Review | Book review: a riposte to the neat freaks that simply tries too hard

Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life
by Laurie Notaro
Dreamscape Media (audiobook)

Readers should not think this book is a riposte to Japan’s anti-clutter activist Marie Kondo. Laurie Notaro, also the nar­ra­tor, writes about more than her “untidy life” and her inten­tion is not to persuade anyone of the advantages of mess – or anything really. Just as she attempts to offload every­thing from Sex and the City DVDs to a tele­scope (missing its stand) at a local event, so, in this collection of musings (and recipes), she tries to coax interest in things life dumps on you. Unfortunately, the essays are less funny than try-hard and altogether too prosaic. That said, Notaro’s title piece should tease out a smile. To tidy freaks, she writes, “I know you cried when you found slime on the bottom of the shampoo bottle.” KonMari should be able to relate to that.