Customer Reviews

The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank

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

 

 

This book diverges from Bombeck's usual subject matter--family--to take on other compelling topics, like diet and the self image of American women. One of the greatest stand-out examples, for me, of her warm humorous take on crash diets and extreme weight loss measures, is when she talks about a case study done with laboratory rats. As part of the experiment, the rats modelled different kinds of clothing. For example, if a rat wore vertical stripes, he was more likely to look longer and leaner than his counterparts. Also, if a rat was having a dialogue with another rat, he stood on the curb, or the stairs, so he was always on a higher platform from his friend. This gave the illusion that he was taller and skinnier. I remember the first time I read this. I was rolling with laughter.

God bless Erma Bombeck. We are so lucky that her comedic gift lives on in her wonderful books. These books are best described as "slice of life" vignettes of the day-to-day experiences of American identity, through the eyes of one of the most influential people in the world---a mother.

Yes, it's been ten years since I read it (I have the original version with the white cover and Erma mowing the lawn). I still laugh at the thought of some parts of it. Erma, I love you, I miss you, and I wish you could send us columns from heaven. About the book: you must read it and you will find something to relate to in it. Even though it has a 1970's tone (pre-microwaves and cell phones) you can still relate to it and laugh with it. Get it, and any other Bombeck Book you can snatch.

I bought this book about ten years ago and it is nearly worn out. I had never heard of Irma Bombeck back when I purchased this book and I thought the American humour might not suit me (I'm an Aussie). I was soon to fall in love with Irma's wit and observations. It is a funny and painfully honest look at life in suburbia. If this book doesn't get you smiling....see your doctor!

This is another Erma book my mom had when I was a little girl in the 70s. It wasn't my very favorite Erma book because, for one thing, we lived in "suburbia" but it was a suburb with older pre-WWII bungalow housing, and therefore it was harder to relate to many of Erma's jokes being more directed towards the newer tract-development 'burbs. Those would have been the towns oh, about two towns over from ours that all the younger families were moving into - the ones where many of the houses looked alike, where buyers were lured with a low base price and then discovered that just about every feature on the house was an "extra". I remember thinking at the time that Erma's writing was funny but I would NOT want to live in that type of neighborhood even as a kid (apparently she and her husband did move their family to a tract development in Ohio in real life).

Some segments of this book also deal with long-gone features of life such as Tupperware parties (called "Suckerware" in the book). I'm not sure if anyone buys Tupperware at parties any more and in any event Tupperware did away with the kind you needed to "burp" (i.e. release air so food would stay fresh) a long time ago. If you lived through the 70s or have read up a lot on the era, you'll get most of the jokes. Otherwise you might need to call your mama, your auntie or your grandma to understand it. In spite of the above, there are a goodly number of universal topics such as weight loss, kids' behavior, dog ownership and lawn care, that should provide even younger readers with more than a few laughs.

I really like this book, she is a great american story teller. Stuff is real life, if you enjoy a good laugh, i reccomend this book at anyone!

I read this book many years ago when I was a young mother and thought it was an absolute scream, so I bought it for my daughter, who is now a mom herself. She said there were lots of things she could relate to in the book, even though it was set way before her time. Erma Bombeck remains one of the funniest authors out there. I miss her!

This book tells of everyday life that many parents stress out about but it presents it in a way where people will laugh about it, maybe not while it's going on but certainly afterwards. This book did bring a few laughs and any parent could definitely relate but there were parts of the book that I was bored.