Being Marva Meier Rios’s personal organizer has had other benefits. As soon as my agent realized I was the one behind Marva’s transformation, she worked a deal to release Things Are Not People—and an accompanying workbook. The initial print run is twenty times what it was the first time. In fact, that’s why I’m here today, to talk to my editor, who is in town from New York, about expanding it into a series. I’m glad we could squeeze in a meeting before I leave for my trip down to Florida tomorrow to see Ash.
He’s at the Willows, thanks to a deal worked out by Marva’s lawyer in less than twenty-four hours from the time I called him. There’s no guarantee, but Ash is so much more committed to the process this time around. It helped that his other option was prison—suddenly the Willows didn’t seem so bad. I’ve been down to visit him two times already, and each time I’ve seen more and more of my boy emerge. He’s taking an online class at the community college, and the goal is to segue him into being a full-time student, living in a drug-free dorm. We’re going to talk about that further on my next visit, when I’ll be there with—ugh—Ash’s father. I have to hand it to Dr. Paul on that one—he wore the man down until he finally stepped up to his obligations.
Besides painting, Marva is considering teaching a course at the university on the impermanence of art. They’d no doubt be appalled to learn she painted over Woman, Freshly Tossed, but that’s a secret that only three of us are privy to. She also recently recorded an antisuicide public-service announcement that has nearly a quarter million hits on YouTube.
Although we know that Marva was going to kill herself, she won’t reveal how. Will—a proud dad of a baby girl named Lullabelle—badgers Marva regularly, trying to guess what it might have been. Oddly enough, it’s turned out to be a strange joke between the two of them. He’ll say, “Hanging from the bathroom curtain rod?” while Marva insists the truth will go with her when she kicks the bucket naturally. No shortage of gallows humor in that family.
As for who blew the whistle to the media—it turned out to be Mei-Hua, who was found out after Will put Mackenlively on the job. She did it for some fast cash since she, too, found Marva’s suicide note and realized she was soon going to be out of a job. Marva didn’t fire her, though. She says it’s because of Mei-Hua’s eggplant Parmesan, although I suspect Marva has other skeletons in her closet that Mei-Hua knows about.
At the crosswalk, a woman is selling necklaces from a cart. She hands one to me that’s pretty in a flashy sort of way, with lots of multicolored beads. “On sale just for you,” she says, “twenty dollars. Goes with your blue eyes.” I’m tempted to buy it if for no other reason than to celebrate this moment—I’m about to be published again!—but then I run the necklace through the N-Three checklist. Though it’s quite sparkly and cute, I don’t need it. It doesn’t match anything I own, so who knows when I’ll get around to wearing it. And, truthfully, nothing bad will happen if I say no.
I hand the necklace back. “Wrap it up. I’ll take it.”
“There are those things you keep, things you let go of—and it’s often not easy to know the difference.”
—Marva Meier Rios, from the foreword to the newly updated Things Are Not People
acknowledgments
First off, I’d like to thank my boyfriend, John Cusack … oh, wait, this is the part of the book that isn’t a work of fiction. In that case, forget the boyfriend thing, and let me start by giving a very real thanks to my amazing editor, Sally Kim, as well as to Allegra Ben-Amotz and the entire team at Touchstone for all the support and enthusiasm they’ve given this book. I’m also endlessly grateful for my agent, Kirsten Manges, who always knows when it’s time for hand-holding and when it’s time to throw a good scare into me, and a big thanks to Jenny Meyer for helping my characters get to speak so many different languages.
This book wouldn’t be what it is without the help of those who slogged through varying drafts along the way to give me feedback (and some much-needed cheering on), including Jen Catalano, Carol Snow, Candy Deemer, Sandra O’Briant, Mary Jo Reutter, Shelly Smolinski, and Linda Keathley-Stamey. I also have plenty of friends and family who didn’t read any of the pages but still had supportive things to say—believe me, it was always appreciated.
To Daniel Storm: Nobody knows movie memorabilia like you do—thanks! To the “organizationally challenged” people I talked to when trying to learn more about the hoarding mentality: Don’t worry, even under the lamp of truth, I will never reveal your identities. To my son, Daniel Elder: Thanks for tolerating my need to bounce ideas off you (and for being such a great son).
While I worked on this book, I had the honor of calling in to “join” hundreds of book clubs, and every one of them helped me remember why I love to do what I do. Writing can be a lonely business, and these great readers helped me rediscover my enthusiasm for my craft … so many, many thanks.
