Customer Reviews

An Idiot Girl's Christmas: True Tales from the Top of the Naughty List

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a late arrival to the Laurie Notaro fanwagon (I didn't discover her until her third book), I got off to a slow start, finding her humor too confrontational at times, and too self-abasing at other times. Still, I found myself hunting down her previous books, and before I knew what had hit me, I was laughing and reading bits out loud to savor them.

My favorite Notaro pieces all seem to involve shopping. In An Idiot Girl's Christmas, the standout essays are Deck the Mall, in which Laurie takes her Nana Christmas shopping, and Have Yourself a Kmart Little Christmas, in which Laurie finds herself in a crowded Super Kmart just before closing time on Christmas Eve.

In another chapter, The Most Unfun Christmas Party Hostess Ever, we get an intriguing glimpse of Laurie's husband (although we still don't know his name). As they get their house ready for a Christmas party, unnamed husband asks "Do you think if I put my new Emily Dickinson biography on the coffee table that it will spur conversation?" Apparently, in his circle of friends, this is a distinct possibility. Laurie knows her friends, on the other hand, will "debate whether or not I know that I married a gay man."

An Idiot Girl's Christmas is a pretty short book, 142 pages in a hardcover the size of a trade paperback, but it's priced accordingly, and you'll definitely get your money's worth in laughs.

In true Laurie style, this book will make you feel better about your worst Christmas memory. Because inevitably, hers is worse. Way worse.

A really quick read (I picked it up after work yesterday...took it to the gym...and was finished before dinner) but fun and entertaining throughout. There is no filler in this short, but sweet book. Just lots of Laurie's unique humor encapsulated in bite sized Christmas stories of true horror. My favorite I think being the Super K-mart at midnight on Christmas Eve story.

If you've read and liked ANY of her previous work...this book should be on your Christmas list...hopefully positioned above the puffy Christmas dish towels and nylon underwear large enough to cover a sports car in a downpour.

Notaro keeps getting better with age--I loved this book, read it in a night despite my best efforts to ration myself to a chapter a night--and am now re-reading it for a second time. I always consider Laurie's books multiple-use, anyway, I've read all of her books two and three times. I was happy to see some old favorites in An Idiot Girl's Christmas, but happier to see the new material, particularly the closing chapter, which was a departure from her usual stuff and works marvelously and had me laughing outloud until I couldn't breathe. Always hilarious, always relateable (I too, am a clear light Christmas tree person), always truthfull, I will advise any readers of this book to follow the rules of the previous books: don't read in public unless you want people to doubt your sanity, and don't imbibe or eat unless you want to become a Diet Pepsi fountain (laughing and liquid intake to do not mix). This is a great fifth installment in my Notaro collection, and I will treasure it for every holiday season to come, and it has also provided me with something to give to every one of my girlfriends (especially the ones who are impossible to buy for). Thanks, Laurie!

I laughed, I cried and I wet my pants (only a little bit). Ms Notaro triumphs against adversity yet again and we are all invited to witness it. Must read for idiot girls and boys everywhere.

Lots of people have horrendous stories about going home for the holidays and the fallout that ensues. For many of us, the Holidays are the most stressful time of year. Laurie Notaro has the insight meld her internal narration with true bits of hilarity that only happen during the holidays. Self-professed as a "non-intellectual" (unlike her husband) and not one of the crazies that start talking to you in line at Safeway; Laurie Notaro is comfortable somewhere in the middle, watching Anna Nicole Smith with the same horror & facination you would a train wreck. She offers useful solutions to quandries like controlling the eldery from coming unhinged in public places, and would REAL SIMPLE magazine print her solution of what to do with those 4 pks of white cotton brief panties in their "Things That Do Double Duty" section. Laurie Notaro never disappoints. I love this woman! Her book was my favorite Christmas present this year.

Amen to the other reviewers! Couldn't have said it better myself, but I'll put in my $2(inflation) worth! The trip to KMART and the shopping trip with Nana are my personal favorites. If you need stress-reliever from the Holiday season or just enjoy a good laugh, treat yourself to Laurie Natoro.

Laurie Notaro expounds on Christmas calamity in her book "An Idiot Girl's Christmas." From holiday shopping with Nana to mis-labeled Christmas gifts, Notaro tells it all as only she can.

Intensely funny and an incredibly good read, I cannot stop recommending Laurie Notaro to people. If you are looking for laugh-out-loud funny, the looking stops here. Notaro is for you!

Let me preface this review by saying I am in love with Laurie Notaro. I think that if I lived closer to her I may become her stalker. =) Ok so that's not completely true, but what is true, is that I can't get enough of her books, and the Idiot Girl's Christmas is no exception. If you've ever done anything remotely clumsy, stupid, or asenine (especially whilst enjoying a cocktail of some sort) or have a crazy family, you will love Notaro's books. I literally laugh out loud (of course people do think I'm nuts; especially when on a plane by myself laughing like a mad cow...)
Anyway, buy the book, you won't be disappointed!

I really enjoyed this collection of holiday stories from Laurie Notaro. I own all her books, and am likely to buy a laundry list if she wrote it, so I didn't really mind the "re-runs" from AOAFB and IGAAC. The new stuff was, as usual, fabulous, irreverent, and hilarious. "The Most Unfun Christmas Hostess Ever" stood out as a favorite. If you're looking for a quick break from the holiday nightmare (even if only to peek through a window at someone else's), then you'll love this book.

I have read every one of Laurie's books and not once have I kept quiet. I laugh out loud in embarrassing, room-silencing, bladder testing, tummy aching, eyes streaming outburts throughout all of her books. This one is no different. If you read this book, be prepared to buy every other one of hers. In my opinion, she is one of the best life is a comedy authors out there. Even if you don't get this one, DEFINATELY purchase "I love everybody". It is her best book, ever.