Lori M. (ripley) - , reviewed on 8/29/2015 + 6 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 14

The Collyer Brothers were infamous in Harlem in the early 1900's. Eccentric and very private (paranoid), they were the stuff of legend and myth, routinely covered in the newspapers and whispered about on street corners. Living in an old brownstone and filling it with anything and everything they could find, there was plenty for people to talk about.

This book could easily have been a scandal piece, written as a criticism and meant to demean the subjects. Happily, that is not what this book is. The author presents the story of the Collyer Brothers alongside the story of his own Uncle Arthur, the family "hoarder" and eccentric, who shares many of their same proclivities. The book is written with much affection and respect, and gives you a real feel for these people and who they were. The hoarding aspect really isn't the centerpiece of this story; it is really just a short history of a few people at a particular time and place, and the quirks and eccentricities that affect their lives and those around them. It also an interesting short history of Harlem in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

A quick and enjoyable read.

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