A lawyer with a degree in philosophy, Mendelson writes with grace, wit and exactitude on a staggering range of material. Every room, every surface; books, computers, pets and peeping Toms; warranties, houseguests, dishwashing and V-chips - it’s all here. Unlike its great predecessor, Catharine Beecher’s “A Treatise on Domestic Economy” (1841), Mendelson’s book is addressed to men as well as women; but she shares a larger role with Beecher. The real point of both manuals is to help readers seize hold of their domestic lives, perhaps for the first time, and find sustenance there. These days, Mendelson emphasizes, ignorance is crippling. “If you don’t know anything about food, or fabric, you’re putting a great deal of control over you life into the hands of strangers whose interest in you is entirely commercial,” she says. “Why would you do that?” At last - a domestic manual that strips gracious living of its gender and makes it a survival skill.
