90 Lessons for Living Large in 90 Square Feet (...or More)

Cohen’s (What Papa Taught Me) 90-sq.-ft. Manhattan apartment became the subject of a viral YouTube video. Her subsequent book offers wisdom gleaned both from living in a tiny space and working as a professional organizer. Cohen begins and ends with a narrative about her life, including a nod to Thoreau, while the rest of her book offers 90 fortune cookie–like nuggets of insight and organizing advice: Only keep the clothes you wouldn’t mind your ex seeing you in. Always arrive 10 minutes early. Go into a room of your home, roll a die, and give away the number of items the die shows. Don’t multitask. It’s not the advice, however, that animates the book, but Cohen’s optimism and exuberance. Without ever being cloying, Cohen manages to reframe her life in a monk’s cell–size apartment as a privilege, one giving her access to the many treasures of Manhattan. Cohen’s ability to reframe seeming deprivation into liberation infuses her organizing hints with a luminous quality. Readers won’t just shed their shoes; they’ll reclaim their souls.[em] (BookLife) [/em]