Review: Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller: A Memoir

Dear Literary Loves,
Since my last post I have finished reading the memoir Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller.  Judging just by the title you might be led to think this is a memoir about a person going to detox at a drug rehab center, but essentially, it chronicles her life growing up as the daughter of two parents who are considered diagnostically to be hoarders.  Interestingly, of the two parents, her father appears to have the worst case of the illness.  He collects everything inclusive of  paper and gadgets that need repair.  Her mom initially makes a gallant attempt to keep the home in livable condition; however, later due to illness and surgery, the mom becomes confined to the home and she starts collecting all sorts of various products from various home shopping clubs.  It gets to the point where the whole bedroom is a collection of products from Home Shopping Network.  The house is perfectly described by the author.  There are piles of paper, gadgets, boxes, etc piled to the ceiling.  The refrigerator becomes neglected and there is moldy food.  There are insect carcasses and rats.  I started to wonder halfway through the book why the house wasn't condemned, but the curtains were kept drawn and no one but the UPS or FEDEX delivery folks ever seemed to visit. 
Obviously, the author dealt with a heavy amount of shame over all this.  She would pretend she lived at other homes; she would have friends drop her off at another house as opposed to the in which she actually lived, and she always went to stay at a friend's house as opposed to having anyone over to her own home.   At one point, the author begins taking showers at the local Y because the parents do not have repairs made to the home, including the shower, toilet, and other appliances.  Why?  Because that would lead to someone discovering their secret and potentially turning them in and the whole situation being revealed.  It could quite possibly have meant that her parents would be homeless and that they could have lost custody of their daughter. 
What I found most interesting is that even though the author's parents frustrate the heck out of her because she is constantly still having to go in to their residence and clean, pack, and help move them, she still fundamentally loves her parents.  She wants them to get help, but realizes that you can't make someone get the help they so desperately need.  Today, the author keeps a clean and sparse apartment in New York.  She does experience some remnants of PTSD though as she is obsessively compulsive regarding cleanliness, neatness, and constantly purging that which is not essential from the apartment. 
I was moved by this particular memoir enough to write the author; however, I am sorry to say that she did not send a return email.  I think authors do a disservice to themselves, their experience, and their book when they do not take the time to interact with their readership.  It is one extra element to being an effective marketer I know better than anyone that as a potential debut author, you need all the PR help you can get, in spades.
Until my next read,
Grace (Amy)