Other People's Dirt: A Housecleaner's Curious Adventures Hardcover - 1998

From the publisher

What do housecleaners know? Everything. Everything about what makes life a messy affair. And in her quirky, irreverent book Louise Rafkin shows that a housecleaner finds a lot more than dust bunnies under the bed. Armed with a battery of housekeys, Rafkin takes us on an intimate tour of people's lives, introducing us to unsuspecting clients and to a diverse group of housecleaners who have seen their fair share of dirt. Whether she's piecing together stories from the evidence she finds in her clients' homes or talking to other cleaners who have their own stories to tell, Rafkin debunks the stereotype of the humble housemaid. From a brief stint with the Happy Maids agency to an undercover attendance at a Messies Anonymous meeting, Rafkin's encounters in the cleaning trade come in many guises--the humorous, the odd, and the insightful. OTHER PEOPLE'S DIRT takes a look at a side of life readers may never again take for granted. "Rafkin's book is sassy. . . her essay on Messies Anonymous is worth the price of admission."--Booklist; "An amusing, touching memoir of Ms. Rafkin's experiences on the job. Think: female Don Quixote in the cleaning products aisle."--The New York Observer. A BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB and QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB SELECTION