Kimberly Rae Miller

This book is a fascinating story of a young woman who grew up as the daughter of hoarders. On the positive side, I couldn't put it down. Kimberly's story is pretty unusual, and she seems to love her parents deeply despite their serious issues. On the flip side, while the storytelling is good, it is very straightforward, and on some level, I couldn't understand why Kimberly didn't draw some more personal boundaries in this situation. Basically, her parents asked, begged, and cajoled her to come clean their house every time a crisis ensued. And she did.… (mehr)

This book seems to somehow fit into the plethora of dysfunctional family books I’ve read: Educated, Between Two Kingdoms, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard in the Richest Country on Earth, Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family. However, this family really isn’t broken. The parents are merely hoarders, and their daughter, the author, is so damaged by their obsession, it seems as if she will never recover. Somehow she does, although Mom and Dad never do really conquer their ailment. Maybe no hoarder ever does. The book will tap into any reader’s childhood that included parents who were unable or unwilling to do whatever they could to provide a completely normal environment for their children. That probably includes about all of us. I know it includes me. My only criticism of Miller’s book is the constant repetition of disasters in her parents’ living quarters became a bit much. I guess it became a bit much for her too, though.… (mehr)