THE AWFUL HANDYMAN'S BOOK

From the uneasy, let alone unqualified position of total manual, incompetence (no member of this organization can change a fuse) we do not feel very apt in giving a definitive judgment on either of these two books. But if you're really awful, ask George--he's simpler, shorter, and doesn't go into any of those unsettling things like foundations. He tells you what tools to have, and how to take care of your everyday conveniences--your yodeling toilet, your bronchial vacuum cleaner, even your hiccuping car. Also how to take the squeaks out of furniture and bugs out of appliances. Also, less intensively, plumbing, carpentering, wood finishing, painting, papering, yard work, etc. Now the O'Neills will almost qualify you for the Union--several of them--and go into much more complex aspects of home ownership all the way to remodeling. In fact it is a ""complete guide"" and comes closer to Roger Whitman's all-purpose First Aid for the Ailing House.