems were her mom's fault. In terms of style, one tic that really stood out was "then I countered with....." (to describe trying to cope with her negative thinking, e.g., "I thought I could never look as thin as her. Then I countered with 'maybe she's miserable despite being thin'"), which comes up verbatim about twice per page.
2. obviously a matter of taste, but I didn't find it funny, despite "hilarious" being part of the subtitle. Most of the humor just seemed predictable self-deprecation about dating follies, overweight, etc.
3. Came across as a disagreeable person. At one point she's on a first date, asks the guy about his hobbies, and he says he likes to work with his hands and describes making an elaborate wooden playhouse for his friends' kids. Her reaction was "More silence. why coulnd't his friends just fucking buy a playhouse?". He then said he builds computers and she thinks "this date is crashing and burning" because she couldn't imagine doing something like that. I couldn't either, but as a reader I would be more willing to invest another hour or two finishing a book by someone who would find that difference a source of curiosity rather than a reason to shut down and write the other person off and get back to complaining about men, being overweight, etc.
1. very repetitive, both in terms of content and style. Frequent reminders that her problems were her mom's fault. In terms of style, one tic that really stood out was "then I countered with....." (to describe trying to cope with her negative thinking, e.g., "I thought I could never look as thin as her. Then I countered with 'maybe she's miserable despite being thin'"), which comes up verbatim about twice per page.
2. obviously a matter of taste, but I didn't find it funny, despite "hilarious" being part of the subtitle. Most of the humor just seemed predictable self-deprecation about dating follies, overweight, etc.
3. Came across as a disagreeable person. At one point she's on a first date, asks the guy about his hobbies, and he says he likes to work with his hands and describes making an elaborate wooden playhouse for his friends' kids. Her reaction was "More silence. why coulnd't his friends just fucking buy a playhouse?". He then said he builds computers and she thinks "this date is crashing and burning" because she couldn't imagine doing something like that. I couldn't either, but as a reader I would be more willing to invest another hour or two finishing a book by someone who would find that difference a source of curiosity rather than a reason to shut down and write the other person off and get back to complaining about men, being overweight, etc.
April 6, 2009
I didn't make it past page 80 of this book it was so crappy! It wasn't the least bit humorous (you could tell the author was trying to be funny but she's just not funny) and after about 20 pages the author's whining made me want to scream! I can empathize with low self-esteem issues and battling depression - been there, done that - but I have never accepted that it's an excuse to behave like the universe revolves around you and whine and complain incessantly. IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU FOR CHRISSAKES I wanted to yell at the author! No wonder you can't find a date and are socially isolated - who wants to be around a whiner?! This woman claims she's been in therapy for 10 years, yet she is still held hostage by crap that happened in her childhood - WTF?! I think she needs to find a better therapist! This book is not entertaining, nor does it serve any purpose (i.e. inspirational) for others suffering with depression. It's more like a manual for how to be an extremely self-centered, annoying person. TAKE A PILL AND GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE ALREADY!
P.S. The book apparently wasn't proofread either - I found two glaring typos in the first 50 pages - inexcusable!
P.S. The book apparently wasn't proofread either - I found two glaring typos in the first 50 pages - inexcusable!
July 25, 2009
When you have to explain numerous times in your novel that people don't get your sense of humor perhaps it is time to explore that theme and see if you do indeed have one.
It is like a person repeatedly explaning how they are such a good and observent parent, while their toddler is covered head to toe in jam, chewing on an pluggled in extension cord and have their hands shoved up the backside of a howling cat. Wendy Aron does not have a sense of humor that translates to anyone other than her cat. Her consistent and chronic whining and whinging sets my teeth on edge. I stumbled and jogged through the novel looking for some of the sweet asides, there are a few, but buried under a ton of self pity and pathos.
Wendy Aron understands depression and there are a few very revealing passages but overall it was a book on how to go to pathetic 'improvement' workshops.
It is like a person repeatedly explaning how they are such a good and observent parent, while their toddler is covered head to toe in jam, chewing on an pluggled in extension cord and have their hands shoved up the backside of a howling cat. Wendy Aron does not have a sense of humor that translates to anyone other than her cat. Her consistent and chronic whining and whinging sets my teeth on edge. I stumbled and jogged through the novel looking for some of the sweet asides, there are a few, but buried under a ton of self pity and pathos.
Wendy Aron understands depression and there are a few very revealing passages but overall it was a book on how to go to pathetic 'improvement' workshops.
October 14, 2013
I picked this book up as a part of my self directed treatment for mental issues. I'd give this 3.5 stars-- Wendy's pursuit of help was fun to witness and I'm personally glad I didn't have to sit through all the self help classes she took. She made me smile, not laugh out loud, and I felt like I had a kindred spirit in her. Very glad it read this book. I think what would have made it a 4 for me if she was a little more assertive with her mother, nicer to her friends and shared the story of how she met her husband.
September 18, 2008
I read much of HIDE & SEEK by flashlight during the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Wendy Aron's captivating style and humor distracted me during some otherwise grim hours. Her journey through the highs and lows of the self-help movement, transforming herself from self-absorbed to self-aware, is a spirit-lifter!
July 24, 2009
Terrific book about facing your fears and getting rid of depression. It is like having a trial of cognitive behavioral therapy without the big therapist fee. You will find yourself laughing in recognition at some of the things the author does to rid herself of her anxiety and depression. Somewhere along the way she realizes that by putting herself out there, she has changed in the process.
November 11, 2009
Terrific book about facing your fears and getting rid of depression. It is like having a trial of cognitive behavioral therapy without the big therapist fee. You will find yourself laughing in recognition at some of the things the author does to rid herself of her anxiety and depression. Somewhere along the way she realizes that by putting herself out there, she has changed in the process
January 21, 2017
dnf @ 50%
when i started this i was enjoying it, and it reads very quick, but the writing quickly shows itself to be extremely repetitive. and the entire narrative - at least to the halfway point - is just aron signing up for various classes and consultations. i just can't read any more of this blithering
when i started this i was enjoying it, and it reads very quick, but the writing quickly shows itself to be extremely repetitive. and the entire narrative - at least to the halfway point - is just aron signing up for various classes and consultations. i just can't read any more of this blithering
August 4, 2011
Honest yes, hilarious no. I found the writers ongoing diatribe tedious - I REALLY don't know how i managed to finish this book. If you didn't suffer from neurosis prior to reading this book, you just might when you finish!
January 17, 2009
Parts were interesting, but I found that I couldn't get into this book much. It may have been my mood. I didn't really finish it.
March 19, 2009
I didn't finish it. I liked her self-effacing humor, but I lost interest in her journey. It wasn't very long, I could have finished it, but better books were calling.
May 1, 2009
A humorous and sarcastic memoir of a screenwriter on a quest to cure her depression by attending various self help groups..
May 21, 2009
If it's possible to make depression funny, Aron does it. As well as a tale of the author's personal struggles with emotional problems, this is an interesting look at the self-help industry.
March 31, 2012
I thought this was a very funny and endearing book. Worth a read...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews