First published 1989
Alice Thomas Ellis returns for her final collection of observations drawn from a full year of Spectator columns. She navigates the peculiar challenges that define contemporary domestic existence, whether in urban apartments or countryside homes. Malfunctioning appliances become minor adversaries. Stray toothbrushes accumulate without explanation. Household cats develop mysterious ailments. Ellis transforms these mundane irritations into sharp commentary on how we actually live now. Her eye catches the absurd details that pile up around us. She finds meaning in the gap between our expectations of modern convenience and the reality of things that break, disappear, or simply refuse to cooperate. The fourth volume completes her year-long meditation on the texture of daily life, where domestic chaos reveals larger truths about our attempts to impose order on an unruly world.
Genres: essays, domestic-fiction, humor, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: found-family, slice-of-life
Period: 21st Century
170 pages · Hardcover · Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company