What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Do Things Right: The Revelations of a Fussy Man
Obsessively-detailed, and very funny, instructions on nearly everything in life you are very possibly doing all wrong.
Help is here! From how to eat an ice-cream cone to developing “principles” when you have none, the author’s mission is to elevate, and ennoble, those fleeting instincts we all harbor to get our lives in order. “Hills is preoccupied primarily with the little things,” Nora Ephron wrote in the New York Times “and he writes about them deliciously.”
This volume includes three titles previously published How To Do Things Right , How to Retire at 41 , and How to Be Good . They have been edited, revised and combined into one volume and the contents will have you laughing out loud, thinking hard, and at least temporarily rearranging your frazzled life. Hills is wise, witty, and very, very funny. But behind the humor, Hills remains a deeply sage and serious writer. This is his best advice, from years of experience, served up from the heart of one of the most charming humorists to grace the American scene.
Help is here! From how to eat an ice-cream cone to developing “principles” when you have none, the author’s mission is to elevate, and ennoble, those fleeting instincts we all harbor to get our lives in order. “Hills is preoccupied primarily with the little things,” Nora Ephron wrote in the New York Times “and he writes about them deliciously.”
This volume includes three titles previously published How To Do Things Right , How to Retire at 41 , and How to Be Good . They have been edited, revised and combined into one volume and the contents will have you laughing out loud, thinking hard, and at least temporarily rearranging your frazzled life. Hills is wise, witty, and very, very funny. But behind the humor, Hills remains a deeply sage and serious writer. This is his best advice, from years of experience, served up from the heart of one of the most charming humorists to grace the American scene.
259 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1973
6 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 29, 2016
I once worked with a group of software engineers who were so fussy, they would wall off their office windows with silver foil. This is the book I turned to as I tried to 'be one' with my co-workers. It didn't make my office group more lovable, but it did make me laugh enough to appreciate their, uhm, fussiness.
This book was published in the early 1970s, so there are chapters on ashtrays, smoking, drinking, and fixing those old TV sets. Still, it's a good laugh. My favorite was the Dyscohesion of Companionable Groups. This is the syndrome where children become upset (like software engineers) when they end up sitting next to or riding with people that aren't fun. This is explained as one of LIFE'S CRUEL TRUTHS. The fun people are never next to you.
And that's how I handled my engineer team.
Book Season = Year Round (when the geeks read)
This book was published in the early 1970s, so there are chapters on ashtrays, smoking, drinking, and fixing those old TV sets. Still, it's a good laugh. My favorite was the Dyscohesion of Companionable Groups. This is the syndrome where children become upset (like software engineers) when they end up sitting next to or riding with people that aren't fun. This is explained as one of LIFE'S CRUEL TRUTHS. The fun people are never next to you.
And that's how I handled my engineer team.
Book Season = Year Round (when the geeks read)
November 23, 2008
Highlights include "How To Eat An Ice Cream Cone," and a comparative analysis of Thoreau and Montaigne, in a search to justify one's existence after having retired at the age of 41. This is a must-read for anyone trying to break free from the Protestant Work Ethic and who would yet conceivably place a small, engraved sign on the refrigerator door reading, "Cleaning Up As You Go Along Is Half The Fun."
June 21, 2017
It's difficult to review a longtime editor of Esquire, but I laughed and thought great things while reading. It's a must read! Rust's sense of humor grabs you and makes you laugh out loud.
January 12, 2009
SUMMARY: DEADPAN DONE RIGHT
This book, or rather these three books, belong in the category of "underappreciated humorous classics". Collected in a single volume are -
Book One: How to Do Some Particular Things Particularly
or
The Revelations of a Fussy Man
Book Two: How to Retire at Forty-One
or
Life Among the Routines and Pursuits and Other Problems
Book Three: How to Be Good
or
The Somewhat Tricky Business of Attaining Moral Virtue in a Society That's Not Just Corrupt but Corrupting, Without Being Completely Out-of-It.
Of the three, the first is by far the best, though the other two are not without charms of their own.
Among the important topics considered in Book One are:
How to Eat an Ice-Cream Cone*
How to be Kindly
How to Organize a Family Picnic (and Keep It That Way)
How to Set an Alarm Clock
How to Tip
How to Give a Dinner Party
How to Refold a Road Map
How to Cut Down on Smoking and Drinking Quite So Much
How to Do Four Dumb Tricks with a Package of Camels
How to Avoid Family Arguments
How to Daydream
*: originated as a classic New Yorker piece; if you have a subscription, you can access it here -
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1968...
"There's a whole psychology that claims ... that the careful, tidy person is anal, authoritarian, rigid, irascible, and unloving. Careful people know how false this is; we know how much love is locked in our hearts, waiting for others to be tidy enough to deserve it."
This book, or rather these three books, belong in the category of "underappreciated humorous classics". Collected in a single volume are -
Book One: How to Do Some Particular Things Particularly
or
The Revelations of a Fussy Man
Book Two: How to Retire at Forty-One
or
Life Among the Routines and Pursuits and Other Problems
Book Three: How to Be Good
or
The Somewhat Tricky Business of Attaining Moral Virtue in a Society That's Not Just Corrupt but Corrupting, Without Being Completely Out-of-It.
