Customer Reviews

I'll Take It

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Why hasn't anyone picked up the movie rights?? This is a gem of a book, I'm on my second copy because the first got passed around so much I lost track of the web of borrowers. Anyone who loves shopping, eating, or just a good belly laugh, must read this book. My favourite moment is the aunt who tells the poor little rich girl "Whaddya mean, you don't need any shoes? You got feet- you need shoes!" My thoughts exactly... buy the shoes, buy the book, and copies for your mother, your friends - everyone!

As an adult I've read hundreds of books but this is by far the funniest book I have ever read. I enjoyed it so much that I've reread it three times (something I rarely do).

Joe Reckler is a 26 year old Yale graduate who is self-employed as a pickpocket, and shoplifter extraordinare. As fall approaches Joe's mother convinces Joe to accompany her and her two sisters [Ida and Pola] on a trip to Maine to shop at the outlets and take in some foliage on the way.

But Joe's mother has an ulterior motive for going to Maine - and it's not leaves! Over the years Mrs. Reckler has spent thousands of dollars at L.L. Bean and now it is time for her to retire. However she has one last wish before she retires and that's to remodel her living room. It's really not for her though, it's for her husband Saul, who's already retired and deserves nice surroundings. She figures that $10,000.00 will be enough to make it look spiffy. And she figures that L.L. Bean is just the place to get the money. To the casual observer it would appear like robbery but to Mrs. Reckler it's seen merely as a discount or maybe a refund for her loyal patronage over the years. After all the money she's spent there they owe her! She confides in Joe and tells him her plan and asks for his assistance, but her sisters have no idea they're leaf peeping with a modern day Ma Barker. And the results are hilarious!

Some of the more memorable stops along the way are a trip to Bloomingdales to pick up a few brownies for the ride (and as long as you don't have one of your own but just take bites off of someone else's the calories don't count). A stop at Loehmann's (before they even leave New York), to try on a few things. A visit to Joe's brother Clark and his live-in girlfriend Patty in a run down farmhouse in Massachusetts. And although the leaves are beautiful here in Massachusetts, Mrs. Reckler tells the others they can rest their eyes because it's not Vermont. "Don't look! The foliage doesn't count until you get to Vermont."

Clark and Patty's living room couch is a carseat rescued from a '57 Chevy, this trigger's Joe's Aunt Ida to comment "I feel like we're still driving!" And the decrepit condition of the house in general makes Mrs. Reckler decide to up her ante at L.L. Bean hoist to $12,000.00 so that she can help Clark and Patty spruce up the kitchen a bit.

Then there's Vermont and a trip to the Bennington Pottery Barn, and eventually Maine and L.L. Bean's. But not before more hi-jinx and some interactions with one of the depressed local shopkeepers [Kerry] and her husband [Grey]. By the time the interaction is through Kerry's troubles aren't the only think that's disappeared.

What makes this book the funniest book I've ever read is the realistic Jewish dialogue, the quick banter and comebacks and the outrageous antics (even when you can see it coming you're saying to yourself NO, NO he's not going to let them do that is he: oh my God he is!). The writing style and humor coupled with America's passion for shopping make Paul Rudnick's I'LL TAKE IT a real winner.

If you like this book try his earlier book SOCIAL DISEASE which is being reissued in June 1997 or his screenplay JEFFREY or IF YOU ASK ME by Libby Gelman-Waxner (a pseudo-name that Paul uses to write humorous movie reviews for Premier Magazine - this book is a collection of those reviews). Enjoy!

This book is so funny, I cried. It reminds me of my mother and her sister, the most fiercely competitive shoppers I've ever met. They passed it onto me! I shop every day. Every day.

I laughed so hard reading this book I evidently broke something. My wife and sister both read it and both agree: it is one of the funniest, truest books about family life ever written. Paul Rudnick is a national treasure.

I have only read two novels that made me laugh aloud from beginning to end: Rudnick's "I'll Take It" and Joe Keenan's "Blue Heaven." Wonderful book. Someone should make "I'll Take It" into a movie.

There is no funnier book out there, nothing even close. Give this book to your mother-in-law and your sisters and your aunts and to any guys who like light fiction. Paul Rudnick is a genius.

One thing I love about this book is that Rudnick's portrait of the Esker sister is written with so much love. They are not stereotypes, despite the temptation that must have been there when writing about older Jewish women. But they are honest characterizations and written with great affection. I recommend this book.

This book reminds me of several "family" members I have and it is absolutely hilarous. It is the perfect book to read to relax. I recommend it to anyone and have lent my copy out over a dozen times to family members & everyone returns it and tells me they just loved it.

This book is the funniest I have ever read. Every page makes me hoot with laughter. If you have a friend or relative who could use many chuckles and guffaws, buy this book for them. If you like David Sedaris' humor in his book 'Naked', you will love 'I'll Take It'. You will not be embarrassed to buy this book for your mother. It's similar humor, but much cleaner than 'Naked'. A Must-Read.

I received this book by accident from a book club years ago, and it has remained my favorite book of all time. Every time I lend this wonderfully witty piece of work to a friend, I have a hard time getting it back. This is a book that only gets better every time I pick it up.