Objects of My Affection (44 page)

“Wow, is this a '71?” he asks. When I nod yes, he says, “It's a beauty. Mind if I keep the top down while I park it?”

“Knock yourself out,” I say, grabbing my purse from the backseat before heading up the street to the restaurant where I'm meeting my editor for lunch.

The two months since I watched in horror as Marva painted over
Woman, Freshly Tossed
have been a whirlwind—although I have to say, I'm liking the new painting quite a lot. Much softer than her old style, and surprisingly sexy.

I've moved out of the bungalow entirely and am subletting an apartment on my own, not that I'm ever there. Ever since Daniel proposed—oh, did I mention I'm engaged?—I've been moving my stuff bit by bit to his apartment. I suppose eventually we'll get a place together, but I was homeless for so long I'm fine with having two homes. They both have beds. Bouncy ones.

As for Marva, the hubbub over her hoarding and suicide may have
died down for TV news, but the Internet kept churning out new stories until she couldn't stand it anymore. The story about her hoarding used adult diapers did her in. Marva at last invited the queen of daytime talk herself to tour the house and see that she is—indeed—very much alive and living a noncluttered life. The house, naturally, still looks lovely thanks to once-a-week check-ins with yours truly. She has me on retainer.

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

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.

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

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 difficult 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.