This was the perfect book to bring to the beach a couple weekends ago. I could read a chapter, yell at my kids, read another chapter, chat with my mom, pick it back up and never lose the plot. It was simple and fun. “Religion was supposed to be a matter of faith. Gods were not supposed to jump on your desk and snarl at you. They weren’t supposed to sit in your office smoking cigarettes. God’s didn’t do anything. They were supposed to ignore […]
“This was when I learned one of the biggest secrets of being a woman, which is that much of the time, we don’t feel like we’re women at all.”
When you’re name checked in someone else’s review of a particular book you’re somewhat obligated to track it down. “I was a woman sobbing in a hotel corridor, which is kind of incredible, because when I was little I thought I was going to be a senator.” Jessi Klein was a tom boy growing up, often confused for a budding lesbian, who grew into what she refers to as a “tom man.” As an adult she continues to feel like an outsider looking in on […]
“Barrel Fever” is the DTs, FYI
I’ve only ever read non-fiction by David Sedaris, and generally really enjoyed it. This book is primarily fiction, with a few non-fiction stories thrown in at the end. Maybe I’m just hopeless, but I hated the fiction stories in this book. I thought they were mean and not funny. The non-fiction at the end is pretty typical of what I expect from Sedaris, and saved this book from a 1 star rating. The short stories, most if not all written from first person view, generally tell stories about […]
“I’d sooner wear white shoes in February, drink unsweetened tea, and eat Miracle Whip instead of Duke’s than utter the words ‘you guys’.”
This one starts out very funny, and then goes downhill pretty quickly. I’d recommend just reading the first third, or skipping it altogether… Celia Riverbark is a Southern woman, and really proud of it. Obnoxiously so. Some parts of this collection of stories cracked me up, especially her updates to a 1950s textbook on pleasing your man: “[Home Economics Textbook from 1950]: “Make [your husband] comfortable. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in low, soft, soothing tones, allowing him to relax and […]
“People always say I’m going to look back on these days and laugh — why put it off?”
“Um, am I the only person who is walking around without underwear on today? I know I can’t be. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, and I know if it’s happened to me more than once, it’s happened to someone else at least one time. I’m three quarters short of clean draws.” Angela Nissel’s memoir The Broke Diaries apparently started out as a blog that she wrote in college, trying to find humor in a very crappy financial situation. Flat-broke in college, occasionally […]
Don’t make it weird.
What a hilarious little book. Toddlers are Assholes: It’s Not Your Fault is pretty standard to the “parenting humor” genre, but it really worked for me more than most. I’m not a very laugh-out-loud type of person but there were more than a few times that I was honest to God fighting to control my laughter so the shaking didn’t wake up my own little asshole, hogging my bed late at night. However, there are certain conditions under which this book should be read. Read this […]