The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Stuff - Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy Frost and Gail Steketee

How much stuff is enough? Most of us would agree that compulsive hoarding crosses a line, but how common is it exactly and what can the behavior of “those people” living amongst thousands of stacked up magazines incapable of getting rid of any teach us about our own humanity? You’ll find the answers in this classic work of investigative journalism from Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee that is approaching its 15th anniversary of original publication.

The work has a renewed relevance for today at a time when there is a widespread reevaluation of ownership itself combined with the increasingly popular idea that experiences (rather than material things) offer a more evolved path to joy. Yet the allure of having “stuff” continues to drive everything from luxury purchases to how we define our identities. Do the things we own define us the way they once did?

Inspired by more than a decade of research into the “hoarding epidemic” of the early 2000s, the insights in this book may simultaneously feel dated and timely, forecasting a future we haven’t yet arrived at. Our attachment to things is distinctly human, but perhaps this truth also offers us exactly the grounding we will all need in a rapidly digitizing world.

That’s what makes this book’s thoughtful exploration of stuff so compelling. It may start with the theater of hoarding, but it ends forcing us to take a deeper look at the true meaning of the things around us and what place they hold in our lives.

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About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:

Every week I will be featuring a new “non-obvious” book selection worth sharing. Titles featured here may be new or from the backlist, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great books that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.