Gimme Shelter: Ugly Houses, cruddy neighborhoods, fast-talking brokers, and toxic mortgages: My three years searching for the American dream by Mary Elizabeth Williams
First line: Of course I want a home. I’m an American. It’s encoded into my cultural DNA.
Sometimes timing is everything and with the case of Mary Elizabeth Williams’ memoir, the timing is perfect. We can’t turn on the news or flip open the paper without hearing SOMETHING about the housing problem. HGTV has made a nice niche for itself with reality shows detailing people’s search to find the perfect home as well as flip ‘em, fluff ‘em, fill ‘em with stuff.
Williams’ memoir goes deeper than the headlines, because as desensitized as we might be to the housing boom and bust if it doesn’t directly affect us, it’s a big damn deal if you’re in the middle of it. If you’ve bought a home you know the kajillion and one questions and details that go along with it. It’s stressful, and yet, because it’s the “American dream” we forge on, hoping we can grab the brass ring. This is why I loved GIMME SHELTER.
Shelter is one of the three “necessities”, along with food and water, and we immediately relate to Williams’ situation. She and her husband combined didn’t make six figures and their main expenses were rent and parenting – like a lot of Americans. So her journey wasn’t “I’ll take that one,” but a real struggle in how to make it financially work and not feel like she shortchanged what she wanted in a home. To boot, they live in New York, where you can’t get much without ponying up a lot. It’s unfathomable to me as a Midwesterner to pay such an exhorbitant amount for an apartment when in my neck of the woods, a suburb no less, you can get a huge home, decked to the gills for the same price. But that’s what makes GIMME SHELTER all the more fascinating. Where you are and the supply and demand of space and the type of lifestyle you want to live changes the game.
If you are looking to buy, the book is a good eye-opener for the process, both emotionally and financially. If you’re already a homeowner, you’ll relate to the dizzying experience, and as a voyeur enjoy Williams’ adventure from hunting to closing. Highly recommended.
For: A rich read on the highs and lows of house hunting and getting what you want in America – Malena Lott