Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost and Found (Hardcover)

by Bill Keaggy (Author)
Key Phrases: grocery lists

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The Grocery List Collection is compulsive reading." -- The New York Times, 2007

"a unique voyeuristic delight" -- ESPN Radio, 2007

"hilarious" -- mental_floss, 2007

"jaw dropping, mercilessly snarky" -- The Tampa Tribune, 2007

"laugh-out-loud pleasure" -- BookPage, 2007

Product Description

Cabich, bird fude, nodiles, buttmilk, dog yogurt, bannes, hare sope, cream of salary soup.*

What do these things have in common? They're all items from real grocery lists. Whose lists? Who knows. They were found discarded in shopping carts, dropped on supermarket floors and parking lots, even tucked in returned library books.

These lists have been collected into the volume you are now holding. Peek inside to see what people will write on scraps of paper they never expect anyone else to see. Marvel at the unusual combinations of food the average person shops for. You'll find yourself captivated by this unexpected and off-kilter glimpse into the lives of those around you.

Separated into chapters -- funny lists, sad lists, unhealthy lists, organized lists -- the book also includes commentary by the author and some delicious recipes created from found grocery lists.

If we are what we eat, then this book reveals deep and strange truths about the average food shopper... not to mention more mundane facts like a lot of people love vodka, banana is actually very difficult to spell and that butter used to be dyed yellow using marigolds.

*Translation: Cabbage, bird food, noodles, buttermilk, dog yogurt (duh), bananas, shampoo, cream of celery soup.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: How (April 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581809417
• ISBN-13: 978-1581809411
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,191 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You will find one of your OWN shopping lists in this collection!, May 23, 2007

By	Robert Schmidt (Honolulu, HI & Logan, UT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

How often do you drop your used shopping lists into the shredder? I would expect you would reply, "Never". And because of this, Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost and Found, by Bill Keaggy, was born.

I was just walking by a bookshelf when my eyes lingered for an extra second on this book. I think my first impression was that it was a cookbook by some over-the-hill rock stars... I mean, milk, eggs, and vodka? But where was the subtitle, "Meatloaf's/Pink Floyd's/Grand Funk's roadie cookbook."

Then I caught the real subtitle: "Grocery Lists Lost and Found."

It was intriguing enough that I picked it up off the shelf.

This was a really entertaining collection of real shopping lists, with the wrinkles and creases, the torn edges, the use of scrap paper, the misspellings, and America's diet (there is a reason obesity rates are on the rise) all laid out in their glory.

There is enough of a collection that at least one of these discarded lists will look familiar.

Is it yours?

Fine literature these lists, and this book, are not. However, the collection was interesting to peruse, and I'll bet this would be a great icebreaker at a party (take turns trying to read the lists on each page... "hookers and blow"?). This book would also be a great present for that friend or family member with that good sense of humor.

Now that I've read Milk Eggs Vodka, I suspect I will pay a bit closer attention to what I write down on that scrap of newspaper. After all, Bill Keaggy may be the next person to use my grocery cart.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars really funny , May 20, 2007

By	Phillip Walker (Boston) - See all my reviews

Just got my copy of this one a few days ago. Really very funny. The book covers all manner of grocery lists, from those filled with dreadful mispellings (my lord, our education system is in the toilet), to the totally absurb. That someone actually made a list consisting of stamps, fish and "undies" is pretty funny. There's another with cellophane, garlic bread, butter, eggs, hookers and blow. Makes you wonder what kind of party they were having.... There's also a great deal of commentary from the author on food facts and our peculiar list-making obsessions. I think another reason why the book is so cool is the look and feel of it. Some books are just so nicely designed you want to own them for that aspect of their appeal alone. This one certainly measures up to that standard. The design reminds me a bit of Post Secret. The content is, as noted in another review, similar to what you'll find in Found (which I also have). But personally Milk Eggs Vodka made me laugh a lot more than Found did. Maybe it was the focus of the material or the author's sense of humor, or my own quirks, I'm not sure. A good time, regardless.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, November 1, 2007

By	Jennifer A. Wickes "Food Writer" - See all my reviews

Bill Keagy shares his love of the unusual, your discard shopping list. At his website and his book, Milk Eggs Vodka, we get to see what some people are shopping for, as well as Keagy's humorous commentary. It is completely amazing to see the misspellings and how our own shopping list can be seen as a source of amusement for others. This book is funny and irreverent and worth taking a peek.