Book Review: Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me

Comedian Howie Mandel's Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me is a hilarious and revealing autobiography, which details his childhood, his rise as a standup comic, and most importantly his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mandel tells of the horrific childhood vacation to Miami Beach that most likely reinforced his compulsive behaviors. (If you have a weak stomach, just know that you’ve been warned!) He lets us into his germaphobe mentality and the antics he's mastered to deal with the regular world. His knuckle-bumping, surgical masks, and faking injuries in order to keep germs at a distance are a sad way of life, but also very funny in Mandel's conversational style of writing. The most surprising story isn't Mandel’s OCD, but rather that he wasn't the first choice of producers for Deal or No Deal and didn't even want to do the pilot, although this game show is what has made the comic a household name! - Kathy (Sunset)