Of the three, the first is by far the best, though the other two are not without charms of their own.
Among the important topics considered in Book One are:
How to Eat an Ice-Cream Cone*
How to be Kindly
How to Organize a Family Picnic (and Keep It That Way)
How to Set an Alarm Clock
How to Tip
How to Give a Dinner Party
How to Refold a Road Map
How to Cut Down on Smoking and Drinking Quite So Much
How to Do Four Dumb Tricks with a Package of Camels
How to Avoid Family Arguments
How to Daydream
*: originated as a classic New Yorker piece; if you have a subscription, you can access it here -
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1968...
"There's a whole psychology that claims ... that the careful, tidy person is anal, authoritarian, rigid, irascible, and unloving. Careful people know how false this is; we know how much love is locked in our hearts, waiting for others to be tidy enough to deserve it."
December 12, 2011
An overthinking man in word and action. I didn't know so many rules existed for some people such as not letting anyone with an ice cream cone within 6 feet of your car because if you do, and they get in your car, and one little drip gets on the seat, it then travels to all the handles, knobs and steering wheel, an is never really gotten rid of.
If you are making 3 pieces of toast, not 4, but the proper number of 3, you must toast the 1 first, then the 2 together so that only one is cooling off whilst the other two are baking. Hilarious, a bit wordy. But a man to whom so little means so much, must necessarily be wordy.
I finally learned how to make milk toast. It turns out we've all been doing it incorrectly. Not that I've ever really done it, but I've seen it done. And whoa to all those who just put bread into milk. Absolutely incorrect! You must have the right sized bowl so that the buttered toast is propped up on all 4 sides and only the middle is ready for the milk, you sugar the bread, pour a little milk on the center of the bread and proceed to eat from the center out. Then when that piece is finished, you may put the next piece in, and with the third of the milk saved out, proceed to eat that one in the same fashion, etc.
The essays got a bit long, but read singly over several days, they were very funny.
If you are making 3 pieces of toast, not 4, but the proper number of 3, you must toast the 1 first, then the 2 together so that only one is cooling off whilst the other two are baking. Hilarious, a bit wordy. But a man to whom so little means so much, must necessarily be wordy.
I finally learned how to make milk toast. It turns out we've all been doing it incorrectly. Not that I've ever really done it, but I've seen it done. And whoa to all those who just put bread into milk. Absolutely incorrect! You must have the right sized bowl so that the buttered toast is propped up on all 4 sides and only the middle is ready for the milk, you sugar the bread, pour a little milk on the center of the bread and proceed to eat from the center out. Then when that piece is finished, you may put the next piece in, and with the third of the milk saved out, proceed to eat that one in the same fashion, etc.
The essays got a bit long, but read singly over several days, they were very funny.
July 31, 2009
Ah, this was a mixed bag. It's a collection of humorous essays, about how to do things the right way -- from small things like eating an ice cream cone to larger issues like planning an early retirement. There is a lot of humor in here, but most of the time the author is overplaying his hand. These are the sorts of topics that would be funnier if they were more understated, in large part, I think, because most people have experience with at least one fussy man so you're going in already thinking the situation is worthy of humor. Oh, and a note that it's also a little dated ... in some ways, that was the most intriguing part. Episodes include what makes a successful dinner party in the early 1970s ... and I was a little fearful it was going to enter swinging territory. It didn't, but the book gives you the feeling it could have.
Grade: B-
Recommended: Not very strongly, but it's okay if you have a particular interest in Rust Hills, who was the fiction editor for Esquire before Gordon Lish, and all-around American lit guy. I also just now this moment realized that he might still be alive, because I don't remember hearing about him dying. That always seems eerie, as if he came back from the dead before my eyes.
2008/16
Grade: B-
Recommended: Not very strongly, but it's okay if you have a particular interest in Rust Hills, who was the fiction editor for Esquire before Gordon Lish, and all-around American lit guy. I also just now this moment realized that he might still be alive, because I don't remember hearing about him dying. That always seems eerie, as if he came back from the dead before my eyes.
2008/16
June 5, 2008
If the middle book (How to Retire at 41, or Life Among the Routines and Pursuits and Other Problems) of this set was excluded, it likely would have gotten 4 stars.
This is my kind of book and Rust Hills is my kind of man, connesseur (sp?) of the little things ("How to Make and Eat Milk Toast") and the big things ("How to Develop 'Principles' When You Have None"). Insightful ("it's probably hard to find a sin that doesn't have a certain amount of tradition behind it, and then if there is, it wouldn't be worth perpetuating at all") and overbearing--see "How to Host a Dinner Party" with no less than 7 diagrams.
Mr. Hills would give Miss Manners a chuckle, which she would do while making as if to cough into her hankie, while he directed the dinner conversation elsewhere so she wouldn't suffer the scrutiny. Because, of course, these people are fussy and excruciatingly polite. How I'd like to be at the cocktail party those two give.
