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Title details for A Cluttered Life by Pesi Dinnerstein - Available

A Cluttered Life

Searching for God, Serenity, and My Missing Keys

by Pesi Dinnerstein
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
A Cluttered Life chronicles Pesi Dinnerstein’s touching, quirky, and often comic search for order and simplicity amid an onslaught of relentless interruptions. When a chance encounter with an old acquaintance opens her eyes to the extent to which disorder has crept into every corner of her existence, she begins a quest to free herself from the excess baggage she carries and finds—to her great surprise—that the meaning she's spent years searching for is right there in her own piles of clutter.
Dinnerstein’s battle with chaos is an odyssey of self-discovery that leads her from the obvious mess spilling out of closets and the backseat of her car to the more subtle forms of disorder in her life and, finally, to the most hidden expressions deep within herself. In the end—with the help of devoted friends, a twelve-step recovery program, and a bit of Kabbalistic wisdom—her struggle with the things of this world is transformed from a distraction into its own journey of healing and personal growth. At turns insightful, unsettling, and wildly funny, A Cluttered Life is the story of how one woman found her true self—and spiritual fulfillment—through trying to make sense of her own muddled world.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 23, 2011

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781580054225

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781580054225
      • File size: 322 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      July 15, 2011

      An affecting and humorous account of one talented woman's search for organization and meaning.

      Dinnerstein, who recently retired as a language-skills teacher at CUNY where she worked for more than 30 years, had an office infamous for heaps of boxes, a home cluttered with mementos and a head-turning car full of junk—including several pieces of lumber she intended to return to Home Depot someday. But a chance meeting with an old acquaintance on the eve of her 50th birthday caused the author to rethink her unorganized life and ask herself why she had spent a lifetime hoarding broken pottery, unsorted nails and buttons and unused furniture. What she discovered surprised her; she'd been "searching for God" the entire time. Enter "The Holy Sisters," a group of offbeat friends and fellow spiritual seekers, who helped haul away the author's excess physical and mental baggage. Even after an epiphany when struggling to recall why she kept a bowl with a broken lid for years, she still had a hard time letting go, as each object was attached to a memory, pleasure or future hope. Dinnerstein's revelations amass like slowly unearthed jewels through writing, therapy and even Clutterers Anonymous. A poignant visit with her mother, an unexpected home purchase and the trauma of 9/11 combine in a breathtaking journey that delivers kabbalistic wisdom.

      Patience for a hoarder's personality is required, as the ups and downs of the quest, while realistic, are often tedious. However, hanging onto the author's smooth-flowing voice is easy, and there is nothing junky about what she discovers beneath the rubble. 

       

      (COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

    • Kirkus

      July 15, 2011

      An affecting and humorous account of one talented woman's search for organization and meaning.

      Dinnerstein, who recently retired as a language-skills teacher at CUNY where she worked for more than 30 years, had an office infamous for heaps of boxes, a home cluttered with mementos and a head-turning car full of junk--including several pieces of lumber she intended to return to Home Depot someday. But a chance meeting with an old acquaintance on the eve of her 50th birthday caused the author to rethink her unorganized life and ask herself why she had spent a lifetime hoarding broken pottery, unsorted nails and buttons and unused furniture. What she discovered surprised her; she'd been "searching for God" the entire time. Enter "The Holy Sisters," a group of offbeat friends and fellow spiritual seekers, who helped haul away the author's excess physical and mental baggage. Even after an epiphany when struggling to recall why she kept a bowl with a broken lid for years, she still had a hard time letting go, as each object was attached to a memory, pleasure or future hope. Dinnerstein's revelations amass like slowly unearthed jewels through writing, therapy and even Clutterers Anonymous. A poignant visit with her mother, an unexpected home purchase and the trauma of 9/11 combine in a breathtaking journey that delivers kabbalistic wisdom.

      Patience for a hoarder's personality is required, as the ups and downs of the quest, while realistic, are often tedious. However, hanging onto the author's smooth-flowing voice is easy, and there is nothing junky about what she discovers beneath the rubble.

      (COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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