Books

January 21, 2008

Exploring Our Preoccupation With Housing

The Times has a review of an intriguing new book called “House Lust: America’s Obsession With Our Homes” by Daniel McGinn (Currency, $24.95) that tackles questions many of us can presumably relate to, like, “How did home renovations come to routinely turn families’ lives upside down?” and “Why do thousands of us now watch reality shows about home flipping or house hunting?” Although the book doesn’t specifically zoom in on Brooklyn, or even New York City, real estate, it does examine larger cultural trends that hit close to home, such as how in recent years (before the subprime fallout, anyway) Americans came to see home ownership as the most valuable investment they could make, leading many to fetishize their homes. For example, McGinn looks at “Fix-Up Fever” in Newtown, Mass., where he finds owners engaged in renovations for the purpose of “one-upping their neighbors.” The author’s conclusion? “Our homes may no longer be making us rich, but living through an era when we thought they might has resulted in a permanent shift in thinking — one that will leave many of us happily obsessed with houses for years to come.”
Who Needs a 401(k)? I’d Rather Have a Castle.
Book cover from Amazon.