Birdseed Cookies: A Fractured Memoir [Paperback]

Janis Jaquith (Author), Cara Llewellyn (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2000

Thousands of National Public Radio listeners in the South have delighted in the quirky commentaries of Yankee transplant Janis Jaquith. In these sixty-six essays, originally broadcast on NPR-station WVTF in Roanoke, Virginia, Jaquith shines her light on everything from heartbreak to head lice, birdseed cookies to empty nests.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jaquith writes like a dream. This collection, "Birdseed Cookies," is a jewel. Jaquith's voice rings true; I applaud her..." -- The Roanoke Times - Roanoke, Virginia, May 6, 2001

Ever fresh, amusing and thought-provoking, these 66 essays originally aired on NPR-station WVTF, where Jaquith holds forth on Friday mornings. -- Albemarle Magazine, April-May 2001

About the Author

"These were the kind of people who use 'summer' as a verb. As in, 'we summer in Bar Harbor.' I summered down the street in Leslie Dluzneiski's cellar or else I summered out back, in the swamp, catching tadpoles. I wintered in pretty much the same places." from "Why I Don't Ski"

Whether she's going on about her neighbors ("They have more money and better taste than I do.") or recalling scenes from a New England childhood ("...the air is heavy with a bracing saltiness and carries that decaying smell of low tide that reminds you how temporary it all is.") Jaquith's vignettes are full of heart, humor, and unexpected insights.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (December 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738849111
• ISBN-13: 978-0738849119
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,427,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite christmas gift!, January 9, 2002

By 

"cathleen47" (Chicago USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birdseed Cookies: A Fractured Memoir (Paperback)

There's a woman in my office who doesn't like "seinfeld." Nice person, but she doesn't like the show and thinks its truly about "nothing." She doesn't like to read dave barry, or david sedaris, and never did like erma bombeck. A book like "birdseed cookies" is in a similar vein: it's about "nothing." Kids with head lice? Giving up on learning to ski? Getting your heart broken? Who cares about this stuff? These things happen to everyone, so why write about them? If that's how you feel, then don't get this book.

IF, on the other hand, you LIKE reading about small moments and love that flash of recognition, the moment when you say, "Yes! That's just what it's like!" then you will LOVE this book. You will laugh out loud. You will pass it along to your friends, who will thank you.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love those Cookies, January 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Birdseed Cookies: A Fractured Memoir (Paperback)

Readers who, like me, are familiar with Janis Jaquith's essays on public radio, can't help but hear her voice in each of these collected pieces. But, even those who are complete strangers to her radio work will enjoy the ride through the life and mind of this sometimes ditzy, always insightful writer.

The pieces are short, most not more than three pages. You can dip into them, one at a time, to savor each morsel, or, if you're greedy, like me, you'll devour the whole book in one sitting.

Jaquith seems to have this knack for telling stories on herself. She sets up her wonderfully wacky solutions for dealing with problems ("I'm a genius.") and then lets us watch them result in absolute failure (Ah, Jeez!). I loved "Pond Scum", the tale of her hare-brained scheme to remove algae from her pond with the aid of electric fans and many extension cords. Only Lucy Ricardo comes close. The thing is, she's not afraid to embarrass herself and that makes for entertaining and revealing reading.

It's not all a circus, though. Jaquith examines both the big and small moments of her life and, in so doing, weaves a tapestry that really is a "fractured memoir". She's trying to make sense of it all, just as we all are. The reader alternates between thoughts of "you know, that's exactly how I feel, but I've never been able to put it into words" and "I never knew there were people like that".

She takes the reader from unbearable poignancy ("A Magic Phone") to laugh-out-loud comedy (the title "Birdseed Cookies"). The thing is, neither the tears nor the laughter is ever cheap. It's all well-earned and well-executed.

This is the kind of book that, like Russell Baker's memoir, you want to buy, not only for yourself, but for your parents, your kids, everybody you love, because it's a way of saying that you're not alone.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not like anything else, April 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Birdseed Cookies: A Fractured Memoir (Paperback)

I happened to wander into a bookstore during one of Janis Jaquith's readings at a book festival and was impressed: her delivery is wonderful and she's very funny. (she's a radio personality, so no wonder her delivery is so good)

I bought the book, and I have to say that I heartily recommend it. It's not just funny: sometimes it can be moving, too. It just isn't like anything else I've ever read.

What it is, is a collection of little stories, real ones from her life. And I end up reading certain stories over and over again. I've even xeroxed a few of them to send to family and friends. (a no-no, for sure, but here I am buying extra copies for gifts)

I just wish it was available in hardcover, because I'm going to want to hang onto it for a long time.