World According to Mimi Smartypants [Hardcover]

Mimi Smartypants (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2004

The energetic, inspired first book of Mimi Smartypants, who has kept a cult on-line diary for the past 3 years. Mimi has bags of attitude and a brilliant observational style that's fun, fast and frivolous. This is the real-life diary of a sassy, funny, straight-talking thirty-something Chicago girl who tells it like it is. Mimi first appeared on the hot internet site diaryland.com which hosts over 400,000 live diaries from -- mostly girls -- all over the world and has 800,000 registered users. Mimi became the most clicked diary and is now officially a web cult. Mimi lives in Chicago with LT (husband -- she was a child bride) cat (cat), Kat (friend, female, good for staying up late and getting into trouble in bars), travels the El (Elevated Railway), drinks beer (in bars) and occationally dresses up in twily dresses and makes like the undead at Neo's goth nights (it's an affliction she's trying kick). she is 30 years old (but looks younger), is 5ft 1inch (but looks taller), weighs (never weighs herself...it says 127 on her drivers license). She's left handed (she cannot do anything with her right hand -- except lift drinks at bars), she looks in other peoples medicine cabinets when the owner is not around, hates people saying ATM machine ( since the 'm' stands for machine already doh), has never had a cavity (wierd) and likes penguins. Most of all Mimi Smartypants gets it...and so do hundreds of thousands of her followers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The pseudonymous Mimi Smartypants, a Chicago writer and editor, started an online diary in 1999, leading to a book contract from HarperCollins UK and now publication in the U.S. She doesn't pretend this is a great literary feat; to her, it's like someone offering to publish your grocery lists. "You wouldn't even call yourself a 'writer' because dude, grocery lists? Come on." So don't expect heavy-duty style or even plot from this likable 30-something—she's just blogging, alright? Overall, Smartypants is something of a hypochondriac, with frequent passages on her colds and other ailments, like her "exquisitely painful leg cramps." Sometimes she drinks too much, with hangovers that tie into the hypochondria. The narrative's quirky images (e.g., too much caffeine makes the author's spine feel "like a glass harmonica") and odd suggestions (e.g., try hydrating those compressed-foam animals in a mouthful of beer) certainly give pause, as do her occasional word inventions (e.g., making muffins, she describes those "large lipomas of butter" trapped in the hand mixer). Nothing beats Smartypants's discussion of how the "pseudo-Aztec design" on the Tostitos bag resembles a uterus with ovaries. This is not a big book, but a funny little one, sort of Bridget lite. (On sale Dec. 27)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Mimi's 'bad case of sass-mouth' and no-nonsense." HEAT MAGAZINE "Like a mammoth backlog of emails from your wittiest, brightest friend; just as day-brighteningly addictive, and just as insubstantial...Mimi is a ripsnortingly funny raconteur...inevitably she'll become a publishing phenomenon." BAND! MAGAZINE "Move over Bridget. The web log of Chicago thirtysomething Mimi Smartypants is the real deal." ELLE --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins (February 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007173415
• ISBN-13: 978-0007173419
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,719,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for reading on the el, November 29, 2005

By 

Gen of North Coast Gardening (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: World According to Mimi Smartypants (Hardcover)

This sharp new book reads like it was written by the witty, imperfect, cooler older sister you wish you had; the one who walks around with a dryer sheet unknowingly stuck to her back but manages to give the most spot on advice for any of those twenty something angst moments we all have had. She is down to earth, funny, and writes about things all of us twenty somethings have experienced.

This was great bathtime reading; the wisdom and humor have been pared down into pithy little essays and vignettes, which makes it great for on the go or beach reading. You can sit down and read the whole book at once or stretch it out and enjoy it bit by bit. Either way, this was a real hit with me and I will be recommending it to my friends.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Party In Her Head!, August 29, 2005

By 

Book Bug "Mary" (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: World According to Mimi Smartypants (Hardcover)

This book is wonderful! Wit, energy and observations that will knock your socks off. It is a truly funny offering of a Chicago woman as she processes her day in a head that has more going on in it than should be allowed. This is a compilation of blog entries, the blog continues and I hope for more to be published.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not many books make me laugh out loud, July 2, 2009

By 

aerlys "aerlys" (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World According to Mimi Smartypants (Paperback)

Nothing big or important happens in the book. It is not great literature. But it had me laughing out loud many times, and that doesn't happen very often.