Michael Chabon writes XO9 as a form of informative/explanatory essay of sorts, in which he explains his struggles as a writer with his own case of OCD. He starts off with describing in the first paragraph the one woman who obviously stood out the most when describing obsessive-compulsive disorder: his grandmother, and their adventures in public places like the Garfinckel’s department store, the public transit or even Dupont Circle, each one housing a remark on the activities of his grandmother, such as the spraying of public seating before actually sitting, flushing the toilet with her foot and generally avoiding large amounts of people, speeding through them when necessary. This peak into the writer’s past reveals his family’s history with
