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Family
Fun

Patricia Thack-
ray's Raggedy Ann
and Andy will be
performed by the
Marquis Theatre
Children of
Northville's Mar-
quis Theatre
through Sept. 27.
America's beloved
folk dolls come to
life in the story of
Babette, a French
porcelain doll kid-
napped from the
Detroit Public Television airs "A Life Apart: Hasidism in
playroom by the
America."
Loonies. To search
for her, Raggedy-
you are hearing and seeing now about
Ann and Andy venture into Looney-
the Rat Pack is hearsay," Joey Bishop
land. 135 E. Main St., Northville.
told People magazine. "I have been
Call for show dates and times. $5.50.
married 57 years. I never had a drink
(248) 349-8110.
of liquor in my life except for wine at
The Michigan State Fair is back,
the Passover services. ... I never saw
offering
a birthing exhibit, daily march-
Frank drunk. I never saw Dean drunk.
ing
band
performances, vast displays of
I never saw Sammy drunk." Whatever
produce
and
livestock and a concert _
you say, Joey.
series featuring Ray Charles, Bill Cosby,

ifir

Alice Cooper and The Whispers,
among others. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-
day-Sunday, Aug. 25-Sept. 7. Corner of
Eight Mile and Woodward Ave. $9
adults/$2 children under 11 /free for
children under 2. (313) 369-8250.

Auditions

Debra Luria, (248) 851-8560, for
more information.
Friday, Aug. 28, is the deadline for
scheduling appointments for open
auditions at Orchestra Hall, running
Sept. 11-13, for the Detroit Sympho-
ny Civic Orchestra, an education and
outreach program of the DSO. Call
(313) 576-5164.

The Zamir Chorale of Metropoli-
tan Detroit, a Jewish choir featuring
music sung in a Hebrew, Yiddish,
Ladino and Eng-
lish, will hold
open rehearsals
and auditions for
all voice parts 7:30
p.m. Tuesday,
Sept. 1, at the
Kahn JCC, 6600
W. Maple Road,
West Bloomfield,
and 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 8,
at the Agency for
Jewish Education,
21550 W. 12 Mile
Road, in South-
field. Call Larry
Katkowsky, (313)
Joe Cocker plays Pine Knob.
861-8990, or

Whatnot

Enter the world
of harmony, purity
and tranquility
while experiencing
the refinement and
discipline of the
Japanese tea cere-
mony 3 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 23, in
the Japanese
Gallery at the Uni-
versity of Michigan
Museum of Art.
525 S. State St.,
Ann Arbor. This
event is free of
-charge, with a $3
suggested donation.
(734) 764-0395.

Scenes From The Life Of An Obsesszve-Compulsive

E

mily Landau Colas, 33,
grew up in a Jewish home
in New York, went to
Duke University, married
and had two children before seeking
therapy and medication for the disor-
der that filled her with fear and often
confined her to the house.
Her autobiographical trip through
neurosis is at once frightening,
intriguing, addictive
and funny. Just

Checking. Scenes
From the Life of
an Obsessive-Com-
pulsive (Pocket
Books; $22), a col-
lection of confes-
sional vignettes,
lends insight into
the daily goings-on
of a person gripped
by obsessive-compul-
sive disorder (OCD),
which affects one in
50 Americans.
Without delving too

far into the why of the disease, Colas
offers all the dirty details in a virtual
"how-to" for compulsive living. What
starts out as an almost normal interest
in hygiene and disdain for germs
flares into an all-out leave of the sens-
es. And as Colas becomes further
addicted to her war on germs, the
reader becomes addicted to her dis-
closures.
After years of eyeing
suspicious substances
on sidewalks and
harassing doctors
about using sterile
equipment, Colas'
compulsions reach
the pivotal point of
true neurosis when,
eating at restau-

Emily Colas shares
her struggle with
obsessive-compul-
sive disorder at
Barnes er Noble
on Saturday
night.

rants, she pesters her husband to test-
taste her food. This, after begging her
husband to ask a waiter how he got
the cut on his hand, then spending
the evening fretting over the length of
time since his injury and her subse-
quent risk of infection.
Eventually, Colas becomes so per-
turbed by the risks'of eating out or
passing strangers on the street, she
ceases to leave the house at all.
Just Checking lends little glamour
to neurosis, yet it isn't the depressing
read it would seem. Colas memoirs
are actually sublimely funny. Her
stark insight into her obsessions is
honest, confessional and humorous in
its bluntness.
While her husband humors her for
a while, eventually he reaches the end
of his patience. When he leaves her
for another, non-neurotic woman,
Colas finds the incentive to seek
treatment and experiences a seeming-
ly quick and efficient recovery,
accomplished by a combo of pills and
therapy. Not taking herself quite so

seriously and finding humor in her
situation may have been the best tool
in her recovery.
"The huge struggle for me is trying
to find a balance between the good in
the OCD and the bad," says Colas. "I
define myself a lot by the things that
happen in my life. OCD was a won-
derful resource in terms of being
unique and having stories to tell, but
there was no way in which the really
horrible parts of it were something I
wanted. Now it's a matter of keeping
my quirky personality and not having
it take over my life."

— Chandra Orr, Copley News Service,
and Suzanne Chessler

Emily Landau Colas will read
passages from her book and sign
copies at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug.
22, at Barnes & Noble, 6575
Telegraph, Bloomfield Hills.
(248) 540-4209.

3/21
1998

Detroit Jewish News

87