No, You Are Not A Book Hoarder-
Making light of hoarding — or any mental illness — is disrespectful.- Published on March 28, 2011 By Jessie Sholl-
I was already doing research for a story I hoped to write about book hoarding and now seem to have missed the boat, but that’s not the only reason I’m irritated by this National Post essay, Confessions of a Book Hoarder. Sure, it’s meant to be funny — hoarding, that’s hi-lar-i-ous!! — but I find it flippant and smirky.
Just because you have a lot of books, that doesn’t mean you’re a bibliomaniac. Can you walk through the room in which your books are stored? Have you depleted any of your life savings on these books? Do you hide when the doorbell rings or not allow a plumber into your home when your sink is clogged?
Since my memoir came out, numerous people have confessed to me that they think they’re hoarders, too (almost as many as have said, “Make sure your mom only gets one copy!”).
Read the rest of this article on Psychology Today.
Jessie Sholl
is the author of Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother’s Compulsive Hoarding. She is coeditor of the nonfiction anthology Travelers’ Tales Prague and the Czech Republic and a contributor to EverydayHealth.com and Experience Life magazine.
As always, I welcome comments. You can also read my blog at www.jessie-sholl.com or follow me on Twitter: jessie_sholl.
