A Marriage Made in Heaven: Or Too Tired for an Affair [Mass Market Paperback]

Erma Bombeck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 1994

I now pronounce you husband and wife. There are few phrases as sobering, with the possible exceptions of "We have lift-off" and "This country is at war." Yet as they have done for centuries, millions of courageous men and women continue to walk down the aisle every year, without so much as a job description. Now, in her most autobiographical book, Erma Bombeck puts it all in loving and laughing perspective, as she looks back on her own forty-three-year-but-who's-counting marriage and the timeless passages that make the honorable estate of matrimony the highest-risk, highest-reward profession of all. A Marriage Made in Heaven...or Too Tired for an Affair is Erma's personal story as well as a resonant evocation of the decades that have shaped modern American matrimony - for better, for worse, and for laughs. Since the sunny day in 1949 when Erma and Bill Bombeck first plighted their troth, their marriage has weathered the advent of televised football and the dark side of Donna Reed. They've grappled with teenagers and technology, the women's movement and the sexual revolution, and have patented their own course in Creative Arguing. They've survived both the dream house from hell and the empty nest, and have been there for each other through maternity, miscarriage, and mortality. From the nervous newlywed, to the supermom who elevated guilt to a sacrament, to the steadfast partner, to the shy author on the road, here is an Erma Bombeck readers have never seen before, in a book for all those who are married, who were married, who are thinking about getting married, or who have hesitated (until now!) to take the plunge.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Costarring Erma and Bill, the author's ( Motherhood ) 12th book tops her previous hits as it traces the couple's lives since they wed in 1949. Told in Bombeck's comic, no-nonsense style, the story combines suspense, pathos and high humor as the years bring the inevitable moments of "for better and for worse." One of the funniest, and most sobering episodes occurs during the 1960s when the couple's children turn into hippies and at the same time Betty Friedan announces, in Brombeck's paraphrase, that "The roles for which our mothers had groomed us--taking care of a husband and family--were wrong." Not long after that, Bombeck (who early in her marriage had responded to her husband's singsong "Ring-around-the-collar" with a withering "So why don't you wash your crummy neck") got a job as a "housewife-columnist" at a suburban weekly newspaper earning "three bucks a column." Though she has managed to combine a spectacular career with a successful family life, Bombeck makes clear that having it all means giving one's all. 500,000 first printing; $350,000 ad/promo .
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This program, read by the author, is classic Bombeck. She begins with recollections about her wedding and continues through the marriage of one of her children. She enlarges on various aspects of marriage with humor, sarcasm, and innuendo. Ranging from struggling beginnings to changes wrought by the arrival (or non arrival) of children, Bombeck meanders through changes in residence, career moves, to the inevitable aging process, all the while successfully evoking the fitful essence of marriage. She describes scenarios common to many couples, which will likely elicit "I know what you mean" from listeners. Bombeck's narration is a definite plus. She delivers the lines as only one who wrote them can, successfully providing the inflection, emphasis, and speed that best convey her meaning. Recommended for general collections.
- Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Providence
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (October 16, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061092029
• ISBN-13: 978-0061092022
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Beloved for her wry yet warm look at family life, Erma Bombeck was America's favorite humorist at the time of her death in 1996. Ten of her 13 books, including Forever, Erma, appeared on the New York Times best-seller list. She claimed her first fiction writing was the weather forecast in the Dayton Herald. Her favorite food was pasta, and her hobby was dust.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny...., October 28, 2006

By 

SnigletMom "Doggymom" (Monument, CO United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Marriage Made in Heaven: Or Too Tired for an Affair (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is full of wit and one liners from a woman who knows family. I myself only have a husband and no kids but her writing is still hilarious to me. It reminds me of things my own mother used to say in her own funny and sacastic way. When she talk about her husband and his "ways" of packing a suitcase or talking about the kids I laughed out loud while reading in bed and scared my husband. I sure do miss her and only wish she could have spent a little more time on earth to make us laugh. I bet God is having a ball with her in heaven.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marriage Made in Heaven or Too Tired for an Affair, November 24, 2000

By 

Susan "Susan" (Sonora, US, Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Marriage Made in Heaven: Or Too Tired for an Affair (Mass Market Paperback)

I have always enjoyed Erma Bombeck when she had a column, but the children were small and I never had much time to read. Had I gotten a book like this one, I could of breezed through raising children and marriage with much less guilt. It is one of the funniest (because it's so true) books I've ever read. I am now a collector of Erma Bombecks books. Chapters titled,; "How Much Happiness Can We Finance?" The book for me was filled with memories from the 50's and 60's, and how it used to be. I found myself laughing outloud and shaking my head at the humor, yet truthfulness, that Erma shares with her readers. I'm getting two more of her books for Christmas, and am getting several others on auction. If you need a laugh, kick out some of those endorphins that need to come out and lighten you up, don't miss Erma Bombeck's, "Marriage Made in Heaven or too Tired for an Affair." It's fantastic!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wit to Put the Bite in the Mundane, May 22, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: A Marriage Made in Heaven: Or Too Tired for an Affair (Mass Market Paperback)

In this, one of Bombeck's last books (published 1993), we
begin to see the woman behind the witticisms and motherhood
one-liners. While this book lacks some of the wit and
wisecracks of some of her earlier works (The Grass is Always
Greener..., Family: The Ties that Bind...), we get a unique
insight into the life of Erma. Sounding more like a memoir
than comedy routine, the reader follows a young housewife
through the early years of "husband reform," through three
children, the empty nest, and a mid-life career that literally
took her from ironing shirts to joking with Johnny Carson.
A fitting tribute to anyone who wants to know about the woman
behind the column and the people that helped her become the
woman we laughed with for over 20 years. We'll miss you, Erma.