Customer Reviews

The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia, and Laser Hair Removal

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have been a fan of Ms. Notaro for a long time. Once I picked this book up, I couldn't stop reading. I stayed up until after 3:00 this morning, and got pinched by my husband a few times because I kept waking him up by laughing out loud. The Germophobia story had me doubled over, trying to catch my breath I was laughing so hard.

One thing that was in this book that I never expected was a very poignant story about the author's dog. I won't give anything away here, but it was incredibly beautiful and sad.

This is my favorite book that Ms. Notaro has ever written. I really enjoyed it, and now I can't wait for the next one!

Fans of Laurie Notaro's first-person stories will be delighted with this latest collection of "reflections." After a brief foray into the world of fiction with a zany, semi-autobiographical novel, once again the Idiot Girl is back to form, sharing stories and observations of her decidedly normal life with an original and laugh-out-loud way with words.

Notaro never holds back. Her polished writing style has a conversational, off-the-cuff quality to it, allowing readers to feel like we're right there in the room with her, listening to her outrage at a big dog taking a dump on her front lawn, or breaking out her bird flu mask on a plane after the passenger seated next to her open-mouth coughs for the last time. She's like your funniest friend--the one you know will make the party more fun as soon as she opens her mouth and launches into her latest life experience. I know I couldn't wait to open and devour this book, and I wasn't disappointed. Five stars all the way.

Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club.

I have bought and devoured every Laurie Notaro book that she has written. By far, I still think that her first book was her best. In this new book, I didn't even chuckle until I was almost halfway through it.

Now, the second half of the book was pretty good, but I paid for a hardback book for which I only enjoyed half. I did laugh out loud at a few moments, but there just seemed to be less to be tickeled by this time around.

One of the other things I found a bit irritating was the phrasing she uses. She writes very conversationally, but her passages become so longwinded and mixed that a number of times I had to reread sentences to understand what she was getting at. I understand that this is part of her humorus effect, but this book felt a bit like it was tripping over itself too much.

Don't get me wrong...I will buy the next one when it comes out...but I don't think any of her new material will be as good as her first, or even her second book.

*** I am amending this review.

Hours after I posted this review, I received an email from the author stating..."Thanks for the crappy review on amazon, beth." I find this to be extremely unprofessional and immature. She sent a second email later that day to say that she should not have sent the email, but she never actually said that she was sorry for sending it. I believe her unapologetic email was to prevent bad PR.

She might have been upset by my "crappy review" (which I don't find to be that harsh at all) but she had no right whatsoever to try and shame me. This is a customer forum. We should be free to present our opinions without the threat of harassment from others, especially when the review was in no way rude or undignified.

Just my 2 cents.

Laurie Notaro at her best. Regarless of if you are a long time fan or not, Notaro's latest offering will have you laughing until you cry and also offers a whole new perspective to her patented wit and charm. Notaro's work has evolved to the next level, this is her best essay work to date

I was very anxiously wating for this book to come out. On the day it did finally come out, I ran to every possible store so I could read it right away because I was having knee surgery in 3 days. Needless to say, I could find it nowhere so my husband ordered it for me on Amazon. We paid for the next day shipping and I pretty much sat on the porch wating for the UPS man. As soon as he got here, I sat down on the couch and started reading. Most of it was cute, but not funny. I only laughed out loud a couple of times and as anyone who reads her books knows, you are usually crying and calling your friends to read them the funny parts. Not once did I have the desire to do this. I will, of course,buy her next book when it comes out but for this one, the anticipation left me wanting after I finally got it.

It's that good. For fans of Laurie Notaro, this really is the best yet. If you haven't read her yet, it's a rollicking roller coaster of a ride. You will laugh, you will cry, you will snort. You may just pee. While each story is a gem unto itself, throughout the book little one line comments here and there remind you of previous incidents, providing for multilayered mirth. She is Bailey White and Fannie Flagg rolled into one.

Laurie once again writes fabulous observations about everything she encounters. I'm a die hard fan, and was not disappointed.

Laurie Notaro is an entertaining writer who will have you laughing out loud as soon as you start reading her book. After reading several of her books, they start sounding the same, but you should certainly read a few of them.

A friend recommended this book and I laughed all the way through it. Highly recommend this book as well as others by the same author.

great book. I just love the honesty. sometimes I catch myself laughing and realizing, I'm laughing at myself. I swear she read my dairy. lol!!!