Rescue from House Gorgeous [Hardcover]

Dan Ho (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2004

A gorgeous home with a 3-acre garden in a precious lakefront community. An enviable career in Chicago's competitive restaurant scene. At a time when these are some of the ultimate symbols of happiness and success, why would anyone want to give them up?

Rescue from House Gorgeous is the brutally honest and wickedly hilarious tale of just that. Within it is The 4-Step Rescue, a no-nosense way to separate decor crap from the style of real life. Written by Dan Ho, the founder and editor of award-winning Rescue Magazine, the book will have domestic goddess cringing, makeover queens screaming, and readers cheering.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A triumph of living over lifestyle." -- National Post - Canada, Feb 2004

"Escape from the overstyled lifestyle." -- TIME, Feb 2004

"Kick the Fab Five... Amid our makeover-made culture, Dan Ho bravely stands as the anti-guru of redo." -- USA Weekend Magazine, May 2004

About the Author

Dubbed "the anti-Martha" by USA TODAY (July 2004), Dan Ho's common sense take on house, food & garden is only matched by his literary wit. He is the founder of Rescue Magazine: Relief from House, Food & Garden perfection.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Rescue Press; First Edition edition (July 2004)
• ISBN-10: 097557860X
• ISBN-13: 978-0975578605
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,188,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most refreshing thing I've read in many months, August 15, 2004

By 

Reader (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rescue from House Gorgeous (Hardcover)

I almost never write reviews, and I am even less in the habit of giving anything five stars, but this book deserves both. It is a refreshing, lone voice in the midst of a media that encourages us to believe that our homes are somehow reflections of ourselves. If you regularly read shelter magazines, make pilgrimages to your local Pottery Barn, and spend time looking for things to do with your glue gun, yet somehow never seem to measure up to domestic perfection, you need to read this. Dan Ho has written a book that challenges us to remember that a house is a place in which we care for ourselves and our loved ones, not a place where we care for the house. Read it, laugh, and question.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So funny and so true, July 28, 2004

By 

Erika Kalaher (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rescue from House Gorgeous (Hardcover)

Rescue from House Gorgeous:

1) Deeply personal, brutally honest memoir
2) So funny your sides ache
3) Inspiring
4) Real
5) Genius

What are you spending your time, energy, and money on?

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you actually had time to have one outside of work?

When was the last time you spent free time having fun instead of maintaining your home, your garden, or your own appearance?

You don't have to have a near-death experience in order to radically re-prioritize life over style. All you have to do is read this book.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book that We've Needed for a Long Time, August 12, 2004

By 

Ben D. (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rescue from House Gorgeous (Hardcover)

RESCUE FROM HOUSE GORGEOUS is a daring, improbable book that would probably have failed had it not been so brilliantly written by Dan Ho. It's screamingly funny AND poignant PLUS it has some of the best household self-help that has been written in twenty- five years. On one hand it could easily be two books - a Sedarisque jaunt and a do-it-yourself - but it is, thankfully, one fantastic read. Ho's storytelling is disarmingly casual - he literally talks to you - it is an intimate read. His observations and suggestions on how "lifestyle trappings" are so keen, they will change how you look at things and how you live your life. Bravo. Truly spectacular reading. Plus - thank God for a meaningful, intellectual survey of all the "crap" in house, garden & cuisine.