Downsizing: Confronting Our Possessions in Later Life

Ekerdt, a professor of gerontology at the University of Kansas, debuts with a dry and detailed study on senior citizens’ relationships to their possessions and the particular challenges downsizing creates. From surveys and conversations conducted by Ekerdt with older people who recently moved, a thorough picture emerges of the daunting task of divesting oneself of possessions. He notes that surprise and sometimes shame are common feelings when confronted with accumulated possessions, accompanied by a sense of being overwhelmed. Arguing that attachment to possessions often evolves into disregard, Ekerdt relates how people gradually change the language they use to describe their “stuff” before it becomes “junk” and “crap.” Similarly, for many, hopeful aspirations of selling or giving away possessions are abandoned when one realizes the work required. Ekerdt also explores the various types of possessions, such as furniture, collections, and paper, and how these are handled differently. However, the audience for the book is unclear, as the academic tone and laborious chronicling of downsizing will turn off lay readers. This exhausting and tedious effort falls flat. [em](June) [/em]