About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherNorton & Company, Incorporated, w. w.

ISBN-100393352900

ISBN-139780393352900

eBay Product ID (ePID)10038303097

Product Key Features

Book TitleMess : One Man's Struggle to Clean Up His House and His Act

Number of Pages288 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicCleaning, Caretaking & Organizing, Personal Memoirs, General, Literary

Publication Year2016

IllustratorYes

GenreHouse & Home, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorBarry Yourgrau

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.1 in

Item Weight8 Oz

Item Length0.8 in

Item Width0.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

ReviewsAll of us who live--or have lived--in unmentionable and unspeakable abodes owe it to ourselves to have our anti-domestic pathologies turned into something as funny and charming as Mess., Mess is Barry Yourgrau's autobiography by way of neurosis, a twenty-first-century version of the Confessions of Zeno. Sometimes shocking and frequently self-mocking, it charts the tough negotiation between shame and fixation, between clinging to the past and moving forward, between being devoured by one's demons and facing them down., A funny, smart, and moving memoir about the accumulation of STUFF: what it means to us, why we keep it, and how we deal with our personal 'collections.' (Great book, btw.), In his droll, engaging memoir,...[Yourgrau] writes with self-mocking humor as he embarks on a project to get rid of his clutter once and for all., With Mess, Barry Yourgrau performs a wonderful sort of double excavation--of his overstuffed apartment but also his past, his pain, his losses, his confusions, his loves. This book is funny, hopeful, and true. Buy it, put in on your shelf, and be sure to dust it regularly., Barry Yourgrau is America's Kafka, if Kafka were hysterically funny, weirdly relatable, and had just a little bit of a hoarding problem. Mess is a total Yourgrau feast--I wept with laughter (but then why couldn't I throw away my Kleenex?)., My favorite Bohemian unpacks his life, and his heart. I will never look at clutter the same way again. I love this book!, Yourgrau sets out to understand the literal and emotional weight of the objects we save...[A] gorgeous writer., Battling his hoarding proclivities with aplomb, Yourgrau documents his winding journey to unpack his home and mind.

Dewey Edition23

Dewey Decimal616.85/2270092 B

SynopsisHilarious and poignant, a glimpse into the mind of someonewho is both a sufferer from and an investigator of clutter., Millions of Americans struggle with severe clutter and hoarding. New York writer and bohemian Barry Yourgrau is one of them. Behind the door of his Queens apartment, Yourgrau's life is, quite literally, chaos. Confronted by his exasperated girlfriend, a globe-trotting food critic, he embarks on a heartfelt, wide-ranging, and too often uproarious project-part Larry David, part Janet Malcolm-to take control of his crammed, disorderly apartment and life, and to explore the wider world of collecting, clutter, and extreme hoarding. Encounters with a professional declutterer, a Lacanian shrink, and Clutterers Anonymous-not to mention England's most excessive hoarder-as well as explorations of the bewildering universe of new therapies and brain science, help Yourgrau navigate uncharted territory: clearing shelves, boxes, and bags; throwing out a nostalgic cracked pasta bowl; and sorting through a lifetime of messy relationships. Mess is the story of one man's efforts to learn to let go, to clean up his space (physical and emotional), and to save his relationship., Millions of Americans struggle with severe clutter and hoarding. New York writer and bohemian Barry Yourgrau is one of them. Behind the door of his Queens apartment, Yourgrau's life is, quite literally, chaos. Confronted by his exasperated girlfriend, a globe-trotting food critic, he embarks on a heartfelt, wide-ranging, and too often uproarious project--part Larry David, part Janet Malcolm--to take control of his crammed, disorderly apartment and life, and to explore the wider world of collecting, clutter, and extreme hoarding. Encounters with a professional declutterer, a Lacanian shrink, and Clutterers Anonymous--not to mention England's most excessive hoarder--as well as explorations of the bewildering universe of new therapies and brain science, help Yourgrau navigate uncharted territory: clearing shelves, boxes, and bags; throwing out a nostalgic cracked pasta bowl; and sorting through a lifetime of messy relationships. Mess is the story of one man's efforts to learn to let go, to clean up his space (physical and emotional), and to save his relationship.

LC Classification NumberRC569.5.H63Y68 2016