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A philosopher and a lawyer, Cheryl Mendelson is a professional woman with a secret passion: she enjoys keeping house. At a time when domesticity is devalued, she launders and cleans expertly, is a relaxed, creative cook, and invests considerable time and energy in keeping a well-functioning, cheerful, and welcoming home. Now she shares the knowledge she has amassed about every aspect of home life -- from germ consciousness to the finer points of cleaning and laundering (and deciphering garment labels). Wonderfully instructive chapters cover such topics as care for books and musical instruments, the role of the domestic animal, home safety, and even keeping a home office. Mendelson applies her investigative skills, logic, and intuition to the traditional methods of housekeeping that she learned in her rural girlhood. The result is a contemporary interpretation of the arts of housekeeping that strikes a happy balance between the values of the old and the ease of the new. She now passes along priceless advice, updated for a new generation, explaining, historically and philosophically not only how but why to keep order at home. Writing in a warm, lucid, and authoritative voice, she restores the dignity of this traditionally female realm, without excluding the many men who also enjoy domestic activities. Home Comforts is one volume that no one will want to be without.

"I applaud Ms. Mendelson's brief for the home; since reading HOME COMFORTS, I have separated some laundry, reorganized a closet and cleaned out the drawers of my refrigerator, all definite improvements. Yet very few contemporary American families could attain Ms. Mendelson's lofty standards of housekeeping, and that's the psychological hurdle one must clear to enjoy this book."

Cynthia Crossen, Wall Street Journal, 10/15/1999

"But store-bought shortcuts and painfully executed projects won't work, says Cheryl Mendelson, author of HOME COMFORTS, a step-by-step guide to doing it the right way....Mendelson has put homemaking in its places, tackling the keeping and preparation of food and cloth, cleanliness, daily life, safe shelter, and rights and wrongs....COMFORTS is not a Heloise-style tricky-tips book. It simply tells you how to do the things you never knew how to do....HOME COMFORTS is the house what JOY OF COOKING is to food."

Katy Kelly, USA Today, 12/08/1999

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House: Search Results