Anatomy of a /home/<user> directory

[Michael Sullivan]

Are there any resources that would help me to understand what each of
the . hidden files in my /home/michael folder does?  Whenever there is a
problem with my user account, I usually have to move my important files
to another directory, delete my user account and then re-create it and
copy the files back, and then go through the tedious process of changing
my personal settings back to what they were.  The other day I changed
the PS1 prompt variable and after that the computer would beep every
time I tried to type at the keyboard.  All other user accounts behaved
normally except mine.  I deleted the files that had been changed on the
day that it happened and things seemed okay, but in my ls listings the
color coding was working.  I like to see my directories in the dark blue
default.  I know that pretty much any application will create it's own
hidden files in my user directory, but I'm mainly interested in files
that apps shipping with Fedora Core create (like .bash*, .gnome*, etc) 
Can anyone help?