House Thinking: A Room-by-Room Look at How We Live
by Winifred Gallagher
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 58)
Read in May, 2007
A journalist by trade, Gallagher delves into the realm of environmental psychology to craft this room by room analysis of how American houses have changed over the last two hundred years. She explores how the spaces in which we live our lives (the most important of which is the place we identify as "home") affect our moods, relationships, and even our health. I started reading this when contemplating a large scale addition onto our house, and it really got me thinking about the impor...more
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I loved this book. I'm in the process of moving to a matchbook-sized Manhattan apartment. Over the last couple of months, I have had to take a really careful analysis of how I use the space in which I live, so this book came at the right time for me. I'm fairly confident, however, that it would interesting and helpful to just about anyone, sort of like "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Everyone lives in some kind of a space, after all, and the book is organized in a way so that, if you're ...more
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Read in January, 2008
An interesting look at the way that the spaces we live in can enhance or detract from our quality of life. Also discusses how houses have been designed historically and how designs have changed because of social changes.
She also discusses how changes in technology and housing preference have affected our community interactions. It's kind of sad to realize how isolated we have become in America, and how little attention we pay to how we could help the poor by better urban and rural planning.
She also discusses how changes in technology and housing preference have affected our community interactions. It's kind of sad to realize how isolated we have become in America, and how little attention we pay to how we could help the poor by better urban and rural planning.
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readandloved
Architecture meets psychology meets history meets pop culture. If I had read this book in college, I probably would never have majored in history or, eventually, education. As you read, you find yourself looking around the house, wondering how space shapes your personal and emotional well-being and what that says about our culture. Once you get past the 'psych 101 and I have every syndrome' sensation, you find yourself observing the everyday much more closely.
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Read in July, 2007
A fascinating opening but with no dry-down: loved it from the library, insisted on buying it, quoted it for a couple weeks, and now can remember nothing about it other than a vague feeling of warmth.
Best time to read is when you're house- or apartment-hunting, probably in conjunction with Clare Cooper Marcus' House as a Mirror of Self.
Best time to read is when you're house- or apartment-hunting, probably in conjunction with Clare Cooper Marcus' House as a Mirror of Self.
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Read in August, 2008
I couldn't get into this book. The history of lived-in space offered an apt context for the story that was never told: putting into practice the way we live. I didn't finish it, but I felt it was more an inward-looking book, where the author was trying to figure out something about herself, her house.
Not for me.
Not for me.
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really interesting--fascinating stuff. but you really need to be in a smart mood to read this book. it's not light reading. it's not over the top, but put your college hat back on to read it. the chapter on kitchens is especially relevant and interesting to women's history.
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Read in April, 2007
Intended to be a book for a friends birthday, I read it before delivery. Short and interesting read. The examples and stories give perspective on how the idea and purpose of rooms in a house developed and what people need out of their living arrangements.
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recommends it for:
anyone interested in environmental psychology and also pop culture.
An absolutely fascinating piece of work, written in an accessible style.
"Equal parts architecture, history, sociology and psychology, Gallagher's book easily makes academic discussions relevant to the general reader." (From the Amazon.com blurb)
"Equal parts architecture, history, sociology and psychology, Gallagher's book easily makes academic discussions relevant to the general reader." (From the Amazon.com blurb)
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone particularly sensitive to their suroundings
I didn't agree with everything she had to say (probably because I live alone), but it was interesting to get some additional perspective on how space matters culturally and aesthetically. I definitely recommend this for the compulsive feng-shui-er.
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This isn't really a critique of the book, so much as of my ability to gauge how many books I should reasonably check out of the library at one time. That said, it didn't grab me enough to finish it before the (renewed) due date.
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Jenn by:
Linda Rivera
Recommended to me by a librarian friend, this is a fascinating book. Read it before your next redecorating or renovation project. The author works her way through the rooms in the house, analyzing how we live and use each one.
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Read in March, 2008
Meh. Well-researched, but I needed a stronger point of view. Very good if you're broadly interested in how the rooms of your home came to be as they are, but I was looking for a more practical approach.
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Read in June, 2008
I still haven't finished this, although I really enjoy it. It's basically an examination of why we feel comfortable in certain houses, examining the psychology of how we occupy space.
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Read in January, 2007
This is a cool book that helps you think about your house and make it meaningful for you, very different from your average decorating book, in a good way.
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Kathryn by:
Jean
A fascinating look at how we live in our houses -- and why some houses just never feel like homes, while others do. Great read.
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guide
Read in July, 2007
Great idea for understanding how where we live affects us. However, the author waffled on at times. Not for me.
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I read two books by Ms. Gallagher after she was featured in a NYT article. Power of Place was also excellent.
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Read in January, 2008
currently reading... a little slow but interesting take on the psychology of places..
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architecture
Read in November, 2007
Interesting conceptually, but poorly written and researched.
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