HOUSE LUST America's Obsession with Our Homes

Daniel McGinn reflects on America's obsession with real estate--building enormous new houses, fixing up old ones (although the author argues that in this "post-handy world" our hands are only useful for writing checks to contractors), watching HGTV, and nosily looking up the price of our friends' houses on zillow.com. The author invests in a rental property in Pocatello, Idaho, which doesn't work out so well. One tenant goes to jail, the other drinks on the porch with his homeless friends, and the property manager disappears with the rent money. David Drummond's well-modulated no-nonsense tone is a pleasure. His timing is impeccable, especially in delivering the author's frequent use of humor, and he consistently differentiates the narrative from the dialogue. A.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2008]