Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Here is a book by ex-Shinto Shrine Maiden and undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive neurotic Mari Kondo, who has managed to package her own manic brand of Japanese brilliance so well that she has, according to her, a three month waiting list for her services. I would quietly point out that Kondo believes that socks have feelings and spent her childhood in a psychotic haze of "tidying" and secretly throwing away her family's possessions, so one wonders if she actually has a business or if this belief is right up there with her belief that her underwear may be fretting in its drawer if not folded properly. I understand that the Japanese culture is big on animism, but I was unaware that it extended to one's shoes. I am admittedly envious of a society with such conformity that they all have the same closet (and a damn nice closet, from the sound) and they all change their clothes at the same time. I like order. I hoped to find some from the reviews. Unfortunately I do not have the big nice Japanese closet, and my clutter problem extends beyond the apparently limited amount of possessions Kondo deals with - papers, books, and clothing. I cannot dry my dishes on my veranda is a large bowl, because not only do I not have a veranda, I have trees, birds, and assorted dish-licking animals. Also I am sad to report that folding did not bring me the near-sexual release that was promised. And if I could put my clothing and books on the floor I would not need this kind of help. There are some helpful things in the book. And perhaps I miss the essential point that this was written for the Japanese market, and that's a whole different school of thought. It is actually one of the reasons I fell for this book, because I have long loved and longed for the exquisite simplicity and order of the traditional Japanese home. Our "minimalist" fad is just a poor copy of their sense of spatial harmony. How Ms. Kondo's childhood psychosis escaped the notice of her parents and teachers I do not know but I found this disturbing. And in my darker moments I question the authenticity of the ecstatic reviews, because I know that someone other than me has, to be perfectly vulgar, looked at this book and said, "WTF do you mean, I need to stroke my clothes?" (For those of you who are swept away by this clothes stroking deal, stroking fabric doesn't do a damn thing for its appearance, longevity or fit, although I cannot speak for how it improves its emotional health) I am already being looked at askance for the in-depth conversations I hold with my dog. I greatly fear that should I be observed in conversation with my shoes, I would be forcibly medicated by my kinfolk. I am sad that I failed the Marikondo method...and I am sad that I am out $7.99.