Product Description

Ethan Allen and HGTV may have plenty to say about making a home look right, but what makes a home feel right? In House Thinking, journalist and cultural critic Winifred Gallagher takes the reader on a psychological tour of the American home. By drawing on the latest research in behavioral science, an overview of cultural history, and interviews with leading architects and designers, she shows us not only how our homes reflect who we are but also how they influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

How does your entryway prime you for experiencing your home? What makes a bedroom a sensual oasis? How can your bathroom exacerbate your worst fears? House Thinking addresses provocative questions like these, enabling us to understand the homes we've made for ourselves in a unique and powerful new way. It is an eye-opening look at how we live . . . and how we could live.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280019 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Released on: 2007-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Tapping into the American consumer's burgeoning interest in home design, cultural critic Gallagher (Pride of Place) takes on the single-family home in her latest cultural inquiry. Chapters are themed by room, beginning with the entry and living room and moving through to the basement, garage and garden; each ends with anecdotes describing how Gallagher's own family has changed its home with her new-found knowledge. Equal parts architecture, history, sociology and psychology, Gallagher's book easily makes academic discussions relevant to the general reader. The text is liberally peppered with pop culture references, though at times these appear humorously off-mark, as when she cites MTV Cribs (a hip-hop version of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) as a "popular children's show." Gallagher is not an unbiased observer — she makes a clear argument for her own preference for traditional notions of comfort and craft. Avant-garde architects and designers are often derided for their emphasis on novelty and art over homeyness and practicality. Because of this, Gallagher's text often feels like an etiquette book evoking a romantic nostalgia for propriety. She is at her most engaging when discussing notions of prestige and social hierarchy—issues particularly relevant in an age of proliferating McMansions and Martha Stewart–inspired interest in the hallmarks of good taste. (Feb. 7)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gallagher writes fresh and nuanced interpretations of the subtler aspects of life. In her latest work of creative synthesis and interpretation, she conducts a tour like no other of the American house, excavating its fascinating history and covert psychological influences. Humans are happiest in dwellings that allow us to both nest and perch, Gallagher explains, citing Frank Lloyd Wright. To assess whether a house succeeds in providing these qualities, she performs what she calls house thinking, analyzing the ambience of each room in houses old and new, urban and suburban. To set the gold standard, she describes various architectural marvels, including Edith Wharton's Mount (Gallagher has a particular interest in writer's abodes), whereas on the practical side, she recounts her own home-improvement efforts. As she assesses every aspect of every room, she offers compelling observations regarding women's lives past and present, changing family configurations, our mania for possessions, and the dominating role televisions and computers now play on the domestic scene. As Gallagher casts our houses and private lives in a revealing new light, she reinforces our perception of home as a place that merits our keenest attention. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Enlightening." -- New York Times

Customer Reviews

Non-threatening look at the American house
This book reminds me of those stands at farmer's markets where someone with a passion for knitting has decided to sell all their crafts. It isn't really a piece of art, nor is it anything with substance. You buy the craft simply to take it home, to enjoy it and move on.

Such is this book. It is non-threatening, direct in its look at houses. I read this book as a Canadian so I quickly got the hint that the 'we' in the subtitle implies 'We as Americans'. And so it is. This book is written by an American for Americans about the American house. Gallagher traces the history of the rooms of house-life, circumventing the terrain of Anglo-Saxon fame - frequent mention of Britain and the Victorian home. Again, because the 'we' implies American, there is no real look at the homes and rooms of other nations. There are passing glances but the focus is entirely US of A.

There is nothing critical to this book. Gallagher writes the kind of book that would never actually say something offensive - when she talks about McMansions and such, she never 'actually' offers us her opinions (if she has any) on their crudeness and impact on the environment (because she wouldn't want to offend potential upper-middle class buyers of her book). It is like reading a commentary without the human element. The book is like a digestive cookie in this sense. Palatable but nearly tasteless.

There are no pictures so when she mentions Monticello in Virginia, the reader must either dig up an old art history class memory of architectural slides or either go to the website page at the back of the book and look up the URL. (The lack of pictures also makes the book feel unfinished and unpolished. A book that discusses the layouts, presentation, contours of rooms without pictures - it would be like writing an art history book without prints of famous art.)

I read The Power of Place (a much better read) recently and I found the same kind of easy-to-digest reading. Gallagher writes about the house,the various rooms of the house and we know what she's talking about, but it's like the rest of the world doesn't exist and her 'home' is in a complacent universe. If life was like a sitcom, then maybe this book would be 100% non-fiction.

Interesting starting point for your own thinking.
Don't get me wrong. Despite my low rating, this is a worthwhile book, because it gets one thinking. But the author never reaches a conclusion of her own, and there is no single theme to the entire book, which gives the book a rough draft sort of feeling. The author did an impressive amount of research, and brings to our attention many famous houses, and the architects and owners responsible for such interesting abodes, revealing just a tiny glimmer of the "house thinking" that went into each living environment. Even just a few carefully selected photos would have gone a long way toward illustrating the "house thinking" expressed by each example. Instead, we are left with an extensive list of books and websites -- the start of our own research, if we wish to take up the task.

This book did not hand me fully-formed ideas on a silver platter, but instead gave me insight into a way of thinking about the history of the modern home. I never realized how much the past continues to influence the present layout of rooms, and shapes our expectations about how we are supposed to use each of those rooms. There is a weak thread running through the book. The author is pointing out that we are still being influenced by the past. If we can develop a sort of psychological awareness, we might break free of the historical conventions and expectations that clash with our modern needs on an unconscious level. Sprinkled throughout the book is another thin thread: that we are being influenced in very subtle ways by the sights, sounds, smells, and other sensory input from our rooms. We might not be consciously aware of these tiny influences until we stop looking at our rooms with the eye of an interior decorator. We need to look past the surface and feel the room from an emotional perspective. Isn't it attention to detail that makes a house into a comfortable, welcoming home? This book might get you thinking in the right direction.

A fascinating topic covered in a haphazard fashion
I found the basic concept of this book to be fascinating. The author takes on the task of walking us through each room in the traditional American house and analyzing not the furniture and decor, but the life and psychology of each. The result should be a series of insights into how we can design our living spaces to support and even create behaviors that are beneficial to us. And in some cases, this is what we get. But all too often - indeed, for the majority of the book - Gallagher seems to veer off course and talk about the history and sociology associated with each room. While this is an interesting topic in and of itself, the lack of a consistent method from room to room can be both confusing and distracting. As an example, here are the approaches taken for two rooms: For the section on the living room, the author describes the psychology of refuge and prospect in a way that is potentially useful for anyone trying to figure out why their house does not seem to offer them the feeling of comfort and belonging they would like. For the section on the kitchen, we are treated to the historical background of women's literal place in the home, and the way the kitchen has evolved with and contributed to the feminist movement. Both sections are well written and interesting, but only the first supported my goal of learning how to create a comfortable home.

This lack of of focus cripples what could have been both a very readable and very useful book. As it is, while "House Thinking" is still well worth reading, it will not be a book that earns a place of honor in your library. Or your living room. Or bedroom.