Customer Reviews

What On Earth Have I Done?: Stories, Observations, and Affirmations

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've long been a fan of Fulghum's work, and I can't believe that the other reviewer here would only rate this one a "one-star" effort. This book is vintage Fulghum - essays on a huge number of topics, most of which were profound, funny and touching.

This one's worth the purchase if only for Fulghum's idea of "converstaion lifeboats" - brilliant. Or the update to the story of the mirror.

Fulghum, as usual, shines light into darkened places, and makes the lives of his readers a little better than he found them.

That's 5 stars for me.

Once again Fulghum has demonstrated his innate ability to observe life as it unfolds. I love reading his books because he could relate to the ordinary and make it funny. I particularly like the first chapter on Mother Questions when he mentioned, "Most of the time a kid doesn't think about what he's doing or why. That is the privilege of childhood." Then he mentioned about the perks of seniority in chapter 22 as he gorged on sweets in the aftermath of Halloween, "I do not eat candy around them because their mother is around. I take the candy surplus, as a favor to their parents, and eat it alone whenever I want."
Classic Fulghum.

Robert Fulghum's "What on Earth Have I Done?" collects dozens of his essays about ordinary life. He tells us about street crossing guards, corner beggars, little kids swinging, bug races, watching the moon, the obsessions of his cleaning lady and asking for directions in Crete. Taken individually, the essays are little bits of nothing. But together, they portray the soul of man profoundly at peace with himself and with the world. Fulghum is a big kid at heart, and his playfulness is endearing and refreshing. He takes very little seriously -- certainly not the pomposities of human nature, including his own. To Fulghum, the most spiritual experience is not solemn liturgy, but a belly laugh shared with friends over wine and good food. After reading the book, it's hard not to wish for the serenity that he seems to enjoy.

Fulghum bases his book on the three classic "Mother" questions often asked of misbehaving kids -- "What in the world have you done?" "Who do you think you are?" and "What will you do next?" As is typical, Fulghum turns these questions on their heads to probe the deeper meaning of what we do, who we are and how we plan to live our lives.

I highly recommend listening to Fulghum in the audio book. His voice is like Garrison Keillor's -- gentle, warm, full of insight and wisdom -- but without the lingering sadness. He takes us from Seattle to Moab, Utah to his getaway on Crete. Everywhere he goes, magic happens. Fiery brooms flash through the New Year's sky; angry men learn to waltz; people eat, drink and are happy to be alive. A wonderful book that brings to life the essence of great spirituality -- not a heavy theological search for truth, but a search for love and companionship -- a theology probably far closer to the heart of the Creator.

Robert Fulghum, author of All I Really need to Know in Kindergarten, is one of my favorite authors. Not because his works are particularly entertaining, but because they are thought provoking in regards to the everyday. I suppose this can be entertaining. It is for me anyway. He's not a political writer, a theologian of grandest prose, nor is he a poet. He is simply, as he contends in his latest work, an essayist who writes his thoughts on things. I'm often asked, "What's that book about." "Well, it's not about anything," is often my response. The subtitle of his Kindergarten work is: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things. This pretty much sums him up.

Since I read him last in college, blogging has become a popular form of expression. With no investment other than time, someone can post their thoughts on everything from politics to bar-b-q. I have my own website/blog and I have discovered a whole new appreciation for Fulghum's work; an appreciation that was probably there all along, I just didn't know it. Fulghum has really influenced my own style of writing. His simplistic love for the ordinary allows the reader to see the joy in his everyday life. This, I believe, is one of the greatest tasks laid before writers. It is their responsibility to the world.

Robert Fulghum continues to be a light in the dark. His comedic style of writing, while still making a point, is nothing short of uplifting. I would highly recommend this and all of his titles.

Fulghum gets off to a great start reminiscent of his "...Kindergarten" book. When he answers the question posed in the title, he's the old Fulghum, insightful, funny. Especially when he writes about his times in Crete. Yes, he seems to have lost his way a few times in the middle of the book. But read on because the old Fulghum shines after that. Hey, he's too good to ignore just because, like many of us, he has a mid-life thing. A good read!

