Rating: 
Summary: A good quick read
Review: A quirkily interesting book, worth at least the couple of hours it'll take you to read it. The author, a thoroughly educated sometime-writer, works as a cleaner, cleaning people's houses. She tells us something of what that's like, and she also pokes into other corners of the cleaning world, talking to someone who cleans up after murders, talking to folks who get paid extra to clean in the nude, and spending a week in a spiritual community in Japan that finds sustenance in service, including cleaning.The book is a somewhat uneven read; now and then we get close to an insight into the human condition, or a lovely bit of prose. More often, though, the text reminds me of Paul Theroux or William Least Heat Moon at their grumpiest: going to interesting places and having a lousy time, meeting interesting people and disliking them. The author of "Other People's Dirt" doesn't really seem to like anybody very much, and her dislike keeps her at a distance that prevents most real insight. On the other hand, she doesn't give in to the dislike enough to really get nasty; while she constantly claims to know lots of little intimate secrets about her clients, and apparently shares them with fellow cleaners, she doesn't share many with us, so we don't even get that naughty illicit fun. Anyway, the book is worth the read. You may get a laugh, or an interesting wince, or learn something about cleaners and their clients. But don't expect it to change your life.
Rating: 
Summary: The mean queen of clean
Review: A collection of essays from an ex-academic and writer who cleans houses. Why does she clean houses? Well, therein lies the tale. She uses cleaning as an excuse to snoop, living out her faded CIA dreams; she cleans because it helps her organize the mental and emotional clutter of her own life; and she cleans, at least once, simply to serve (in Japan, where a cleaning sect called Ittoen does precisely this). Other pieces investigate how others clean: the aforementioned Japanese cleaning commune, ascetic and humble; her childhood Mexican maid, whom she interviews with minor success; the maid to nobility and American moguls; naked house cleaners; even a woman who cleans up after homicides and suicides. At one point, Rafkin joins Merry Maids, a corporate cleaning service, partly due to desperation and partly as a kind of experiment (the horrifying abuse of labor she encounters there echoes Barbara Ehrenreich's findings from her own similar experiment in Nickel And Dimed). Rafkin certainly has her downside: she gossips about her employers (in stark contrast to the proud, confidential maid to the ultra-rich she interviews), treats their possessions with indifference, to say the least (she doesn't even apologize for breaking one client's knick-knack), looks through their things, tries on their clothes, even makes love on one clent's bed. But her prose is crisp and clear, and she has an unusual power to be disarmingly funny about a mundane subject like dirt, or zeroing in on the tragedy of a life without wallowing in sentimentality. She's at her best when talking about her interview subjects rather than herself, but she's open about everything. It's a quick, edgy read, and everyone who's ever hired a maid should read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Cleaning is just the beginning
Review: This book by a writer and cleaning professional is about more than just cleaning. Louise Rafkin explores the relationships between cleaner and employer, interviews a woman who cleans up after murders and suicides,and even visits a community in Japan whose members clean other people's toilets as part of their ethic of performing service for others. She's got a feisty attitude that definitely comes through in her writing. It's a quirky, unusual, and sometimes very funny book where cleaning sometimes becomes a metaphor for living.
Rating:
Summary: Now I know why I don't want a maid!
Review: In this book, Louise Rafkin describes her career as a housecleaner. Throughout much of the book, she takes what I would describe as a "snarky" attitude towards her clients - complaining about the "collectors", revealing what she regards as the weird habits of householders. At the same time she is holding contests with a fellow-cleaner to see who can find the ugliest tchatcke, trying on the clients' clothes, even making love on a client's bed. Ugh. I suppose a person has to be in a particular mood or have a particular personality to enjoy this book. Parts of it are over very interesting topics - especially Rafkin's journey to a cleaning commune in Japan. But after a while, I just found her attitude hard to take. And although I already thought I would never want to hire a housecleaner (for more egalitarian reasons than anything), now with the thought of someone going through my dresser drawers or snickering with his or her friends over what I keep in the fridge, I'm sure I don't want one....
Rating:
Summary: Do I want to have a maid?
Review: I thought it was very interesting how the author's described what she witnessed, and what evidence she saw of people's lives. The insight she gave into her own life and the lives of other house cleaners was also interesting and insightful. I thought the book ended a little strangely but I have learned that these types of books and their authors often end strangely.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, and Hard to Put Down.
Review: I read this book in one day because it was just too hard to put down. The material confirms my theory, which is that many who are attracted to the service professions are addicted to feeling resentful. Unconsciously, many who take service jobs are drawn to the pay-off: all of those opportunities to feel resentful at their employers! Also, many come into housekeeping work because they hate being told what to do and so enjoy a certain amount of independence if they clean while their employers are out of the house. So, while I would not want Rifkin as a housekeeper in my own home, my hat is off to her as writer. She is talented and has come up with a funny, breezy book that was a joy to read. I laughed a lot!
Rating:
Summary: Right up my alley...
Review: f you like true-life tales about what it takes to work in a profession, then you'll dig Other People's Dirt, an entertaining trip through the life of a housecleaner. Written in a lighthearted personal tone, Rafkin chronicles her life, her relationship to disorder, and need for cleanliness. Like a compendium of "Dishwasher," Rafkin recounts her own sordid experiences dealing with dirty dwellings while examining the practice of housecleaning. Taking readers from New York's Earth Room-a Manhattan installation with rooms lined with soil-to Japan's Ittoen commune of humble cleaners, Rafkin examines cleaning in myriad situations, keeping her revelations firmly rooted in the first person. Light-hearted, even when dealing with some highly serious situations, Other People's Dirt in an engaging book. ISBN: 0452280818)
Rating:
Summary: Kind of funny, very edgy
Review: This book gave me a glimpse into another life, another profession, and I appreciated it. The writer clearly has talent and wit. I would have liked to see her apply a little less pretension and a little more compassion to her insights -- her style seems downright defensive at times. ("See? Even though I clean houses I'm still smart and literate!") This edge rather undermined the more egalitarian message of her work. Still, at times it was very funny and it was always very interesting. I'm very glad I read this BEFORE I read some of these reviews! Geez! You'd think the author of this harmless little tome was to housecleaning what Robin Williams is to film developing in ONE HOUR PHOTO! Yes, she judges her employers harshly. I'm in a very different profession, and I know I judge MINE harshly, too. And, as both a boss and a woman who has a cleaning lady come in twice a month, I'm quite sure I get judged harshly, as well. Get over it, people! You're fighting basic human nature here. (And if it bothered you THAT much, perhaps you should look at how you treat those in your employ.)
Rating:
Summary: LOVED IT!!
Review: I loved this book, it's not for everyone though. It made me laugh out loud and choked me up at a few places. Read it-love it.
Rating:
Summary: Get a sense of humor, please.
Review: How presumptuous of us to want that someone in a "menial" job be unaware of his/her environment! Is it more justifiable for someone in a "good" job to be critical of their clients or even their employers? What a statement about the class divide in America to think that someone is mean-spiritied or unethical for finding the light side of thier jobs. I found this book to be very entertaining as it explored the sociology of housecleaning! How interesting to think that someone in this profession was actually smart and talented and able to record her experiences and write them down. Is this too political an act for some of you? Or would you rather only hire people who won't "talk" about the things they see. Perhaps it is Rafkin's insight into this profession that scares you into wondering about your own secrets; and don't worry - your housecleaner has plenty on you and just isn't talking! The fact that you have a housecleaner to begin with says a lot. Ha!
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