This book probably deserves five stars, because I can't remember when I've laughed so hard at anything. I guess what's keeping it from being five stars is depth. It's just a funny, kind of superficial read. There were several moments where I thought, all right already with the neurotic Italian girl schtick, but I just kept reading because no sooner had I thought that than Notaro made me laugh again, and laugh hard, out loud, on the subway, with people staring at me, like, belly laughs, grabbing my sides, trying to contain myself. I don't know why it made me laugh so hard, but it did. I guess she's just got good timing. My husband even read a chunk of it, and it made him laugh, and he's a tough audience. I don't want to say anymore. Just read it at the beach this summer.

This book is one giant tangent. Each story goes on and on with multiple tangents constantly taking the readers attention off the main point of the story. I gave up on the book with 2 stories left, despite the fact that it makes me feel unfinished, because I just couldn't do it.

4.5 Stars (goodreads-please allow us half star postings!!!). I contemplated higher, because I literally sat like a crazed person laughing to myself out loud while reading this over the last day. Please take it to heart that you should not be drinking anything other than water for fear of having it shoot out of your mouth while laughing, possibly staining some very nice summer clothes. Not that I'm speaking from experience here, but...

The book is designed as a series of experiences that I can only hope are embellished. If they are not, my sympathies to the author as she has had so many comically bad things happen to her, it's really quite sad. Didn't stop me from laughing, but I do have a slight twinge of guilt for some guffaws that might have escaped from my mouth. You cheer for her, you want to help her get back at the charming people she works with, or even Winnie the Pooh, for being such a poo.

It's a totally fast read, and is a lighthearted laughable story. I will most definitely be picking up her other books and can't wait to read them as well. :)

If it is possible to outdo herself from her last book, she did. What I love about her the most, is she's cut from a mold that many REAL women can identify with.

She's like the Carrie Bradhaw of female writers, ONLY, she's the REALISTIC version, a size 12, and sometimes bigger, midwest-flavored, cussing, dirty-joke telling, snack-loving, zit-cursing, had-too-much-to-drink at happy hour, thrift store shopping, Gen-X'er woman.

And I LOVE her.

All her memoirs are the same, small chapters that feel like casual news columns expanded for print, funny, centered around something she'd done that has backfired or at least run amuck.

Favorite chapters in this collection are "Babyless," finally, a chapter where us "don't-mind-being-childless women" don't have to feel guilty about not wanting kids. And "An American Drug-Smugging Girl," where she sneaks to Mexico to get pain-killers for her "lady troubles," allergies and so forth.

Brilliant.

I bought this one on the strength of The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death. Sadly, it's not as good as that one - and Flaming Tantrum I got for free.

Previously, my rule has been that if a book makes me laugh out loud, it gets four stars, period. I value laughter, and comedy is hard. This book made me change that rule, because it was such a weird blend of laughing and, well, cringing. While reading these essays, I found myself really, really hoping this was all an exaggeration, that she was claiming to have said things she only thought, that she didn't really act that way. And even though I mostly think that's true, some of these stories still hit a squick I didn't even know I had, some close kin to my embarrassment squick. "You're an adult!" I kept wanting to say. "You have a job and major debt and a husband! Stop acting like a junior varsity football player who has a really good steroids connection!"

Still. I did laugh out loud from time to time, when I wasn't wincing away from the page. And I probably will buy another book by Notaro; her work is basically the print equivalent of cotton candy, which is, as it happens, exactly what I'm in the mood for right now.

I just wish it was cotton candy that didn't make me flinch every other chapter, that's all.

I felt like I was reading a different book than the one other people on here reviewed. People mentioned laughing the entire time, but I honestly did not find it funny at all, and maybe once or twice gave a half chuckle. The author is obnoxious, rude, whiny, and unrelatable, and while she does get herself into some off-the-wall situations, they're all entirely of her own doing. There were occasional good one-liners in the book, but then she just goes on, and on...and ON, which completely ruins it. Pretty much the best part of this book is when she publishes her first book and gets bad reviews. She should have just taken them to heart and given up then.

