nonfiction
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
July 5, 2010 - 01:42 — bhugaExcellent.
Written by a psychologist for both psychologists and the rest of us, this was an excellent read. It is a collection of case studies and underlying theory for compulsive hoarders, which the author is attempting to make clear is a psychological condition unto itself. The book lays out treatment paths, success rates, and differentiates between some different kinds of hoarders.
Those are interesting, but the stories are easily the best. Rich twin hoarders, clogging the top floor of a hotel with priceless art. A family controlled by a violent nephew, who literally brings trash into the apartment daily. They live among vermin. A few success stories, which often begin only after a divorce based on the clutter. It's fantastic.
Life histories, telling conversations. It's very strange--it's all very deep. Watching as people who cannot make decisions (the author posits that hoarding is an information processing deficit, being unable to determine what is unimportant) churn through stacks of paper, 'sorting' them, until they have put them all on top of a pile. Its a very intimate and non-judgement look at some people with real problems. I really enjoyed reading them--excellent non fiction.
Not much else to say when I don't have complaints, is there?
Emergency!
January 13, 2010 - 16:10 — bhugaQuite good!
Neil Strauss has the dream lifestyle. He writes books about learning stuff, then uses the income to pay for a bunch of courses to learn about. Just live a life interesting enough that it's worth writing a book about, then write a book. I love it.
Anyway, this one is about his transformation from the girl-chasing smooth talker in The Game to a gun-toting survivalist. He becomes an EMT, learns to shoot, gets a second passport, kills a goat, and buries food in the mountains. It's quite an interesting read, since I'm sort of living the same transformation, but without the time to go learn all of this awesome stuff. I want to learn to clear a house with a .45!
It makes for a fun read, and the chapters are short. I didn't learn much about paranoia or philosophy, save for the term Fliesian, which I kind of like. It's basically the assumption that governments can't protect people, and that when governments fail people will be ruthless. It's a way of coming to lots of the same ideas the 'liberty' crowd does, but from a utilitarian perspective. I had started to worry they were incompatible groups.
Anyways, recommended.
