From the acclaimed author and columnist: a laugh-out-loud journey into the world of real estatethe true story of one womans imperfect life lived among imperfect houses and her quest for the four perfect walls to call home.After an itinerant suburban childhood and countless moves as a grown-upfrom New York City to Lincoln, Nebraska; from the Midwest to the West Coast and backMeghan Daum was living in Los Angeles, single and in her mid-thirties, and devoting obscene amounts of time not to her writing career or her dating life but to the pursuit of property: scouring Craigslist, visiting open houses, fantasizing about finding the right place for the right price. Finally, near the height of the real estate bubble, she succumbed, depleting her lifes savings to buy a 900-square-foot bungalow, with a garage that bore a close resemblance to the ruins of Pompeii and plumbing that dated back to the Coolidge administration. From her mothers decorating manias to her own hidden room dreams, Daum explores the perils and pleasures of believing that only a house can make you whole. With delicious wit and a keen eye for the absurd, she has given us a pitch-perfect, irresistible tale of playing a lifelong game of house.From the Hardcover edition.