Customer Reviews

Cracker Ingenuity: Tips from the Trailer Park for the Chronically Broke

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I began Cracker Ingenuity with high expectations after reading and enjoying P. T. Elliot's last book, 100 Proof. I was not to be disappointed. Cracker Ingenuity is hysterical. The content is totally true blue redneck America with an eye for appreciation of this side of our culture rather than condescension. Many of the "ingenuities" had me actually laughing in my seat as I read and the illustrations seem to fit the authors' ideas perfectly. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a bit of insight into a part of the U.S. that, while somewhat rough around the edges, is likely in all of us.

Reading this book I could see my neighbors, my community and elected officials. Fast, funny, and if I wasn't living in the South I would swear this was fiction.

elliot and lowry are important voices resounding in the name of american culture...they are not only able to reveal and share the hidden majesty of the people of this fine country...but are also able to do so with an originality and enthusiasm that is refreshing to read...fun and funny, often times laugh-outloud...this book allowed me access back to my own roots in tennessee...i could see myself in this book and i loved my reflection! thank you ladies!!

Another reviewer notice that some of the material bears an erie similarity to several Web sites on the topic. Without leveling a charge of direct copying one way or the other there is some VERY similar writing online. (Students, Authors and Publishers take note: Google knows everything...)
While I realize that this book is a sometimes sucessful attempt at satire it also has several gross fabrications made up so that they could be satirized or simply add to the page count. Com'on reality is so much richer than fiction and much funnier to satirize. YAWN.

This is a humorous book, but what surprised me about it was the number of topics discussed that are now part of academic curricula, particularly vernacular technology and outsider art. There are entire museums devoted to the latter, and this book offers some insight into artists known to these museums, as well as ordinary people who don't think of themselves as artists. It also shows how people use what's at hand to create articles that are practical or aesthetically pleasing to them (vernacular technology, as the academics call it). And it does this with good humor; anyone who thinks the authors are out to embarrass their subjects isn't reading the book closely. On the contrary, the authors seem to have respect and sometimes admiration for their interviewees' nonconformist way of life. It's not a 'serious" book, but it's a worthwhile and amusing look at a part of America that doesn't always receive gentle attention.

Not only is this a delightful and informative read, but it is also beautifully designed. Trailer Park ingenuity is often merely dismissed or laughed off, but this charming book presents the reader with the wisdom and ideas that have been developed over the years by a very resourceful segment of our society. There is much to be learned from them!

This is the cooki-est and most hilarious book I have read in years. what an eye-opener and a great surprise on trailer trash culture. this book takes on a fantastic journey in a culture that most of us europeans know so little about or have so much disdain for.
Highly recommended.

I loved this book. I could not stop laughing. It so funny
The down to earth writing and drawings were wonderful

Unfortunately, most of the information in this book appears to be gleamed from websites of the same topic. Some of the items even look completely ripped from two sites that are easily found using a websearch for Trailer Park.
I will admit that it is well put together, but lacks its own originality.

Cracker Ingenuity provides an incredible escape from the Sex in the City everyday of $500 handbags and $12 cosmos. P.T. Elliott and E.M. Lowry remind us that we need not cry "super" every time our shower drains slowly, that in fact human ingenuity not only exists but would enrich our lives were we to exercise it instead of suppressing it in the money for labor market of the post-industrial city. As a return of the repressed, the authors demonstrate that there is something to be said for a house that rolls and for decorative lawn ornaments. Yes, in many places (like where I grew up) a person would be arrested for lawn ornaments, but that is exactly what the authors provide is a possible alternative everyday for the programmed life of pedicured French bulldogs and cars parked neatly in garages. P.T. Elliott follows up her 100 Proof with another humorous, enlightening winner.