Book makes choosing roommate easier

The Post and Courier

Freshman Maureen Miley (foreground) of Siren, Wis., helps her roommate, Mary Grace Phillips (left) of White Oak, move into their dormitory room at Charleston Southern University two years ago.

As college kids return to school, roommates are on the minds of many students. Yet the art of choosing a roommate, or living with one assigned to you, can occur at any age.

"Roomies: Sharing Your Home With Friends, Strangers and Total Freaks" (Chronicle Books, $12.95) is a new guide that illuminates the finer points of cohabitation.

Author Kathryn Williams, 27, of Nashville, Tenn., who has had 13 roommates and counting, considers herself an expert of sorts. Unmarried, she's lived in several cities and has had limited financial resources to go solo. In fact, according to the 2005 Census numbers, nearly 10 million Americans were living in a household with nonrelatives.

"The roomie relationship contains the seeds of both joy and misery," she writes. "Sharing your personal space with someone fosters physical and emotional intimacy but also a lot of pressure."

She's encountered all types. One roommate gave the duo's TV to her boyfriend, and another had a "hilariously irrational and intriguing fear of bathrooms," she says.

In the guide, she outlines ways to find the perfect roommate, how to communicate (much of it is done nonverbally and/or passive-aggressively) and discuss problems, divide the household duties and chores, borrow stuff from each other and how to leave (or dump) the roomie.

She includes a Roomie Compatibility Quiz (You consider cleanliness: A. Next to godliness; B. A goal; C. A waste of time; D. What is wrong with modern civilization.)

The guide also includes some true nightmare and heartwarming stories about roommates.

Famous roommates on TV:

--"The Odd Couple": After a play and 1968 movie starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, "The Odd Couple" became a TV sitcom that ran from 1970-75. Focuses on how opposites get along, or not; starring Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison.

--"Laverne & Shirley (1976-83): Two single working girls live together in Milwaukee in the 1950s and '60s; starring Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall.

--"Bosom Buddies" (1980-82): Two guys dress up as girls to get an apartment; starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scoleri.

--"Golden Girls" (1985-92): Four previously married women live together in Miami; starring Betty White, Beatrice Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty.

--"Three's Company" (1977-84): Misadventures of two women and one man living in one apartment. Male roommate Jack Tripper pretends he's gay to legitimize the arrangement; starring John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers.

--"Friends" (1994-2004): Several roommate arrangements are experienced among six friends in New York City; starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LaBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer.

--"Will & Grace" (1998-2006): Will and Grace live together in an apartment; he's a gay lawyer, she's a straight interior designer. Starring Eric McCormack and Debra Messing.