Book Review: Why Stuff Matters by Jen Waldo

WHY STUFF MATTERS

by

JEN WALDO

  Sub-genre: Literary Fiction / Humor

Publisher: Arcadia Books

Date of Publication: June 4, 2019 (US)

Number of Pages: 212

When Jessica, a grieving widow, inherits an antique mall from her mother she also inherits the stallholders, an elderly, amoral, acquisitive, and paranoid collection. 

When one of the vendors, a wily ex-con named Roxy, shoots her ex-husband, she calls on Jessica to help bury the body and soon Jessica is embroiled in cover-ups, lies, and misdirection. Into this mix comes Lizzie, Jessica’s late husband’s twelve-year-old daughter by his first marriage, who’s been dumped on Jessica’s doorstep by the child’s self-absorbed mother and it soon becomes apparent that Lizzie is as obsessed with material possessions as Jessica’s elderly tenants. 

Why Stuff Matters is a compelling ode to possession, why people like things and the curious lengths they will go to keep them. Returning to her fictional Caprock, Waldo turns her wry wit on the lives of those afraid to let go.

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Where do I start with this review? How about I start with this: The main character angers me. She was a horrible person with a back story that makes you sort of feel bad for her, but then she does things that just irk you. Sure, she could have been worse, but still, she's up there. I think that was what kept me interested in reading the book. A couple of chapters in and we see this seemingly heartless person in the beginning take care of her stepchild that was dumped on her by her terrible mother. Their relationship is not the best, but it grows slowly throughout the book. By the end of the story, their relationship is still not where it should be, but it's better. 

Anyways, this book takes place mainly inside a vintage thrift store and I love going through vintage, antique type of stores. I rarely buy anything except jewelry but I like going to see what people have. There are a few I go to that always seem to have the same vendors, have the same things and that's exactly how it is in this book. I never even thought about what people do with other people's stuff when they leave it at a thrift store and how the people act and now I feel like I have gotten way better insight becuase of this book. Why Stuff Matters takes a look at the people you don't think about every day and makes you think twice about crossing a bitter old woman.

The author does a great job at giving each character their own personlity. There are an array of characters to be met in this book and each one as bitter as the next, but they still had their own quirks and their own baggage to hold. With each character, the majority of them have their own booths in the vintage store. The booths, I feel, really represent each person's characteristics and I was happy to read that everyone had their own specialty sale. This particularly so with the urn sales lady. I never thought people sold used urns, but according to this book, there is a market out there. 

Overall, I would recommend this book, no matter how frustrating the characters are. I think it's a great story that looks into a group of people that you never even think about and that is part of why I enjoy reading, you're always learning something new. 

Jen Waldo lived in seven countries over a thirty-year period and has now settled, along with her husband, in Marble Falls, Texas. She first started writing over twenty years ago when, while living in Cairo, she had difficulty locating reading material and realized she’d have to make her own fun. She has since earned an MFA and written a number of novels. Her work has been published in The European and was shortlisted in a competition by Traveler magazine. Old Buildings in North Texas and Why Stuff Matters have been published in the UK by Arcadia Books. Jen’s fiction is set in Northwest Texas and she’s grateful to her hometown of Amarillo for providing colorful characters and a background of relentless whistling wind. 

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