Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores - Hardcover

Steve Ettlinger has been the book producer, author, or coauthor of over 20 consumer-oriented books since 1985 (he produced Marty's first book). He is president of Ettlinger Editorial Projects, an idea-developing and book-producing firm, and was president of the American Book Producers Association, a trade group, from 1991 to 1995. Among his own titles are The Restaurant Lover's Companion and The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores. He also covers dining-related subjects for national magazines and Web sites.

Seeking to "echo the friendly advice a good clerk would give you as you leave a store," the authors explain the basic hardware a homeowner or apartment dweller will require to make home repairs, its name and how to recognize itfrom sledgehammers to toggle bolts, hinges to thinnersin 77 chapters and an appendix. Their directory, which includes numerous line drawings, is organized, accessible and cheerfully reassuring, though not without flaws: the writing is occasionally less than clear; you may have to guess the size of some gadgets; and, perhaps inevitably, a few of the hardware store's dusty corners are left uncharted. Still, most of what you'll need to beg, borrow or buy for do-it-yourself home projects is forthrightly unveiled. Especially handy are the use and buying tips given for all equipment, advising whether to spring for a top-of-the-line item or one straight off the rollor out of the barrel. Philbin ( The Encyclopedia of Hardware ) is the author of many previous "how-to" titles; this is Ettlinger's first book.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.