Someone Stole My Outhouse. And Other Tales of Home Improvement

Customer Reviews

A Rare Treat/ A Fine Bit of Fun, Funky, Funny, Philosophy

2002-03-01
I read "Someone Stole My Outhouse," by Cindy Bellinger, last week on a long flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Like any good book, this one made many long miles just disappear. At 37,000 feet in the air I looked down and realized I might well be right over the backwoods cabin home of the notorious Cindy Bellinger and her outhouse stealing neighbors.
On the surface this is a book about home improvement, and indeed there is much interesting material here on building footers and tearing down walls and vanishing outhouses. But actually, as I quickly discovered, Cindy Bellinger's writing is certainly always more than just how to fix or build something. I first read a piece of hers in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper a few years ago, an article about the fire raging across New Mexico, and the impact it was having on peoples' lives. I was immediately impressed and showed the article to friends who were also impressed.
Very interesting here are the stories of the down-home sort of folks who wander in and out of these tales of home improvement. I also love the way Ms Bellinger uses construction as her focal point to discuss what it is like for a single woman doing things her own way. She has an uncanny interest and appreciation of good tools "for a woman." I admit, I was surprised by much in this book, surprised by her depth of know-how at building, at her appreciation of doing things herself, of the way she never let her sex be an excuse for not doing something she wanted to do.
The building and repairing going on in this book are always central but she admits that, "I'm not a finish carpenter, probably because nothing ever gets finished." But really, like any good artist, Bellinger understands well that it is the doing that counts, that the actual process of building may be more important than the end product. I recommend this book to anyone interested in: good writing, in something unusual and different, to anyone who appreciates a salty, no BS kind of a lady, to anyone who values a woman who has the guts to live life on her own terms, and who knows how to write about it. Someone Stole My Outhouse would make an excellent present for any liberated lady, or for any fellow not easily intimidated by strong women. A darn good read. Check it out.

Refreshing and Delightful Read

2002-01-08
Reading this book made me feel as though I could try what is usually left to professionals, because Cindy captures the personal aspects of home repair and shares it as a woman, who learns as she goes, has successes and some failures. She gives hope and a wonderful sense of humor to every phase of her projects. She expresses her feelings about the tasks she's tackling and that brings in the human aspect which puts it in the realm of possiblilty, even for the beginner. Her organic way of approaching projects, spiced with her tonge-in-cheek sense of humor makes this book a refreshing and delightful read.