When I've been overtaken, I have stood and watched the water in my porridge simmer away into the air, and then the oats turn black and crackle with dryness, and my ears fill with the smoke alarm's shriek.
'When Adele Dumont is diagnosed with trichotillomania - compulsive hair-pulling - it makes sense of much of her life to date. The seemingly harmless quirk of her late teens, which rapidly developed into almost uncontrollable urges and then into trance-like episodes, is a hallmark of the disease, as is the secrecy with which she guarded her condition from her family, friends, and the world at large.
'The diagnosis also opens up a rich line of inquiry. Where might the origins of this condition be found? How can we distinguish between a nervous habit and a compulsion? And how do we balance the relief of being 'seen' by others with our experience of shame?
'Reminiscent of the writing of Leslie Jamison and Fiona Wright, The Pulling is a fascinating exploration of the inner workings of a mind. In perfectly judged prose, both probing and affecting, Dumont illuminates how easily ritual can slide into obsession, and how close beneath the surface horror and darkness can lie.'(Publication summary)
(Introduction)
'Writer Adele Dumont charts trichotillomania — compulsive hair-pulling — from the inside out'
'Towards the end of Adele Dumont’s affecting memoir The Pulling, she thanks the reader, her “stranger”, for the opportunity to unburden herself of her compulsion of 17 years (and since the age of 17): to pull out strands of her hair, regularly and frequently. As a result, a large section of her scalp would eventually lay bare, yet cleverly concealed from others.' (Publication summary)
'Halfway through the essay collection The Pulling, Sydney-based author Adele Dumont tells the reader: “There is one thing more I have kept from you … truth be told I have come to despise the word, so ugly, so clinical: trichotillomania.”' (Introduction)
'Halfway through the essay collection The Pulling, Sydney-based author Adele Dumont tells the reader: “There is one thing more I have kept from you … truth be told I have come to despise the word, so ugly, so clinical: trichotillomania.”' (Introduction)
'Towards the end of Adele Dumont’s affecting memoir The Pulling, she thanks the reader, her “stranger”, for the opportunity to unburden herself of her compulsion of 17 years (and since the age of 17): to pull out strands of her hair, regularly and frequently. As a result, a large section of her scalp would eventually lay bare, yet cleverly concealed from others.' (Publication summary)
'Writer Adele Dumont charts trichotillomania — compulsive hair-pulling — from the inside out'
(Introduction)