Oh, and it turns out that not everything in this book is fiction: Lucy’s parents are entirely supportive of her as she’s struggling to pull her life together, and that comes 100 percent from my real-life experiences. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, for always being there for me—I love you.
about the author
Jill Smolinski is the author of the novels The Next Thing on My List and Flip-Flopped. Her work has appeared in major women’s magazines, as well as in an anthology of short stories, American Girls About Town. A transplanted midwesterner, she now lives in Los Angeles with her son. Find her at www.jillsmolinski.com.
ouchstone Reading Group Guide
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Objects of My Affection
By Jill Smolinski
Lucy Bloom is broke, freshly dumped by her boyfriend, and had to sell her house to send her son to drug rehab. Although she’s lost it all, she’s determined to start over. So when she’s offered a high-paying gig helping clear the clutter from the home of reclusive and eccentric painter Marva Meier Rios, Lucy grabs it. Armed with the organizing expertise she gained while writing her book, Things Are Not People, and fueled by a burning desire to get her life back on track, Lucy rolls up her sleeves to take on the mess that fills every room of Marva’s home. Lucy soon learns that the real challenge may be taking on Marva, who seems to love the objects in her home too much to let go of them.
For Discussion
1. Lucy and Marva’s relationship gets off to a rocky start, and Lucy initially finds her new employer both intimidating and crass. In what ways did Lucy’s view of Marva change throughout the course of the novel? What were some of the turning points in their relationship? What was the most important one?
2. How do you think Marva’s hoarding tendencies developed? Do you believe she truly intended to clear out her house? Why now?
3. Lucy admits she initially refused to grasp the severity of her son’s drug problems. Why do you think that is?
4. Compare Marva and Lucy as mothers. Are they as different as they appear on the surface? What scares Lucy about Will’s relationship to Marva, and how does that affect Lucy’s approach to dealing with Ash?
5. When discussing how her house burned down years ago with Fillippe still in it, Marva states: “He always did have a flair for the dramatic.” Do you think Fillippe purposely set the fire? How did this event influence Marva’s future? Was it still realistic that she keep her promise to him?
6. Daniel and Lucy’s quest to rescue Grimm’s Fairy Tales from the storage warehouse is a rare screwball comedy moment for the otherwise serious Lucy. Is there anything you’d go to such lengths to rescue?
7. At the beginning of the novel, Lucy has sacrificed her home and virtually all of her belongings to send Ash to rehab. How did you feel when Lucy finds out Ash has checked himself out of the facility? Did you agree with her actions that followed? Would you have done anything differently if you were in Lucy’s position?
8. Lucy comes close to selling her cherished car, but at the last minute changes her mind, saying that it’s the idea of the car and how it makes her feel that is diff
icult to let go. Do you think Lucy’s refusal to sell her car is justified? Do you think that an object’s importance is related to the feeling that a person associates with the object, rather than the object itself? What is such an object in your life?
9. At the end of the book Marva is painting over her most famous painting, “Woman Freshly Tossed.” She says she is “giving it a second life.” Were you surprised by her actions? Do you think she did the right thing?
10. Lucy may be the organizing expert, but it soon becomes clear both of these women have something to teach the other. Other than how to de-clutter her home, what did Marva ultimately learn from Lucy? And were you surprised by what Lucy learned from Marva?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. As a book group, agree to go through your closet, garage, or other cluttered space and get rid of something you no longer use, wear, or need, or bring an object that you’ve decided to get rid of. Discuss how letting go of these objects makes you feel.
2. Marva is an acclaimed artist. Paint or draw a self-portrait, or bring a picture of a work of art that depicts something going on in your life at the moment. Share it with your book group.
3. Marva had a list of things she wanted to accomplish before she wanted to commit suicide. Create your own “bucket list” and share it with your book group.
A Conversation with Jill Smolinski
In Objects of My Affection, Marva is credited for starting the neo-expressionism movement. Was there a specific artist or person in history whom she was modeled after?
Marva wasn’t modeled after a particular person but, rather, her character was inspired by the spirit of the neo-expression movement, which came into vogue right around the time Marva would have been breaking onto the art scene. Because neo-expressionism shattered so many of the “rules” about composition and style in paintings that had been popular in the 1970s, it seemed to perfectly represent how strong-willed and unconventional I imagined Marva to be.
Do you share any personality traits or similarities with the main character, Lucy? Does anything in her life parallel your own?
She’s far more of a neat freak than I am, but she and I definitely share an aversion to clutter. I’m the person that friends call when they’re cleaning out their closets or spare rooms—I can be merciless about letting go of things (and making other people do it…just ask my mom). A couple years ago, like Lucy, I actually gave away or sold pretty much everything I owned that didn’t fit into my car or a closet-sized storage unit. I was moving cross-country and didn’t want to deal with a moving van, so I decided to use it as an opportunity to downsize. Also like Lucy, I thought it would be easy—that I had no attachment to things—but that wasn’t the case, and my choices didn’t always make sense. I could let go of entire rooms of furniture without batting an eye, only to agonize over whether to keep or toss something as small as a plastic souvenir pen.
