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

Front Cover
Mindy Lewis
Basic Books, Jan 21, 2009 - House & Home - 320 pages

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.

 

Contents

My Dirty Little Secret Sally Koslow
5
No Elves in the Night Joyce Maynard
11
Dont Know What to Do With You Lisa Selin Davis
21
Family Heirloom Rebecca Walker
29
Balebusteh Mindy Greenstein
37
Clean Fights Patty Dann
43
Windows Kathleen Crisci
51
Dirty Work Ann Hood
61
Transitional Objects Louise DeSalvo
163
Closet Fantasies Mimi Schwartz
171
Spring Cleaning Mira Bartók
183
Hungry Heart Branka Ruzak
191
The Color of Cinnamon Janice Eidus
203
Were Tired Shes Hired Kayla Cagan
209
Cleaning Ambivalence Julianne Malveaux
221
A Clean House a Sad Home Michael Hill
231

The Beauty of Help Kyoko Mori
69
Clutter Karen Salyer McElmurray
79
A Clean WellCluttered Place Lisa Solod Warren
93
Dirty Nostalgia Alissa Quart
105
A Portrait of Ten Bathrooms Sonya Huber
113
Keeping It on the OC Thaddeus Rutkowski
123
Adventures in Fluff Teena Apeles
129
Cleaning Up Nancy Stiefel
137
The Mess at Midlife Rand Richards Cooper
151
The Walden Pond Cleaning Service Richard Goodman
245
Waxing Poetic Laura Shaine Cunningham
253
Sweet Sheets Juliet Eastland
259
The Road to Vacuum Glory K M Lyons
269
The House We Keep the Home We Make
275
About the Contributors
283
About the Author
293
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2009)

Mindy Lewis is the author of Life Inside: A Memoir (Atria Books 2002, Washington Square Press 2003), which was named a Book of the Year by the American Journal of Nursing, an ELLE magazine “Must Read”, and received a starred Kirkus review. Her essays have been published in Newsweek, Lilith, Poets & Writers, and Body & Soul magazines, as well as anthologies. She enjoys leaving the creative clutter in her Upper West Side apartment to teach workshops in memoir, nonfiction, and cross-genre writing at The Writer's Voice, annual seminars at Empire State College, and recently taught an undergraduate course in writing nonfiction prose at Brooklyn College. She has given readings, panels and presentations at a variety of colleges, universities, and conferences. Lewis lives in New York.

Bibliographic information