this mess is pretty neat

The colorful cover of the book and its glitzy (and ditzy) Hollywood backdrop easily lure the reader in, for a quick beach or travel read. The chapters are set up as vignettes to showcase various Hollywood types and their messy lives – and how heroine Jane, a professional organizer (think a cross between a celebrity assistant and a devotee of lifestyle guru Marie Kondo), can brave the traffic of Los Angeles freeways and twisty/turny roads in the Hollywood Hills to save them all.

Mess, by Michael Chessler 

Mess, by author Mike Chessler, does tell that story well – and that could have simply been it. But Mess also delivers a thoughtful, sometimes poignant story of a young woman trying to discover what she really wants in her life – what to keep, what to discard. Including (or not) a lackadaisical (to her tastes) boyfriend. Jane could stand to learn a bit about herself, as she sorts through discarded designer duds – and occasionally decides to slip a piece (or two or three) into her bag to add to her own collection. The prose may seem a little highfalutin on occasion, but that actually suits the ultra-perfectionist protagonist Jane to a T. Do I make her sound a bit of a mess and difficult to like? She definitely is, at times. But Mess isn’t. The book and all its characters are highly enjoyable. 

Full disclosure – the author is a friend. 

First published on Cannonball Read