Lucy loves the freeing feeling of driving her convertible Mustang. Do you have any possessions that make you feel similarly liberated, or that you especially love?
My ex-husband used to joke that if there was a house fire, I’d crawl to freedom only once I’d strapped my armoire to my back. I loved that thing—in part because it looked like the one Julie Andrews had in The Sound of Music. Plus it was my first piece of “real” furniture (that is, it didn’t need to be assembled). When I was in the midst of my downsizing, I finally realized that it was horribly out of style and included it with what I donated to charity. Love must have made me blind, because it was in such shabby condition that I had to beg the Goodwill truck drivers to take it once they came to pick it up.
Did you invent the N-Three checklist, and is it a formula you employ in your own life? How do you stay organized?
Although I made up the N-Three Checklist, it is a variation on what’s often advised by organizational experts—to evaluate whether to keep or toss an item based on whether you truly need and use it. Personally, I live more by the “a place for everything and everything in its place” dictum, and that’s mostly because if I don’t, I’m a total slob. If there’s not an easily accessible hanger waiting in the closet for me to hang my sweater on, that sweater is going to wind up on the floor (and half the time does anyway).
Hoarding has recently become a frequently profiled subject on reality TV. What additional research did you do to find out more about hoarding?
All I did was informally put out word to friends that I wanted to talk to a hoarder, and I was astounded how many people knew of someone that struggled with too much clutter. Talking to these people (who shared their stories on promise of anonymity) helped me to better understand their attachment to things, but I still wanted to walk through a hoarded home. I had my chance—quite by accident—when I agreed to dog-sit for an acquaintance at the home of her grandmother, who had recently passed away. While the house wasn’t as bad as Marva’s, I still had to shimmy sideways to get down the hallway, and there were entire rooms off-limits due to clutter. I spent the entirety of my three days there mentally throwing things away. It’s hard for me to comprehend actually living that way day in and day out, but it was a good exercise in understanding Lucy’s struggles to live amongst Marva’s stuff.
What books were on your bedside table while you were writing Objects of My Affection?
As much as I’m a bookworm, I can’t read when I’m writing—it distracts me too much from the story I’m trying to create. The moment I sent my finished manuscript to my editor, I couldn’t wait to dive into my “to read” pile of books, which by that point was stacked about a mile high.
You have written magazine articles, nonfiction, short stories, and novels. What are some of the challenges unique to novel writing? Can you explain your novel writing process?
My biggest challenge in writing novels is coming up with what I want to write about. I can spend months tossing ideas around in my head, waiting for one to “stick.” You’d think I’d know by now that it doesn’t work that way for me—I actually have to sit down and start writing to see if an idea works or not. Once I finally do give in and park myself at the computer, I eventually wind my way to my story. At that point, you can hardly tear me away from my writing it’s so fun to be in this other world I’ve created—far more so than the cooking or cleaning I need to be doing in my real life.
In writing this book, what did you learn about the hardships of drug abuse and addiction? What kinds of research did you do in preparation?
I had a chance to talk with some local drug counselors, and I sat in with a group of parents who had teenage and adult children with drug problems. As a parent, I wasn’t surprised to see how they’d be willing to do anything to help their kids—and they were—but before meeting them, I hadn’t thought about how frustrating it must be to not know what to do. The world doesn’t stop because your son or daughter is into drugs. You still have to report to work and pay the bills and take care of the other family members. Their struggles to save their addicted children while still going ahead with their lives was a huge influence on how I depicted Lucy’s relationship with Ash.
You blogged about writing your own Life List around the time you wrote your last novel, The Next Thing on My List. Did this experiment inspire Marva’s bucket list?
When I did my life list, I didn’t know anyone else who had one. Since my book has come out, I’ve had a chance to talk to so many people doing lists. The term “bucket list” has become well known enough that I could imagine Marva having one—or at least having a few things she wanted to do before she died.
On your website, www.jillsmolinski.com, you have a special section for reading groups. Are you in a book club? Can you share an experience of when you visited a book club to discuss one of your novels?
Yes, I’m in a book club that’s been together 22 years, and we are possibly the worst one ever—there’s always far more wine drinking than book discussing happening at our meetings. That’s why I so enjoy calling in to other book clubs that actually talk abou
t books! I’ve called literally hundreds of them. Recently a reader gave me a life list challenge to try Skyping, so I do that now, too—which is great because I can see everyone I’m talking with, (and not so great because there goes my trick of making these calls in my pajamas). I was also able to join in on a book club that was meeting at a coffee shop near where I live. When I got there, the members all surprised me by wearing sexy shoes, in honor of one of the items on my character’s “to do” list.
What message do you hope readers will take from Objects of My Affection?
That life is not so much about the stuff you have (or don’t have) but about knowing what it is you truly value.
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