Stuff

Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things

By: Randy O. Frost, Gail Steketee

Narrated by: Joe Caron

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

What possesses someone to save every scrap of paper thats ever come into his home? What compulsions drive a woman like Irene, whose hoarding cost her her marriage? Or Ralph, whose imagined uses for castoff items like leaky old buckets almost lost him his house?

Randy Frost and Gail Steketee were the first to study hoarding when they began their work a decade ago; they expected to find a few sufferers but ended up treating hundreds of patients and fielding thousands of calls from the families of others. Now they explore the compulsion through a series of compelling case studies in the vein of Oliver Sacks.

With vivid portraits that show us the traits by which you can identify a hoarder - piles on sofas and beds that make the furniture useless, houses that can be navigated only by following small paths called goat trails, vast piles of paper that the hoarders churn but never discard, even collections of animals and garbage - Frost and Steketee illuminate the pull that possessions exert on all of us.

Whether we're savers, collectors, or compulsive cleaners, very few of us are in fact free of the impulses that drive hoarders to the extremes in which they live. For all of us with complicated relationships to our things, Stuff answers the question of what happens when our stuff starts to own us.

©2010 Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This succinct, illuminating book will prove helpful to hoarders, their families, and mental health professionals who work with them." ( Publishers Weekly)

Terrific story about people and why they may hoard

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Think that you are not a hoarder huh? Well, we all have too much stuff. A hoarder is not just a person who is on the TV show. Our lives are filled with big houses with stuff we do not need and it takes away from enjoying out lives. We have to work too hard etc. to try to impress neighbors and friends. Lots to be taken in while reading this book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not moved but realized when I was growing up we did not have a big house. Nor, did my mom buy me lots of clothes or stuff. All that stuff is not necessary. Really realizing that we sure do not need the stuff and clothes are not all that necessary. Streamlining is needed in our lives.

Excellent!

I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who is interested in hoarding, or suffers from it, or anyone in between. This book includes an interesting discussion about genetics and hoarding.

Very interesting and educating listen.

I downloaded this on a whim, when there was a buy one special. My gma always collected and her house was full, but clean, my dad, many of my aunts on both sides of the family, my sister and myself all collect different stuff. If you are a collector of "Stuff" or know someone who is, this is eye opening and educational, while telling true examples of hoarding.

Good read

This book was Interesting, informative, educational, based on scientific study of the topic, from a compassionate approach.

Informative.

The narration makes it a lot easier to understand this 21st century fast growing epidemic in this materialistic world we are living in.

Surprise! I am a hoarder!

I enjoyed this book very much. Although my hoarding is not yet in the life changing phase it the book helped me recognize the path I am heading down and more importantly why I am doing it. I have successfully purged some "collections" in the past but they are always replaced by a new passion. I think the book has helped me to recognize additions to my hoard as I am acquiring them and that I may be better able to resist the temptation to acquire more as space is becoming an issue.

The book has also made me more sympathetic towards other hoarders who hoard garbage as opposed to my hoarding which is good stuff!!!

The book is a combination of anecdotes and research and is presented in an organized and balanced manner.

The narrator's voice is clean and crisp. He has no annoying speech habits. The pacing is also very good

Excellent, entertaining, informative

This is not a self-help book, nor is it a sensationalized treatment of the subject such as seen on various TV shows. It is a comprehensive yet very accessible review of latest scientific and psychological information on hoarding. I enjoyed how the authors skillfully weave together case studies and anecdotes with current research to illustrate various issues, including hoarding in children and psychology of cultural influences. Resources and methods that have been found useful for hoarders and their loved ones are included in the final chapters, as is contact information for various support groups. I enjoyed the narrator; he is pleasant and unobtrusive in his style. Even though I am a mental health professional, I feel this book is written so an interested layperson would enjoy it very much. Highly recommend to anyone with any interest in hoarding, OCD or simply our materialistic culture.

Will make you rent a dumpster

A combination of a clinical analysis and a self-help, Stuff was both motivating and insightful.

Incentive to clean

Found this very helpful to stay motivated when cleaning! It gives great insight to how the hoarding illness was eventually identified as such... I liked the incorporation of real situations and that he gave credit to the students he worked with and researched the topic.

Best book for decluttering a house

This book was a terrific help in my attempt to declutter my house. Helps you see those 'collections' in a totally different light.