Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    House Lust: America's Obsession With Our Homes
    Unavailable
    House Lust: America's Obsession With Our Homes
    Unavailable
    House Lust: America's Obsession With Our Homes
    Audiobook9 hours

    House Lust: America's Obsession With Our Homes

    Written by Daniel McGinn

    Narrated by David Drummond

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    What is it about the rustic beauty of hardwood floors or the luxury of natural stone countertops that turns ordinary people into covetous friends, competitive neighbors, and shameless snoops? In House Lust, Newsweek writer Daniel McGinn takes readers inside the homes-and the psyches-of people all over the country to discover what's fueling the national fixation on where and how we live today.



    If eyes are the windows to our souls, then our homes are the windows into our taste, our wallets, and, arguably, our very identities. Buying a house or apartment is a rite of passage, so it's only natural that we spend a lot of time talking about our homes-and our neighbors' homes. House Lust is filled with stories of what people are not talking about:



    -The kitchen designer who in four years saw seven of her twenty clients' marriages end in divorce



    -The woman who took a sledgehammer to her kitchen while her husband was away on a fishing trip to motivate him to start remodeling



    -"Zillowing"-using the Web site Zillow.com to find out how much your friends (and enemies) paid for their homes



    In a narrative that blends comic social commentary with incisive reporting, McGinn proves what real estate agents have known all along: people are not just buying a house, they're buying an identity. House Lust is an astute, funny, and sometimes disturbing portrait of contemporary America.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Audio
    Release dateJan 22, 2008
    ISBN9781400175826
    Unavailable
    House Lust: America's Obsession With Our Homes

    Related to House Lust

    Related audiobooks

    Home & Garden For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Friendly Engagement

      Oct 2, 2023

      Friendly Engagement
      7 min read

    • Article

      Home Sweet Home

      Oct 29, 2020

      Home Sweet Home
      3 min read

    • Article

      What’s Your House Style?

      Dec 21, 2023

      What’s Your House Style?
      4 min read

    • Article

      ADDICTED To Moving House

      Mar 4, 2021

      ADDICTED To Moving House
      4 min read

    • Article

      Editor’s Letter

      Jul 17, 2022

      Editor’s Letter
      2 min read

    • Article

      Your Space

      Jan 12, 2024

      Nicole Smalberger of Pretoria writes I'm sitting and reading your October/November issue on a Sunday afternoon, sipping a G&T while my husband and son (enthusiastic German Shepherd in tow) hit golf balls on the lawn. And this is the epitome of what I

      3 min read

    • Article

      Hello

      Nov 17, 2023

      Since 2020, our December edition is no longer a Christmas issue, and readers often ask me why. The reason is simple: when we still published 12 issues a year, the December edition was on-shelf before Christmas, full of festive dishes and decorated ho

      2 min read

    • Article

      Your Space

      Jul 20, 2020

      Monique van Deventer of Hilton, KZN writes Since we bought our 10ha ‘fixer-upper’ smallholding six years ago, we’ve had plans drawn up and shelved, then redrawn and passed – and now we’ve canned the whole design and gone back to the drawing board for

      3 min read

    • Article

      Let’s Be Social

      May 3, 2022

      Let’s Be Social
      2 min read

    • Article

      Just Add Water

      Apr 13, 2021

      Just Add Water
      3 min read

    • Article

      Gift With Purchase

      Oct 15, 2020

      Gift With Purchase
      5 min read

    • Article

      Journey To Greatness

      May 3, 2021

      Journey To Greatness
      5 min read

    • Article

      MEET the MAKER

      May 31, 2023

      MEET the MAKER
      5 min read

    • Article

      Playing Favorites

      May 3, 2022

      Playing Favorites
      1 min read

    • Article

      ‘Hold My Drinks!’

      Feb 18, 2022

      ‘Hold My Drinks!’
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Death Of DIY?

      Jan 28, 2020

      The Death Of DIY?
      1 min read

    • Article

      Let's Be Social

      May 2, 2023

      Did you know you can find inventive country decorating ideas and tips on our website? Visit www.countrysampler.com and click on Decorating in the top bar, then select Downloads & Projects in the menu to browse current and past projects. Or, type www.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Your Vote Counts

      Apr 23, 2019

      Your Vote Counts
      1 min read

    • Article

      A Bit Of Moxie Greg Dixon

      Dec 1, 2019

      When you announce, perhaps a little too grandly for your own good, that you’re throwing in the city for the good life in the country, the first thing people say is “how brave”. This is to be expected. You are showing off; they think you’re bonkers. I

      3 min read

    • Article

      Small Wonders

      Apr 22, 2022

      Small Wonders
      5 min read

    • Article

      Co-housing: is It For You?

      Oct 7, 2021

      Co-housing: is It For You?
      4 min read

    • Article

      Made in america

      Oct 30, 2018

      Made in america
      9 min read

    • Article

      Lordy, Lordy, We’ve Turned 40!

      Feb 28, 2023

      Lordy, Lordy, We’ve Turned 40!
      2 min read

    • Article

      From Our Readers

      Dec 31, 2022

      Every year, as all of us here at Woodworker’s Journal consider what woodworking topics to cover next, there’s a good bit of discussion. As you likely know, we survey our readers regularly and ask (among other things) what you would like to learn more

      5 min read

    • Article

      Of a Single Mind

      May 26, 2020

      Growing up just outside of Pittsburgh in the 1970s, single-level houses were as ubiquitous as steel mills, Heinz ketchup and watching the Steelers on Sundays. They were everywhere. My childhood home was no different. It was a split-entry: Walk throug

      2 min read

    • Article

      Bold Move

      Jul 23, 2020

      Bold Move
      3 min read

    • Article

      MAN of STYLE

      Apr 20, 2022

      MAN of STYLE
      6 min read

    • Article

      It’s happy HOUR

      Jul 16, 2021

      It’s happy HOUR
      2 min read

    • Article

      Old World Meets New

      Nov 1, 2020

      Old World Meets New
      2 min read

    Reviews for House Lust

    3.5/5

    41 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      An entertaining mix of business and sociology, this book investigates several aspects of Americans' obsession with residential real estate, from renovation to the compulsion to buy a new home, vacation home or time-share. McGinn went so far as to study for and obtain a real estate license and buy a duplex in Pocatello, Idaho (he lives in Massachusetts)in the course of writing the book.
    • 3/5
      Entertaining time-newsweek style quick read about American house lust and the media that feed it. File under 21st century material culture and Titanic, plans of--if you read this after 2008.
    • 4/5
      House Lust provides a casual tour through the different aspects of the American obsession with real estate: McMansions; new house fever and its polar opposite, the penchant for fixer-upers; HGTV and other glimpses of house styles of the rich, the famous, and people like you and me; and the appeal of rental properties and second (and sometimes, third and fourth) homes. This is not a rigorous study but instead an entertaining survey of what McGinn eventually concludes is an emotionally driven subject. There are no amazing revelations here, but if you're interested in houses and real estate - even a little - McGinn provides the opportunity to "peak in the window" of areas you might not otherwise have a chance to see. The book is an easy read and the chapters flow nicely; and it's a lot better than reruns of Flip This House!
    • 3/5
      Beware. This book completely took the fun out of shelter porn. And replaced it with nothing.