Dirt, Terence McLaughlin
Dirt, Terence McLaughlin
List: $34.99 | Sale: $24.50
Club: $17.49

Dirt
A Social History as Seen Through the Uses and Abuses of Dirt

Author: Terence McLaughlin

Narrator: Todd Belcher

Unabridged: 6 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/04/2024


Synopsis

Delve into the fascinating world of dirt in this history of culture, cleanliness, and our evolving perceptions of what is and isn’t gross.

In this engaging and often humorous study of life’s imperfections, public health and hygiene authority Terence McLaughlin dissects our attitudes toward the filth that has accompanied society throughout human history. According to him, “dirt” is a matter of opinion.

Cultural attitudes about everything from factory smoke to personal hygiene are constantly shifting with the economic and political exigencies of the era. McLaughlin cites Old Testament examples of cleanliness which, unbeknownst at the time, helped protect the observant from the plague. The famous baths of ancient Rome were seen as progress for personal hygiene, and later scorned by Christians who rejected all things Roman.

With a litany of fascinating examples, McLaughlin sheds light on how we accept or reject substances. Dirt is essential listening for anyone wishing to understand how we shape our environment.

©1971 Terence McLaughlin. Produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nigel on April 01, 2023

In brief - guess I'll make this 3 star but only just. At times very interesting and at times definitely not... While not able to speak French, Bill Buford decides he wants to learn the art of French cooking in France and preferably at what may be seen as the centre of it - Lyon. The book is the story......more

Goodreads review by Anne on June 11, 2020

In his new memoir, foodie, food writer, and former New Yorker fiction editor Buford shares another first-hand account of his time in the kitchen. In a quest to deepen his culinary training, Buford and his wife, wine expert Jessica Green, move to France with their twin three-year-old boys. They inten......more

Goodreads review by Lindsay on June 25, 2020

I found the author very arrogant and off-putting. The story-telling was meandering and there were way too many characters that come and go to keep track off (and mostly just mentioned for name-dropping!) I wanted more about his sons and especially his wife- the true heroine of this story!......more

Goodreads review by Olaf on February 13, 2021

Zuerst herzlichen Dank an Denis Scheck für diese wunderbare Buchempfehlung. Der amerikanische Autor Bill Buford reist nach Lyon um als Praktikant in einer der zahlreichen Sterne-Restaurants zu arbeiten und um die französische Küche von Grund auf kennenzulernen. Seine Erlebnisse, sowie seine Streifzüge i......more

Goodreads review by Kari on June 13, 2020

Probably a little too close to home for me to push aside, but I was really pissed at Buford for leaving his wife to deal with young kids on her own for a heck of a lot of the time. That said, I enjoyed this.......more