#LifeHack alert! The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes finds a genius solution to the chore of washing up. You get the feeling writer Phyllis Krasilovsky and illustrator Barbara Cooney had delicious fun creating this character, a moustachioed bachelor living alone with his black cat who one night feels too tired to wash his dishes.
The book, first published in 1950, tells of his daily build up of dirty dishes and the emerging problem of fewer and fewer clean ones. It’s a sad scenario, really, as the man’s resourcefulness becomes increasingly challenged, but the story just about stays light: he would rather eat from an ash tray and drink from a vase than cave in.
Eventually he comes up with a whizz bang idea which will appeal to all chore-haters everywhere.
This tale does feed the whole “men are domestically hopeless” stereotype / lie which should not be perpetuated, of course. It is also brilliantly absurd and funny. And a vivid reminder to give thanks to the dishwasher, without which we could all be a few lazy evenings away from eating out of a soap dish.
The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes was bought at Paraquad Opshop and Book Bazaar @paraquadopshop
Stories with everything 