Clutter

An Untidy History

De: Jennifer Howard

Narrado por: Emily Durante

"I'm sitting on the floor in my mother's house, surrounded by stuff."

So begins Jennifer Howard's Clutter, an expansive assessment of our relationship to the things that share and shape our lives. Sparked by the painful two-year process of cleaning out her mother's house in the wake of a devastating physical and emotional collapse, Howard sets her own personal struggle with clutter against a meticulously researched history of just how the developed world came to drown in material goods. With sharp prose and an eye for telling detail, she connects the dots between the Industrial Revolution, the Sears and Roebuck catalog, and the Container Store and shines unsparing light on clutter's darker connections to environmental devastation and hoarding disorder. In a confounding age when Amazon can deliver anything at the click of a mouse and decluttering guru Marie Kondo can become a reality TV star, Howard's bracing analysis has never been more timely.

©2020 Jennifer Howard (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Enjoyable & Thought Provoking: credit worthy

Just finished listening to Clutter this morning. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping clutter to a minimum. But until listening to this book I had not thought about the cost to society ( or to myself ) of the clutter I have. The book was engaging and motivating without being preachy. Now to see if any behavior changes stick. 😃😃

Disempowering and whiny

I expected this to be an interesting look at the history of stuff followed by practical ideas or methods for managing my clutter. Instead, it’s a whiny telling of a story that our stuff has been forced upon us since the Industrial Revolution, and that the only possible way to break the cycle requires exhausting work and large amounts money to amply overcome this three centuries’ long deluge of consumerism.
The only positive is the narrator’s well-done performance.

Thought Provoking

This book really makes you evaluate the effects that clutter has on us, those around us, our society and those worldwide. We must think before we buy.

History of Clutter

Wow! What a great book on clutter. Being a working mom of two small children, I am living the clutter life. I am working hard to get out of the clutter life and looking to embrace a more meaningful life with less things.

What I truly enjoyed about this book is the fact that the author strings a linear web of how things have become so important to us. She starts with the history of the Victorian times and how the addiction to cheap nick-nacks started there. She strings us along the line of current period and how our stuff has become so overwhelming that a lot of charities are having to send even good quality items to landfills.

I like how she discuss the heavy weight of our items and how they impact our families and our lives. She does this in a way I think most of us do not think about.

I commend her deeply for the insight in her reuse, recycle, and repurpose. Mostly, maybe just giving your item to someone else in need.

The author did a lot of research in writing this book and gives credit to many of the minimalist and tidy authors.

The narrator was fantastic.

Microcosm of a Much Bigger Problem

I am on another listening of this book. I find it to be a unique approach as it relates to bigger issues in our world. It causes you to think of our world itself. I find it a useful read.

Touches on a lot of useful information

Having listened to and read numerous organization/clutter books I feel this book was valuable in that it brought to my attention more thought provoking topics of where does everything go once you’ve donated or trashed your items. A few times I found my mind drifting elsewhere while I listened (chapter 2 and discussing trinkets and souvenirs from the Victorian Era) but the writer did a great job touching on many subjects and I feel there is room for her to go even further in another book regarding the discard of our country’s plastic and waste problems. She cites useful books that I’ve added to my library checklist and websites. 👍🏻 the narration was ok, too.

Informational Book About Consumerism

The book gives a history lesson on how we have acquired so many belongs... and a ride along as the author cleans out her mother's cluttered house...
If you are looking for tips on decluttering - this isn't your book. If you want to know why you clutter - this is probably the best book for that either...
If you want to know how you've got to thw point of acquiring too many belongs and/or you're cleaning our a beloved parents home - probably a good listen!

Happy Listening!

History lesson

Mostly a history of clutter, not particularly useful for how to handle it. The reading of it was okay though, something to listen to while cleaning.

It did not have any ideas on decluttering

Boring 15 word review is ridiculous. I’ve got better tighten things to do than that.

Interesting, but not helpful!

The author’s purpose seems to be simply to express the built up resentment toward her own mother. However, it’s not her mother’s fault; it’s because capitalism is evil. Yeah, I didn’t think that made sense either. I guess writing a book is cheaper than therapy.