Suellen Hoy teaches American History at the University of Notre Dame. She is the co-author of From Dublin to New Orleans: The Journey of Nora and Alice.
"Readers will never look upon their surroundings or their personal
hygiene in quite the same way."--Science
"Lively and reassuring....Thorough, accurate, and very
readable."--The Boston Sunday Globe
"A tour de force of social history,"--American Heritage
"Deft and fascinating."--The Women's Review of Books
"The pursuit of Americans from filth and devilness to cleanliness
and godliness is clearly and wittily detailed here."--Journal of
American Culture
"Anyone reading Hoy's book will recall their own experiences with
the U.S. edict of cleanliness. Reading the book gives one a greater
appreciation for the conditions which necessitated the movement for
cleanliness."--The Journal of Consumer Affairs
"Suellen Hoy's broadly researched book on the pursuit of
cleanliness in the United States is entertaining and full of
interesting facts."--The Journal of American History
"A fascinating review of American social history from a new
perspective, one that offers fresh ideas on gender relations,
environmental issues, and the underpinnings of our national
identity."--Benjamin Orlove, Professor of Environmental Studies,
University of California, Davis
"Hoy's social history is at its best when it traces the evolution
of women's burdens to cook, wash dishes, scrub floors, beat rugs,
launder linens, make grocery lists, do the shopping--and then take
care of the kids."--In These Times
"When it came to controlling disease through public hygiene, women
played a crucial role....During the Crimean War, what well-known
medical figure pioneered sanitation in battlefield hospitals?
Florence Nightingale. During the Civil War, what famous author
steeled herself against the 'vilest odors that ever assaulted the
human nose' and, along with her fellow nurses, scrubbed wagonloads
of Union wounded? Louisa May Alcott.'--Vogue
"Sprightly and informative account of American cleanliness....Hoy's
account of the American pursuit of cleanliness skirts the tangled
psychology and sociology of dirty and clean....She has a genuinely
upbeat story to tell. The pursuit of cleanliness brought us hot
water and the stall shower, benefits of civilization few Americans
would care to relinquish."--The New Republic
"Chasing Dirt is neat! Suellen Hoy has scoured the country for
source material on the history of cleanliness. She has addressed
her subject with a very dry wit and impeccable scholarship. The
result is exciting social history: free of jargon dustballs,
insightful, cutting close to the bone of our national
fixation."--Ruth Schwartz Cowan, author of More Work for Mother
"A spirited account of changing American mores."--Kirkus
Reviews
"Offers the first systematic analysis of America's preoccupation
with cleanliness. Hoy has unearthed a fascinating array of material
related to this neglected subject and has woven it into a finely
textured narrative, rich in color and inishgt. She makes social
history come alive with interest and significance....[R]equired
reading for all those interested in the relationship between
sanitary philosophy and public policy."--David E. Shi, President,
Furman
University
"An exciting blend of environmental and social history that
examines the nation's fascination with keeping itself clean and
healthy. In a graceful and witty narrative, Hoy traces the
campaigns and crusades that transformed American attitudes toward
dirt. She is especially persuasive and informed on the key role
that women played in this significant historical process. The
result is a fine book that should have wide appeal to readers
everywhere."--Lewis L.
Gould, author of Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment
"Suellen Hoy tells the captivating story of how cleanliness found
its rank 'next to godliness' in the United States. She gives soap
and water the central place they deserve in American social
history. Students of health reform, business, ethnicity, urban
planning, domesticity, and education will all learn from Hoy's
account of a fundamental transformation in American culture and
life."--Donna R. Gabaccia, Charles H. Stone Professor of American
History,
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
"Fascinating social history."--Booklist
"Exhaustively researched social history of America's evolution from
incredible filth to obsessive cleanliness....Chasing Dirt excels in
laying out the facts of the sanitation movement itself, of the few
men and...the many women whose tireless efforts combined to
transform America from the grimy butt of Europe's contempt to the
antiseptic target of its bewilderment."--Baltimore Sun
"What's striking about her subject is its complexity....Chronicles
the evolution of American attitudes toward hygiene..."--The Chicago
Tribune
"Groundbreaking social history."--Notre Dame Magazine
"An in-depth look at what had become, by the mid-20th century at
least, a defining characteristic of middle-class Americans....A
very welcome study. Hoy has given us much to think
about."--Technology and Culture
"In this well-written study, the author explores how the United
States became obsessed with cleanliness....[T]houghtful and
well-researched."--The Historian
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