Publisher's Synopsis
A comedian and writer explores the significance of place in relationship to self-what it is about home that is so intrinsic to our sense of self and what it says about our place in the world
This is a book about who we are in the place where we live, and why, and about who we are when no one is watching, when the doors are closed and the pants come off. Mandy leaves no corner of the suburban psyches undisturbed in her cleanout of our comfort cobwebs, using her comedic talents to unearth insights buried behind closed doors. She tackles such questions as Do shared houses unleash the hidden and very messy inner monster hiding within us all? What does your rental property say about your approach to life? What will the neighbors learn by perving through your windows or rummaging through the leftover detritus of past relationships that now grace your garage sale? and Were people less troubled by obesity when their chairs and beds were more uncomfortable and pain forced them to get up earlier and rest less? Have plasma TVs and plush-cushioned comfort made us fat? It was on her knees unpacking the dishwasher that she had one of her most important epiphanies: "Life is not all about choice. Sometimes it's about subjugating one's own desires and ego at the service of the mundane. My daily rituals, my chores, the endless grind, this is the anvil that anchors my ego to the ground, that stops me floating skywards, becoming puffed up and unbearable." Here, Mandy explores the symptoms and the roots of this love of comfort, tracing our deluded nostalgia for the past and the disappointment that is the result of going back to revisit the buildings and landmarks of your past.
