After a While You Just Get Used to It: A Tale of Family Clutter

Initial thoughts:
Knapp is a hilarious writer and her incredibly funny style is the saving grace of "After A While..." This book is a bit of a downer, Qwendolyn's familial dysfunction and unhappiness permeates throughout. Her mother is unbelievably selfish, immature and enraging. I feel like Knapp has given me a general glimpse into poverty, Florida, the South and the strangle-hold affection/obligation that can exist in families who don't like each other. This book is authentic, upsetting, funny, sad and a bit sickening. So much of this book was so true and sad, (and truly sad) if not for Knapp's first class writing,humor and riotous descriptions I don't think I could have gotten through it. (Oh no. Am I making a this book is like show more "life" metaphor?) 12.6.15 show less

I received an Advance Readers Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There is a certain beauty in simply belonging, even to people you are dying to get away from, along with the nasty, smothering detritus of their barely-scraping-by lives. What could be more southern than "this is my blood kin, and to them and their oceans of worthless crap I pledge my eternal faith--unless I kill them all first?" This is the spirit of the confessional memoir by Gwendolyn Knapp, After a While You Just Get Used to It. Set in Florida and New Orleans, this memoir takes Gwendolyn and her bizarre clan from her girlhood to the end of her twenties, when she is just starting to believe this writing thing might work out.

Southern Gothic literature is show more plagued by phoniness and clichés, even when it's Oprah approved, but Knapp's coming-of-age among the crackergnoscenti rings true. With their options limited, these folks know what's "perfectly" good: from re-ironed gift wrap to gas station wine to cheap beach accommodations for 4-20 people. Is this a dysfunctional southern family or is it precisely what lurks behind the scrubbed and smiling Facebook face of most of us? Despite: chronic hoarding by her mother; drug and alcohol abuse by her aunt; an older sister (understandably) gone goth; boyfriends that cheat on several continents or refuse to get out of bed at all; decade-long family estrangements; immortal pets that rot alive; holidays and vacations so hilariously awful they make National Lampoon look like the Brady Bunch; Irritable Bowel Syndrome on cajun cuisine (my favorite chapter); and other random insanity--Gwendolyn describes what shakes down to as safe and loving a world and family as most of us can hope for.

When the humor, which runs the gamut from standup to blackest black comedy, works--and for me, it didn't always work--it is best described as Jered and Jeshua Hess meet Eudora Welty. I could get used to this.

The writing style is uneven--by turns florid, spare, incomprehensible, and--at least twice per page--brilliant. There is a gold mine of nostalgic enjoyment here for the not-so-privileged children of the nineties. I think "true life cracker narratives" could be the next big thing, and Gwendolyn Knapp is a writer to watch. She is going places. Wherever those places are, I hope there are actual stalls in the bathrooms. show less

I really enjoyed writer Gwendoline Knapps memoir. It is smart, funny, sad and a little bit ugly but also very, very honest. The poor girl does not have the best luck, cheating boyfriends, drug addict relatives, irritable bowel syndrome, marginal jobs, etc. She just grits her teeth and bears it, she doesn't complain about the rough hand she's been dealt, she owns it. She's got gumption and I like that. I would love to read a sequel to this novel in another five or ten years. I want to see where her life takes her, and most of all I want her to have a happy ending. Recommended!

I was grabbed by the title of this memoir. Yes, the mom is a hoarder of sorts, but it seems like “family clutter” refers more to the clutter of people than things. Reading this book was like watching an accident in slow motion: you know what’s going to happen, that it’s not going to be good, but you can’t stop watching. And if the first part of the title, “you just get used it” is true, then I really feel sorry for the author. In truth, she does have a clutter of problems, and I don’t believe she ever gets used to it. She just deals with it. It appears that she was aiming to shock us, to liberally dose her memoir with humor, and to acquaint us with the most bizarre of family and friends. But the humor falls flat at times show more (some things are just not funny, they’re pathetic) and the reader is made privy to things that surely should have been kept secret. Still, the memoir is well written, even if the content leaves something to be desired. I can only hope that the lives of all involved in this tale improve – they all deserve something better than they got. Two personal notes: To Gwendolyn – I appreciated your dedication to the book and don’t worry, your mom won’t kill you; she is the best character in the memoir. To Gwendolyn’s mom – don’t let them take away your clutter! show less

Collectors from Holiday

If you have family members who “collect” things, until it looks like a museum collection. If you’re grandmother has the pots once owned by her grandmother, you have a slight idea of the family Gwendolyn Knapp was raised in.

Ms. Knapp relates her family stories with humor bordering on hysteria. Throughout the book, her sister, Molly, tells their mother she is psycho. Their mother, Margie, the oldest of three children, most definitely displays psycho behavior. Margie is in architecture school as the story begins. A hoarder architect is a contradiction in terms. The whole family is a mass of contradictions and their story is a wild ride.

Molly and Wendy are intelligent people as are most of their extended family show more members. The two sisters try to put their white cracker Florida upbringing behind them. Both girls move from Florida to Louisiana to put some space between them and Margie whose favorite expression is, “Well, excuse the junk.” Margie and her hoard are not that easy to escape.

This is a fun read. Each page contained something outrageous. Ms. Knapp spins a great story. It’s funny, but many times I could feel her pain at living in circumstances that she had no control over. Many episodes I’ve also lived through or observed first hand. Pick it up; you’ll have trouble putting it down. show less

This memoir is filled with dry humor and wacky family members that will make you relish the boring ones you have. The hilarious chapter on the horrors of IBS is enough motivation to read this book. I found myself laughing in recognition of being in the same circumstances...then I had to run to the bathroom!

Overall, an enjoyable read. I'm not sure if I would recommend this one to a friend. I found this memoir both funny and incredibly sad in some parts. I wish some stories had been more developed.