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Book Review of House

House
House
Author: Tracy Kidder
Genres: Reference, Crafts, Hobbies & Home
Book Type: Hardcover
reviewed on + 552 more book reviews


"A cliffhanger...I read it in one sitting, enthralled...Richer than the usual non-fiction; it is closer to a novel. Like a novel, it tells us not only what happens, but to whom it happens, and it tells us by means of surface clues meticulously catalogued...This is a real writer at work here. Like the carpenters he follows so unobtrusively, Kidder takes care with his craft."-Boston Globe.
A subtle examination of culture and class differences.Annotation
In House, a New York Times hardcover bestseller for over six months, Tracy Kidder takes readers to the heart of the American dream: the building of a family's first house with all its day-to-day frustrations, crises, tensions, challenges and triumphs.

From the Publisher
From the first nail to the final coat of paint, blueprints to moving day, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder leads readers through the grand adventure of building an American dream. In Kidder's hands, the story of constructing a house becomes "powerful, rich, enjoyable . . . a suspenseful, gripping tale" (People).

From The Critics
Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
And ''House'' is finally a happy story. A collection of highly abrasive people succeed in getting along with one another and producing something worthwhile. Whether this was chance or design will be up to readers of this intriguing book to decide. -- New York Times
Kidder won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for The Soul of a New Machine.