Girls Around the House [Paperback]

M. A. C. Farrant (Author), M. A. C. Farran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Domesticity and creativity wrestle in these hilariously skewed tales of postmodern family life. "Farrant is a veteran practitioner of the gently satirical tale, and a sanguine, breezy tone suffuses these 12 linked dispatches from a fractious home front." - Quill & Quire

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tart-tongued former hippie Marion narrates these 12 jaunty, interconnected stories of humorous parental angst in Canadian author Farrant's sixth book. Between trying to keep up with their three nearly adult children's junk food and hair gel consumption, tantrums and adolescent antics, neither Marion nor her husband, Gerry, are enjoying the "independence, wealth and the Open Road" they'd once imagined for themselves. And Gerry's bridge-playing mother also lives with them, making the couple feel as though they have become "stage managers for those whose lives are occurring before and after us." Each story is composed of short passages that read like postmodern Erma Bombeck entries. The titles and themes (such as "Condom Run," wherein Marion makes her monthly trip to stock up on supplies for the kids) underscore the fact that these liberal parents understand the particulars of their beer-drinking, sexually active offspring's lives. Hiding her good underwear and asiago cheese from her scavenging kids, Marion's saving grace is her sense of irony and willingness to take responsibility for her frustrations. Apt literary allusions strengthen the impression that there is a higher consciousness at work (and play) here than the sitcom quality of some of the pieces might suggest. The setting is the author's hometown of Sidney, B.C.--nicknamed Skidney by Marion's kids--characterized as a place where young people at parties hold cases of beer under their arms to keep friends from pilfering them. Farrant manages to skewer this domestic three-ring circus while inscribing the lovable Marion as a devoted fiction writer, wry mother and companionable wife to the equally good-humored Gerry. (Feb.)

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Polestar Pr; 1st edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896095933
• ISBN-13: 978-1896095936
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,225,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

M.A.C. Farrant
M.A.C. Farrant is the author of ten collections of satirical and philosophical short fiction, a novel-length memoir, My Turquoise Years, a book of essays/humour, The Secret Lives of Litterbugs, and the stage adaptation of My Turquoise Years.
The Strange Truth About Us, a "novel of absence" was published in the Fall of 2011 by Talonbooks.
She is a regular book reviewer for the Vancouver Sun and the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Farrant's work is infused with acerbic wit and iconoclastic innovation. As the Globe & Mail has noted, "Farrant is better at startling us with unnerving, often misanthropic, visions of everyday life than perhaps any other Canadian writer."
The Ottawa Citizen has called Farrant "One of the best humourists in the land." BC Bookworld has called her "Canada's most ascerbic and intelligent humourist."
Farrant is represented by Carolyn Swayze of the Swayze Literary Agency.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars laugh out loud funny, May 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Girls Around the House (Paperback)

I am from BC and I moved to the east coast of the US. Reading this book not only made me feel right at home, but I laughed myself silly several times. The author has an incredible wit as she tells some anecdotes that really seem hard to believe unless you are from Vancouver Island. People from all over will appreciate this book, but people from quirky small towns in British Columbia will add this book to their list of favortite reads. Not since the Bachelor Brother's bed and Breakfast, have I ever laughed so hard. Thanks to the author and all the folks from Skidney BC.