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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
With my love for a good narrative, this was the first book in the home improvement section that looked interesting to me when I was weeding it at work a few weeks ago. Marchese, a thoroughly urbanized writer, having spent a decade in New York, suddenly decides to buy a house in the country and work with his construction worker Dad to fix it up.
As you can imagine there's the classic theme of a blue collar father and white collar son trying to find common ground while learning a lot more about how the other lives. I love the honesty of non-fiction that makes this situation seem fresh even though it's a situation that plays out every day across the land of the American Dream. When a cliche is happening to you, it feels unique and that comes across in Marchese's story.
The sarcastic wit in the early chapters, when son is bristling at father's demanding instruction are entertaining enough to get you hooked to find out if the two ever work things out. It's not a Hollywood ending, but, again, that's the nice thing about non-fiction, you can still get something a little less than schmaltzy.
Another fun tidbit is his chapter about meeting Bob Vila a major icon, if not the founder of home improvement TV. As you can probably guess, the guy on TV is only somewhat related to the guy in real life.
Overall this was a solid, if understated, book. This is truly the stuff of everyday life, but told by somebody with a better vocabulary and ability to craft an engaging narrative.
As you can imagine there's the classic theme of a blue collar father and white collar son trying to find common ground while learning a lot more about how the other lives. I love the honesty of non-fiction that makes this situation seem fresh even though it's a situation that plays out every day across the land of the American Dream. When a cliche is happening to you, it feels unique and that comes across in Marchese's story.
The sarcastic wit in the early chapters, when son is bristling at father's demanding instruction are entertaining enough to get you hooked to find out if the two ever work things out. It's not a Hollywood ending, but, again, that's the nice thing about non-fiction, you can still get something a little less than schmaltzy.
Another fun tidbit is his chapter about meeting Bob Vila a major icon, if not the founder of home improvement TV. As you can probably guess, the guy on TV is only somewhat related to the guy in real life.
Overall this was a solid, if understated, book. This is truly the stuff of everyday life, but told by somebody with a better vocabulary and ability to craft an engaging narrative.