Robert Fulghum has long been one of my favorite authors . . . ever
since he came out with ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED
IN KINDERGARTEN, I've made it a point to get everything he has
written.

They each contain essays that look at everyday situations in a
way that will delight you and, also, make you think . . . his latest, WHAT
ON EARTH HAVE I DONE? is no
exception.

Fulghum begins by telling of an experience he had when he
heard a mother asking a variation of the book's title question
of her son: "Billy, what on Earth have you done?" . . . he then
realized that his mother had asked the same question, and he
then asked his own children, who no doubt have asked
their kids.

Yet as he finds out, the answer is never easy and almost
always surprising . . . in one of the best passages of the
book, he describes an encounter he had with a particular
store's employee . . . when something was not ready when
promised, he didn't get upset; rather, he played a game
to see if the person could come up with a really creative
excuse as to why this happened.

This playfulness is described via several other encounters
that Fulghum has as he moves among Seattle, Utah and
Crete . . . for example:

* There's a tailor shop on Queen Anne Avenue. Sign in the window
says ALTERATIONS AND REPAIRS FOR MEN AND WOMEN. The
tailor is standing in the doorway. I stop. "I'd like to get altered and
repaired," I say.

She looks at me cautiously. Goes inside. Closes the door.

Not a player.

I also liked this other approach he describes:
* A friend of mine simply waves and smiles at people he doesn't
know.

More often than not, they wave and smile back.

Or ask, "Do I know you?" and he responds, "No, but you could."

As to what it (life) all means, Fulghum perhaps sums it up best
with this tidbit:

* The old man looked mildly outraged and fell into high-gear Greek
again with his son. The son was apologetic. "Pardon me, but my
father says that it is a lie that Americans have everything. You
have no sheep, no goats, no trees, no oil, no vines, no wine, not
even chickens. He asks, 'What kind of life is that?' He says, 'No
wonder you don't sing or dance or recite poetry very often.' He
is dismayed."

If you'd like to become less dismayed, buy WHAT ON EARTH
HAVE I DONE? for the upcoming holiday season . . . it will
make an ideal gift for just about anybody on your list . . . yet
make sure you treat yourself, too, with your very own copy.

I have been a major fan of Robert Fulghum's musings, wit, observations, and life insight. I have waited for him to return to the writing format he used in his fantastically written earlier books. I was pleasantly surprised to discover he had finally done so, that is until I read the book. I don't know if it is lack of effort, that the dry spell of writing is not over, but the book was disappointing. Many of the stories meander into nothingness. There are a few stories that are reminscient of the gifted author, but they are few and far between a lot of, to be honest, simply boring and dead end tales. I hope he will try again.

When I ordered this book, there were mixed reviews. I almost didn't order it, but I love all of Fulghum's books, so I went for it anyway. While it might not have the same spark that some of his other books have, I still highly enjoyed reading it. It's worth it.

WHAT ON EARTH HAVE I DONE? by Robert Fulghum is a series of semi-sermons and often sensible substance...whew! Try saying that a few times? Regardless, what you find in it is simple wisdom and basic truths that a lot of us have forgotten or in our quests to become something or someone special, have overlooked in favor of self importance. We text or twitter to avoid conversation. We sit in coffee shops with laptops open trying to look or write with profundity without taking in the world in front of us. We race around daily and when we finally get home we're too tired to talk.
For years now Fulghum has reminded us of what we're missing, politely nagging us to get us to play nice, enjoy our family and friends, and maybe slow down long enough to find substance.
In between my stack of whodunnits, history books, Nave SEAL shoot'em ups, Special Forces secret stuff, high seas high adventures, P.I. capers and cookbooks (Yeah, that's right! I like cookbooks!) I toss in works by Fulghum, Vonnegut or Mark Twain to remind me of the good people and things in life there are to enjoy.
Good stuff here so reel in your ego and open up your ears to what he has to say on the page. If it helps then think of his observations as preventive medicinal droplets that don't hurt and might help stave off stupidity.
Hey, there's a lot it going around!