Too Perfect

Within the novel Too Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control, Allan E. Mallinger and Jeannette Dewyze deliver a complete and thorough analysis of the problem that is obsessive personality. Both authors provide excellent descriptions of behaviors, underlying causes, and practical suggestions for change. In many cases, perfectionism can be rewarding, but it comes at a very large price as it interferes with one’s professional and emotional lives. It can drain energy, complicate even the simplest decisions, and take the simplicity out of life. Their message reaches a broad audience ranging from workaholics or hypochondriacs, anyone who fears change or doing the wrong thing, needs rigid rules, is excessively prudent, or simply is obstinate.

Those who may read this novel to better comprehend their ways and behaviors could genuinely benefit from the knowledge provided about the obsessive profile. I scanned the descriptive list of 13 personality traits that belong to perfectionism and recognized myself in several of them, three being “a fear of making errors” “A strong devotion to work” and “an inclination to worry” (3). So much of the material personally relating to myself and fitting me ‘perfectly; is what added to my satisfaction with the novel. As well, the effective self-test of about 25 questions is further revealing as to how one’s personality aligns with the characteristics of an obsessive. And, given that one of the authors is a psychiatrist with work for over 20 years in his practice under his belt before

Predominantly, there were many portions of the text which only focused on marriage. Such a topic I felt was not easily identifiable in my life as some others. Especially given I am of a younger generation and authors should wish to reach all audiences effectively, the sections are not relatable to youth readers who do not have problems with serious relationships, children, divorce and others aspects of adulthood. Additionally, the novel is composed of an immense amount of examples of different individuals who were struggling with perfectionism and how the issue impacted their lives. While such instances can be helpful, it seems there was just too many of them and it is difficult for readers to connect with the people included, as they were minimal and short lived. As well, in spite of its positive start about bright sides of being perfectionist, the rest of the book was an overdose of mentioning the dark side of being a perfectionist. As such, a decent amount of the text can be somewhat depressing to a perfectionist; it is essential, but it is not balanced with useful advice about what to do with