Around the House: Reflections on Life Under a Roof

by David Owen

Book Overview

Twelve years ago, David Owen and his family moved from an apartment in New York City to a two-hundred-year-old house in rural Connecticut. Life under a leaky roof has not only made Owen handy with a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679456554
• ISBN13: 9780679456551
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Read

Want to learn a lot about homes and home repairs but hate boring manuals? This book is the one for you. The book is a simple exploration of the authors world. During his journey he comes across great chestnuts of information. For those of us that hat boring pictures and want real world experiences this book is a must.

Dave Barry meets Bob Vila

For fans of David Owen's earlier book, The Walls Around Us, the style of this book will be familiar. Although it's less informative than the earlier book, Owen's musings about home ownership and home repair are very entertaining.

Funny, heartwarming, and absolutely charming

I picked this book up on a whim without knowing much about it, and I'm glad I did! You don't have to be a do-it-yourself wizard or even a homeowner to appreciate the insights in this book. The book's title implies that the book is about houses, but the subject matter is really oriented around family--if you are part of or have ever been part of a pleasantly dysfunctional family, you will recognize truths about yourself.The book is a collection of very short and informally written humorous essays. David Owen writes with a lot of heart and I often found myself laughing out loud. It was hard to put this book down! The stories are consistently humorous without being sarcastic or biting--and the reason they're so funny is that I can recognize aspects of myself and the people I know in every one of them. The author has put his finger on the pulse of everyday things, and has found truth and goodness there.This book is an excellent, heartwarming, and funny expose of the foibles and ridiculous tendencies that make us human; I would recommend it to anyone.

He is the most consistent humorist today

Owen can bury his funniest lines in his grand understated way. I haven't read a book of his that didn't make me laugh out loud, and this is no exception. If you haven't read him yet, this is a fine start.