Glassware, silverware, chi-na! Dirty dishes and kitch-en utensils! This was the mantra of our seventh-grade home economics teacher. Mrs. Douglas chirped the words as we sat scowling by our assigned “kitchenettes.” It was our rally call signaling us to assume positions at the sink and start cleaning. There were some of us, however, who secretly liked home ec some of us who still do. Here’s a fabulous book for those who have gotten in touch with their inner housecleaner.
Appealing to the voyeur in all of us, Louise Rafkin escorts us into strangers often strange homes in Other People’s Dirt: A Housecleaner’s Adventures from Cape Cod to Kyoto. It is hilarious reading. Think David Sedaris as a maid.
It would behoover you to read it.
Reviewed by Katherine H. Wyrick.
