How to Get Things Really Flat: Enlightenment for Every Man on Ironing, Vacuuming and Other Household Arts

by Andrew Martin

Book Overview

Perfectly pitched to strike some raw nerves: A witty, often surprising manifesto about how and why men should do housework--and a very useful guide for both the millions of men who shirk household... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1615190023
• ISBN13: 9781615190027
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Experiment
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.9" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

Finally, A Hilarous Guide to Housekeeping That Is Funny Too ... And It Is For Men!

Have you ever seen the novelty book called Porn for Women? It features good-looking men doing housework with captions such as "Is this how you want the shirts folded?" or "I like to get started on the dishes right away." How To Get Things Really Flat by Andrew Martin is the literary equivalent of Porn for Women ... except without the photos. Imagine an entire book dedicated to the art and "joys" of housekeeping written entirely by a man and for men! Make no mistake ... this is not a dry guide to doing housework with charts and graphs and other things you might expect from a man. Instead, this is a humorous guide to housework that includes practical housekeeping tips but is primarily for enjoyment and entertainment. The book has 11 chapters, which each focusing on a different aspect of cleaning. Just reading some of the chapter headings will give you an idea of the book's tone. * Chapter 3: Ironing includes sections such as "Do I Need To Bother With the Controls On the Iron?" and "What Is the Worst Thing That Can Happen During Ironing?" * Chapter 4: Washing Up includes a section called "How To Load A Dishwasher Without Causing Comment." * Chapter 6: Dust focuses on topics such as "During Dusting, Where Does the Dust Go?" and "Dusting Things That Are Really Hard To Dust." * Chapter 7: Cleaning covers topics as diverse as "Toilet Cleaning: An Overview" and "How To Impress People with Bicarbonate of Soda." * Chapter 8: The Weekly Shop includes sections on "Characteristics of the Male Shopper" and "I Suppose I've Got to Put the Food Away Now" * Chapter 9: Doing Christmas, which includes a section called "What's the Least Amount of Time I Can Spend on Writing and Sending Christmas Cards?" * Chapter 10: Advanced Housework focuses on things such as "Exotic Cleaning," "Moths" and "Household Aesthetics: A Brief Introduction for the Tasteless Man." Martin has a droll writing style that fits the material perfectly. Although the book contains plenty of practical and useful information, Martin's approach is always amusing and typically male. After all, who else but a man would describe grocery shopping and the putting away of groceries like this: "You come home with the food. You drop the bags in a heap just inside the front door. You call out, "I've done the shopping, now you put it away!" and then you stomp off and check your e-mails. It's a natural reaction to the shame of having spent half an hour in the supermarket. I mean, to all intents and purposes you've just taken a carving knife and cut your balls off. But there are double brownie points for the man who not only does the shopping but also puts it away, which is, in any case, satisfying work. You've stocked up on supplies and you're ready for anything: sudden illness, heavy snow, the withdrawal of your credit card. In the back of my mind, as I pack the shelves of my fridge, I'm Shackleton's quartermaster, stocking the Endeavour for its long voyage south." Although women may not quite envision t

Practical and funny!

Straightforward, practical, up-to-date advice on housework - how to do it, and how to think about it. If you like Nick Hornby's sense of humor, this will make you very happy.