A Manual For Cleaning Woman by Lucia Berlin

Apparently, cleaning women do steal.

"A Manual For Cleaning Woman" is quintessential Lucia Berlin: fast-paced, concise prose, witty, quirky characters and of course, her trademark minimalistic style to seamlessly counterbalance heavy themes with dark humor. This is a story about unresolved trauma, frantically building up towards a cathartic ending where the narrator finally exhales, releasing years of repressed grief and pain. Humor becomes a safety mechanism for the narrator, reflecting her resilience and ability to cope with hardship as a cleaning woman. Given that this profession is predominantly held by working-class women, the narrator is compelled to offer a self-help guide for others in domestic labor. Appearing mostly in parenthesis, she provides practical advice, trade secrets, and essential do's and don'ts for those in the cleaning industry. For example: "(Advice to cleaning women: Take everything that your lady gives you and say Thank you. You can leave it on the bus, in the crack.)". Funny stuff, indeed. Throughout the process, she also sporadically provides small details about her life, especially regarding her rocky relationship with a man named Ter (presumably a nickname for Terry?). These fragmented memories of domestic turmoil and heartbreak are softened by the comedic and segmented narrative. 

Her meandering anecdotes as she travels across Oakland by bus to clean the houses of her diverse clientele is quite funny. The humorous reflections on the mundane details of these cleaning jobs enhances the vivid realism and absurdity of her circumstances. Moreover, the self-deprecating humor feels intimate and personal, further enriching the story's authenticity. It's this unique fusion of sardonic humor, wit and vulnerability that makes this story both entertaining and profoundly relatable, particularly for those who have experienced the toil of underappreciated, labor-intensive jobs.