I Have Everything I Had Twenty Years Ago, Except Now It's All Lower [Hardcover]

Suzanne Ledbetter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 1995

Humor is difficult, but domestic humor is almost impossible. An exception to that premise is Ms. Ledbetter." -- Dallas Morning News

"If I were a kid again, there'd be galaxies of bright and shining What Will Bes to wish upon. I'd dream of do-anything-I-want tomorrows when I'd be an adult and not dependent on anyone. The future would stretch like a ball of soft taffy: warm, sweet, and infinitely flexible.

"Except I am grown up, and sometimes I catch myself wishing upon the star of What Was: cherishing the remembrance of days when it was okay to fail, okay to cry, okay not to know any better, okay to be afraid of inexplicable things that probably don't exist, and okay to want to be taken care of sometimes.

"When I was a kid, those wet-behind-the-ears years seemed much like measles: something to be gotten over as quickly as possible.

"But now, how I wish I could catch that youthful affliction again. Of course, if I did, how differently it would be diagnosed. A midlife crisis, other grown-ups might call it..."

-- from "Second Childhood"

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Wife and mother Ledbetter has suddenly found herself a woman of a certain age with the attendant body, but still has children young enough to need supervision at the pool: a peculiarly '90s dilemma. In the tradition of the late Erma Bombeck, she leads us down the not-so-primrose paths of marriage, motherhood and endless housework.

From Publishers Weekly

Ledbetter, a contributing editor to Family Circle magazine, reports on domestic life from the vantage point of a 40-something mother of four, as she did in her earlier collection, The Toast Always Lands Jelly-side Down. Most of the 30-plus articles deal with Ledbetter's misadventures as a working parent, including the tribulations of carpooling, Christmas shopping, dealing with household gadgets, male inefficiency and packing for trips. Although there are occasional funny highlights, such as Ledbetter's "You know it's gonna be a bad day when..." list, some of the author's humor is labored and out of date. By the end of this collection, Ledbetter's persona as a bemused career woman struggling gamely to cope against the odds has worn very thin. Illustrations not seen by PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (April 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517599791
• ISBN-13: 978-0517599792
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,972,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Suzann's mother taught her to read at age four, assuming a tomboy couldn't have her nose in a book and get into trouble, simultaneously. It didn't work, but somehow, Suzann's insatiable curiosity, smarty-pants mouth, tendency to make up stuff and love of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden novels became the basis of a diverse writing career.

Suzann (www.SuzannLedbetter.com) is a Writers Hall of Fame of America inductee and received a Western Writers of America Spur Award for her biography, NELLIE CASHMAN, PROSPECTOR & TRAILBLAZER. Suzann was an editor-at-large for Family Circle magazine for over a decade and is a client of Greater Talent Network, an international talent agency.

In April 2006, Suzann's short story "How To Murder Your Mother-in-Law" will appear in Avon's DEADLY HOUSEWIVES anthology. May marks publication of her latest suspense/caper, ONCE A THIEF (Mira) and in August, SHADY LADIES, a biographical collection of 19th century nonconformists is due out from Tor/Forge.

Suzann and her husband share their Missouri Ozarks home with three retired racing greyhounds, two morbidly obese cats and way-more books than the children's library her mom hoped would tame the ornery streak Suzann allegedly inherited from her father's side of the gene pool.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bombeck with a twang, May 3, 2000

By 

Nancy Parry McCluer - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Have Everything I Had Twenty Years Ago, Except Now It's All Lower (Hardcover)

I'm sure that Suzann Ledbetter is probably used to being compared with Erma Bombeck by now (except for the obvious difference--that Suzann is still living). Let's see, there's "Erma for the 90s" and "Bombeck with a twang."

But as much as I liked reading Erma, she was the voice of my mother's generation. Her newspaper columns were clipped and mailed back and forth between my mom and her friends.

Suzann, however, is the voice of my generation, coming to me at a time (post-childbirth, pre-menopause) that I can appreciate the humor in such essays as "Good Mothers Do" and "Birthday Boondoggles." I can envision myself sending these gems to my contemporaries, but more likely through e-mail, than "snail mail."

But she wisely doesn't limit herself to writing about motherhood. She manages to skewer the rest of the world, and the goofy people in it, as well. Suzann, who lives just outside of Springfield, Missouri, is a contributing editor to Family Circle magazine and writes a Sunday column for the Springfield News-Leader.