Author Al Hoff passionately loves thrift stores and all they contain, so much so that she started a popular zine dedicated to thrift culture. From that zine comes this book, a guide to savvy thrifting filled with bits of 20th-century history picked up from a lifetime poring over cultural residue. Entertainingly written throughout, much of Thrift Score consists of a room-by-room guide to utilizing items commonly found in thrift stores in your house or apartment. Hoff's insights into the thrifting experience range from the practical (how to clean used silverware) to the clever (using one of the many second-hand ashtrays floating around as a spoon rest) to the troubling (creating a theme room based around second-hand clown art). But Thrift Score doesn't try to be a rigid book of etiquette, simply a collection of observations and advice from a veteran, and readers are invited to pick and choose their activities. Also included are histories of many items (designer jeans, fondue implements, paintings of big-eyed children), a number of party suggestions, and profiles of people who have converted their love of thrift items into creative endeavors. Amidst the cultural history and shopping tips, Hoff offers some observations on thrift culture itself, with a good deal of old-school grumbling about the recent intrusion of collectors and the pseudo-hip. The likelihood that books such as hers will encourage more undesirables to hit the thrifts never gets addressed, but Hoff's expertise, intensity, and lack of interest in turning a profit makes it worthwhile—even if, in the grand scheme of things, it reduces your changes of finding the perfect set of Melmac dishware or commemorative bicentennial belt buckle.