If you ever feel that "Everybody does everything wrong nowadays," this book will vindicate you and your surperiority.
This is my kind of book and Rust Hills is my kind of man, connesseur (sp?) of the little things ("How to Make and Eat Milk Toast") and the big things ("How to Develop 'Principles' When You Have None"). Insightful ("it's probably hard to find a sin that doesn't have a certain amount of tradition behind it, and then if there is, it wouldn't be worth perpetuating at all") and overbearing--see "How to Host a Dinner Party" with no less than 7 diagrams.
Mr. Hills would give Miss Manners a chuckle, which she would do while making as if to cough into her hankie, while he directed the dinner conversation elsewhere so she wouldn't suffer the scrutiny. Because, of course, these people are fussy and excruciatingly polite. How I'd like to be at the cocktail party those two give.
If you ever feel that "Everybody does everything wrong nowadays," this book will vindicate you and your surperiority.
March 20, 2009
Published in 1972, there is a cigarette and stylized smoke on the cover. I've skipped to the section called, "How to Retire at Forty-One or, Life Among the Routines and Pursuits and Other Problems." It's funny, enlightening and always relevant.
Later: It was more than delightful. Funny man actually goes beyond stir-crazy when left to himself on a farm for 2 years. There is no real solution to his situation - a woman pulls him out of it and you're left with the feeling that it might not last. What I like is his humorous and brutal honesty about himself and his plight. In this way he reminds me of Michael Crichton writings from his memoirs. Hills is basically telling you how NOT to retire.
Later: It was more than delightful. Funny man actually goes beyond stir-crazy when left to himself on a farm for 2 years. There is no real solution to his situation - a woman pulls him out of it and you're left with the feeling that it might not last. What I like is his humorous and brutal honesty about himself and his plight. In this way he reminds me of Michael Crichton writings from his memoirs. Hills is basically telling you how NOT to retire.
November 30, 2016
This is really three short books of essays glommed into one, and I'm giving my 4 stars to the middle one, "How to Retire at Forty-One," which is a comic gem. Rust Hills, a wonderful writer who was for many years the fiction editor of "Esquire," mines the particularities of a dated east-coast Waspiness in the way Wodehouse mines the British country-house set, to achieve something universally recognizable and hilarious. Not to mention highly pertinent for those of or approaching a certain age. The first book-within-the-book is also nicely amusing, providing Hills' fussy analysis and plan for a number of tasks--eating an ice cream cone properly, avoiding family arguments, etc. I can't say I recommend the third section--"How to Be Good"--much at all. But don't miss part the second.
December 28, 2007
My family thinks I'm fussy, and I suppose relative to your average farm girl I am. That being the case, I sympathized with the author, documenting carefully how to do things "right", like eating an ice cream cone properly, or planning a family picnic. This book had lots of funny bits - not quite of a density high enough to make the book a resounding success, and his schtick gets a little old after a few essays, but still quite amusing overall if you let go and give yourself the freedom to skim a bit.
May 19, 2010
"A perfectly wonderful book, tight-assed in the very best sense...It is much harder to be funny than to be tragic, but you will find damn few people who will acknowledge this. The funnier you become, the more lightly people will regard you. May you become as light as helium."
— Kurt Vonnegut (from a letter to Rust Hills)
"Hills is preoccupied primarily [with:] the little things…and he writes about them as felicitously, delicately, and gently as Benchley did."
— Nora Ephron, The New York Times
— Kurt Vonnegut (from a letter to Rust Hills)
"Hills is preoccupied primarily [with:] the little things…and he writes about them as felicitously, delicately, and gently as Benchley did."
— Nora Ephron, The New York Times
July 9, 2013
I considered giving this five stars, but (a) it didn't seem right to give a five star review to a book that consists of like 95% petty griping; and (b) the last third really wasn't very good. The first two parts are incredibly funny and charming, and make a smart, thought-provoking argument about how middle class Americans derive their self-esteem, emotional equilibrium, and sense of morality from work.
July 3, 2013
I love the fussy man. It must be a pleasure of middle age, when you have formed strong opinions about how things ought to be, but his conversational, casual yet obsessive style makes his rules about things like how to eat ice cream (never try someone else's cone, because either it's better than yours, too bad for you, or not as good and you've had a lesser experience) a joy to read at any age.
April 29, 2012
This volume is a compilation of three books. The first of which is good/great. At the very least it has a dry wit I like. Second book reveals its author's bigotry. Third book is colored all too well by the second. This went downhill fast.
January 28, 2023
A fairly interesting and funny book, especially for those interested in critical thinking. Although the author sometimes fails at this skill and relies on his opinion often. As we get older we have learned the "right" way of doing most everything. The author is no different.
April 9, 2019
If Robert Benchley and William F Buckley Jr sat down together to summarize and blend Emerson and Montaigne, they would produce a book very similar to L Rust Hills’s ‘How to Do Things Right’
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews