This is about a book youve either heard too much about or nothing at all. (If youve heard about it at all, youve probably heard too much.) Its called The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up. Translated into English late last year after unexpected success in Japan, it has rapidly become a phenomenon in America. Think-pieces, like this one, still flow. The backlash has come and possibly gone. The backlash to the backlash is here, so theres no telling.

My love affair started with the title. The contrast got me, of life-changing magic and tidying up. Since when has tidying been transformative, except for the place being tidied?

The book sees cleaning as an acid trip or vow of silence, a way to self-knowledge. Its how some readers have come to see cleaning too -- readers, like me, in love with a strange, slim manual we were never meant to read.