Author Margareta Magnusson is aged "between eighty and one hundred." She lived in several parts of the world after obtaining her degree at the Beckman College of Design. Her art has been exhibited in in cities from Hong Kong to Singapore. She defines death cleaning as a "term that means that you remove unnecessary things and make your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet." She goes on to say that it can be used more generally to describe when "someone ...does a good, thorough cleaning and get rids of things to make life easier and less crowded." I don't think I learned anything I hadn't encountered in numerous books, magazine articles and videos from Marie Kondo, but her emphasis is somewhat different. In addition to the benefits to the cleaner--and probably those who live with the cleaner--she insists that we should clean up our own mess and not leave it behind from someone else to clean up after we have died.
Library Journal offers this review: "Striking a balance of gentle encouragement, philosophical musing, and
pragmatism, her recommendations are wholly practical and warmly convey
her hope for a positive outcome.... The title alone, with the
juxtaposition of "gentle art" and "death," is eye-catching. Invoking the
Swedish theme of lagom ("just the right amount"), this book should
appeal to readers who have faced the challenge of sorting through their
loved ones' or their own belongings at various life transitions." And Booklist concludes, "What makes this book worthwhile isn't the sorting tips. It's Magnusson's
humorous common sense. She rightly reminds readers that it takes time
to downsize and that putting it off won't make it go away." The New York Times reviewer jokes that "Magnusson’s book has a gripping title: terrifying yet cozy, like an avalanche as seen from a ski chalet," and go on to praise it as a "a fond and wise little book." Here is a link to a 4-minute interview with Margareta.
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