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Translator's Note 4

Alone
Alone Time 15
In Defense of Shyness 26
The Cheerful Hermit 40

together
Living as a Twin 53
The rope that binds us 61
Category 67: Survival Relationships
When you want to be loved (infinitely, infinitely, infinitely) 72
Can I stay by your side forever? 82
Letter to Joy 89
This friendship is going well 95
Dog and Me 104
The Joy of Socializing 110

Sending off
Thinking about the death of your parents 119
Letting Go of a Loved One Gradually 124
On the Long Road to Recovery 129
Mother's Painting 134
Detail of the Years 141
Lessons from Mother-Daughter Relationships 146
Grieving with a Clear Mind 152
When Food Becomes the Enemy 157
How to Be Kind to Yourself 177
On Loneliness 183
Accepting Someone Who Is No Longer With You 188
Living Without Alcohol 194
Letter to Father 200
Life Without Anesthesia 213

outside
Sociology of Names 229
Men's Attitudes Toward Sexuality 235
Good enough 241
Misuse of Power and Sexuality 246
I want to be Italian 252
Let's take a look at what people can't throw away 255
On the Dignity of the Elderly 260
The Neat Man's Problem 265
Reinventing the Concept of Home 270
Emotional Overload from Disaster 276

not
Just an Ordinary Life 285
A person who hates summer 291
Deciding Where I Live 296
I have nothing to wear 302
The mind is also a muscle 308
Small Transfers 314
Anger Expression Techniques 320
326 Words to Evaluate a Woman's Appearance
Barbie Lives in Reality Too 332
The Double Muscle 338 That Changed My Life

“I am a cheerful hermit.”
The pleasure of solitude, the pain of isolation
An intelligent voice that speaks elegantly, honestly, and humorously

Caroline Knapp, the author of intelligent and eloquent memoir-like essays, died in 2002 at the young age of forty-two.
Napp has had some terrible addictions in his life, turning to alcohol when he wanted to escape life's mysterious fears, and to food when he wanted to exercise extreme self-control.
He surprised the world by confessing his deep inner story honestly, elegantly, and clearly.
『Drinking: The Fatal Temptation』 is about a life of alcoholism, and 『Appetites』 is about dieting obsession and eating disorders.
He loves dogs so much that his excessive attachment to them is worrying, and he even wrote about his feelings in a book called "Pack of Two".

"The Merry Hermit" is a posthumous collection of essays, a portrait-like book that densely captures the entire life of the writer Caroline Knapp.
Caroline Knapp is a writer who keenly examines life's mysteries, big and small, and above all, yearns for self-understanding.
In "The Merry Hermit," he tells of a life lived alone, worked alone, and formed precious relationships with family, friends, and dogs, never turning a blind eye to the loneliness that lay before him.
It also tells the story of a man who was addicted to alcohol and anorexia, but struggled to escape from them, and in the process, experienced freedom and liberation from the psychological shackles that had been strangling him.


“Caroline Knapp’s voice is so clear,
Even people who have never met him miss him.”

Caroline Knapp was someone who spent most of her life walking a tightrope between the joys of solitude and the despair of isolation.
Although he was highly intelligent enough to graduate with honors from Brown University, and went on to become a journalist and best-selling author after graduation, he is actually a shy and introverted person who finds peace when alone.
A person who loved his family, friends, and dogs more than anyone else, but who also struggled with the emptiness and anxiety that resided in a corner of his heart.
A person who thinks that he is too strange and wants to live an ordinary life in his next life, one that is neither too grand nor too complicated.
This kind of person looks closely at himself and unravels each and every knot of his emotions and thoughts.
Perhaps those who read Nap's writing will laugh, cry, and feel pain at this honesty.
Caroline Knapp's writing is so compelling that it can be described as a form of empathy and immersion.
Even if there are people who don't know Nap, they can't help but fall in love with him once they know him.

Keywords that can describe Caroline Knapp's life can be summarized as follows:
Addiction, deprivation, family, pets, friendship, love, attachment, work, growth, grief, loss, isolation, solitude… … .
In particular, addiction is an indispensable keyword in Nap's life.
He saw how far he could fall through alcoholism and anorexia, and it took him another moment to confront himself head-on in an attempt to pull himself out of that dark place.
As translator Kim Myeong-nam, who understands Caroline Knapp's life more deeply than anyone else, said, Knapp tried to talk about self-understanding, acceptance, and change, and never gave up hope to become a freer, happier, and more authentic person.


From the author, who accepted his strengths and weaknesses as they were and ultimately realized the joy of life, we can feel a friendship that feels like it has lasted a long time, even though we have never met before.
Nap's story is like my story, and like my friend's story.
This is Nap's talent, and the power of his writing.


Do not ignore the loneliness before you
Accepting your strengths and weaknesses as they are
In the end, it's about realizing the joy of life.

Caroline Knapp stands in the kitchen one day, dressed casually, eating a late dinner. Her favorite drama is about to start on TV, and her beloved dog is curled up beside her.
The answering machine alarm is blinking, telling you to check your messages, but there's no need to rush to check them.
In this seemingly ordinary moment, he is suddenly able to define himself in complete sentences.
“I am a cheerful hermit.”

Caroline Knapp's journey through life's ups and downs is ultimately a way to learn how to accept oneself and how to live in relation to the world and the prejudices of others.
Establishing your own standards for how and to what extent you will interact with the small world you have built and the countless worlds built by others.
When Nap suddenly realizes his own standards and values ​​for life, he realizes that this is a precious gift and a kind of victory.


Caroline Knapp isn't ashamed of the fact that she's full of mistakes and flaws.
If that were the case, I probably wouldn't have been able to confess so honestly about the experiences I've had to get to where I am today.
His stories of love and remorse for his family, the deep friendships he shares with his few friends, his genuine affection for his dog, his keen observations of what's happening in the world, and the self-esteem that comes from accepting one's own strengths and weaknesses will resonate and comfort readers who have longed for understanding.
Just as Napp was able to define himself in complete sentences, I dare to imagine that readers of this book will be able to do the same after closing the last page.