I'm usually not interested in the "chick books" that have become so popular recently (maybe they were always popular, but I've only taken notice of them in the past couple of years). You know, the witty, funny, celebrations of the modern women in all her success and tragedy. I think the appeal is that so many women can relate to these voices, these women, fictional or real, who live lives we recognize and are heartbreakingly and humorously honest about some of our most private thoughts and failures. Unfortunately, since I'm not particularly chick-ish, I've never jumped on the bandwagon, and wouldn't have read this if walkawayslowly hadn't sent it to me. Though I still wouldn't necessarily seek this genre out after reading it, I did enjoy it.

Humor is such a hard thing to write, harder than anything else, and to do it requires a very real talent. I thought I was in trouble on the first page when the first "gag" unfolded in a really forced, constructed way that was predictable as well as unnatural, but to my relief I think that was about the only moment in the book when I rolled my eyes at the writing style. This book is funny, and Laurie Notaro is a genuinely good humorist. A lot of her issues I could not relate to (this will make me sound like a snob, and I am, but hey, at least I'm honest, right?), such as dieting (I honestly cringed when she talked about the way she ate, which can be blamed on my new found desire to be a nutritionist) and irresponsible spending (blame my parents), and some other very common things normal Americans face. But while I might not have related to several things, I can see how so many people out there do, which would make the appeal of this book all the greater. She does so well when it comes to vocalizing so much of what we're all really thinking, no matter how outrageous or inappropriate. That said, I can't imagine wanting to ever meet this woman, as much of what she says and does really isn't something to be proud of. But it was a fun read.

Ugh.

It is so frustrating to look for powerful female comedy writers, think you found a good one and then realize that to most people whiny equals funny.

This woman is just like your friend who makes REALLY poor decisions and then wonders why situations keep biting her in the ass. Her attitude is so poor, no wonder she has been "let go from 7 jobs." Well duh! You seem to spend your time attempting to complain 24/7 thinking that you're "funny" when all that comes across is "negative."

It's unfortunate too, because I live in Phoenix, and wanted to support someone from the area, I understood where she was coming from concerning various cities in our state. But NONE of that could redeem a book that is wasted on bitching masquerading as "comedy."

The first and last fabulous female comedy biography I have ever read was Tina Fey's Bossypants. This book was NOWHERE near a rival.

Blech. Thank GOD it's over.

Has it's funny momemts but i find the "storyline" way too repetitious.

This is the funniest book I have ever read! I am not the type of person who laughs out loud too often while reading a book or ever when I am alone..however..this book had me laughing out loud several times!

Why did Laurie Notaro resonate so well with me?

Well..I think this is basically due to the fact that I felt like everything she was saying was all the things that I think on a daily basis and all the commentary that goes on my head in regards to people and situations..except she is alot more hilarious and can write a hell of a lot better than I can.

Favorite line of the book (maybe because my best friend thinks it describes me to a T.):

(she is talking about how she is not a people person and how she is labeled as "mean" sometimes)

"Now, I really need to point out that I am not indiscriminately mean; I am not mean to people whenever the mean mood strikes me. I feel that I must be provoked first, although my husband disagrees. In all honesty, I really wouldn't even identify myself as a mean person; rather, I would classify myself as a Pointer-Outer of Extraordinary Acts of Incredible Foolishness and, on Occasion, Rudeness. Some people, including my husband, would call these experiences meltdowns, but I would rather consider them Opportunities to Enlighten."

I will read every book written by Laurie. I will!

I placed this in my comedy shelf, although really, doesn't something have to be funny to be considered comedic? I thought that was the rationale ;o)

I think this book's blurbs did it a disservice. Front cover claims:
"[Notaro] may be the funniest writer in this solar system." - The Miami Herald

Ahem.

Really?
Look, funny is subjective and all that, but 'funniest writer'? You're just setting yourself up for a downfall in having this splashed across the front of your book. And what's with the cover chosen? If ever an image did not match a book's content...

To me, the woman in the pic looks like she just lost someone or was diagnosed with some horrible disease. She certainly doesn't look like she's about to tell you hilarious true tales of a loudmouth girl.
But i know that the author probably didn't have anything to do with the choice of cover, so I'll just place the blame on that squarely with her publisher.

I gave it two stars because the last 3 or 4 stories in the book were amusing, but this collection is otherwise a miss.
I really wanted to like it and maybe her other more famous books are really great (haven't read them yet), but this one wasn't.

I laugh out loud every time I read this book, which is usually in public.