Dirt: The Quirks, Habits, and Passions of Keeping House

by Kayla Cagan and Mindy Lewis

Book Overview

This is a collection to which everyone can relate: a multidimensional look at the universal challenge of keeping our stuff, our dwellings, and our personal space clean and uncluttered. How we feel about keeping house speaks volumes about who we are, our roots, relationships, and our outlook on life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580052614
• ISBN13: 9781580052610
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

I didn't want to put it down!

This is a really good book especially if you have a love hate relationship with housekeeping. The book tells you that lots of people have that same relationship. It touched all my emotions. I'm glad I read it. Oh, this is not a book about how to clean house. It's about how people feel.

To Dirt!

When Mindy Lewis invited me to write an essay for Dirt, I was thrilled, because I have a lot to say on the subject of keeping (and not keeping!) house, and my personal relationship to all aspects of it. Dirt now exists as a bona-fide object in the world, and I'm not only thrilled, but also honored, to be in the company of such wonderful writers. My colleagues in the book look at (among many other things) sex, love, money, physical and mental illness, death, birth, happiness, and homelessness, and they do so with passion, insight, humor, and compassion ... I raise my glass to in a toast: "To Dirt!" -- Janice Eidus, author, The War of the Rosens

Great book for the modern hausfrau

This book is a mirror reflecting our own conflicted selves back at us. As modern women, we crave, yet may not attain, the ideal home. We desire, yet resent, perfection ~ our homes can be a big part of our self-image, whether or not we work outside the home. I cannot find my "Real Simple" magazine, because it's buried in clutter from my kids and work. And this collection can be spot-on at keying in on that dichotomy. Check out "We're Tired, She's Hired" by Kayla Cagan (p. 209) ~ anyone who has hired a cleaning service or housekeeper can absolutely relate.

Throw This Book in Your Bag

I sat down to read "Dirt" and thought I'd be reading about individuals' cleaning habits and ended up reading about the whole world, from birth to death and everything in between, love, heart-break,money and passion, in stories ranging from tragic to comic. "Dirt" is the perfect book to give as a gift to everybody and to keep for ourself and dip into before you go to bed at night.

A Delightful Read

I was amazed at how many times I related to the various authors' revelations, thoughts and reflections on housekeeping, clutter, cleanliness and compulsions. The essays in "Dirt" are deep, honest and often humorous, evoking the foibles, fears, associations and memories that each writer in this engaging anthology experienced when conjuring his or her physical surroundings. It also gives a sense of the writers' intimate interactions with family and friends and how these relations are impacted by mundane tasks. Truly enjoyable.