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A New Love: Jacques Pépin's Fast Food
Talking Him Into It - Feeding The Guy
Another Change, and Two Summer Shortcakes
« More Feb. Reviews | Main | Setting The Table: The Genius of Stemware »
What does it say about me that I love owning this book? I like to think it says that I'm starting figuring out how to have and run my own home. I know that it says that I don't want to have all my stained clothes dry-cleaned or buy new clothes when I ruin what I have. To many people (my siblings included) it probably says that I'm (still) a big dork.
The book itself is incredibly useful - how to get deodorant or pen out of a shirt can save your whole wardrobe - but the way it's put together baffles me. Each kind of stain has its own little page or two with descriptions of the stain and ways of getting rid of them, but these pages also have odd little sections about where the stain is most likely to occur (sleeve, pant leg, etc.), what time or year it is most likely to occur, and what time of day it is most likely to occur. Why on earth do we need this? Do we not know that tomato sauce can stain your sleeve while you cook or your lap if you drop your pasta? Do we not know that you can get these stains all year round or that you have to be most careful of them in the evening when most pasta-eating occurs? I doubt anyone who has ever eaten pasta doesn't know these things. And as if the existence of these sections was not confusing enough, some stains don't have them. Why is this? Why does salsa have a "Time of Occurrence" section while mustard doesn't? It's really feels like the people writing the book were stretching for content and just threw in the most obvious facts they could possibly find in lieu of coming up with something better. The other section I can't understand is the little section in the middle with pictures of different kinds of stains. Do people really not know what a ketchup stain looks like? And some of the pictures are in really poor taste - do I really need to see pictures of semen and vomit stains? (Of course, it could just mean that someone over at Quirk publishing has a great sense of humor.)
Despite the odd way this book is put together, I'm still going to enjoy owning it, and it's still going to get a lot of use. After all, it's a book that tells me how to get my clothes clean - and it's cute too.
It should probably noted (to save my reputation as a 20-something as well as to give credit where credit is due) that I did not purchase this book myself; it was a wonderful, thoughtful gift from my mother, who held off getting me these kinds of helpful books until I actually wanted and appreciated them. Thanks, Mom.
Posted by georgia to Reviews , Tips on February 19, 2006 11:58 PM | permalink | Email this post
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I love that you love owning this book. You are so cute. :)
Posted by: Cassie at February 20, 2006 10:48 AM
