Elements of a Home

Brimming with amusing anecdotes and absorbing trivia, this captivating collection is a treasure trove of curiosities.

With tales from the kitchen, the bedroom, and every room in between, these pages expose how napkins got their start as lumps of dough in ancient Greece, why forks were once seen as immoral tools of the devil, and how Plato devised one of the earliest alarm clocks using rocks and water—plus so much more.