I absolutely love Laurie Notaro and thought I had already read this book but, somehow, I missed it. This is filled with her trademark crazy observations and humor and her depictions of her family are always hilarious. I laughed out loud at work listening to the audiobook so I'm sure my co-workers think something is wrong with me. Looking forward to going through my TBR list to make sure I haven't missed any other of her books.

actually better than autobiography of a fat bride, which i enjoyed as well. this one had more laugh out loud moments and focuses mainly on her travails in the workplace and her efforts to get her first book published. (it also has a nice essay on her bad Kirkus review for her first book- which surprised me, as I rather enjoyed the Idiot Girl's..)

all in all, a very funny read written by a real, true woman with a savvy outlook

<3 More proof that I belong to the Idiot Girls' Club.

Laurie is not the girl with the perfect lipstick, great hair, and who walks in high heals all day. And neither am I.

Laurie has her pants explode while wearing them, has had them "Chub Rubbed" out, has had a dog in a bee suit take her job, and went to put out a fire in her backyard without a bra or pants. She's a hero among the girls who just can't get it right.

I got to page 60. Does that count as read? It was funny-ish, but I never felt like I HAD to get into my swimsuit and get out to the pool so I'd have an excuse to give. Which means this book is going onto the community bookshelves at work and hopefully someone there will love it more than me.

Funny person and situations. I actually like the author, but for me, there was nothing sustainable with this story to grab me and never let go.

Positives: Humorous situations that most people will be able to relate to.

Negatives: The humor never changes and is somewhat repetitive. A ton of exclamation points.

Some readers might love this book. It's just not for me.

I wanted to like this book more than I did in the end. At first, there were one or two parts that actually made me laugh out loud... But after awhile, Notaro's dense prose gets a little tedious. I've happily read Poe and even Joyce (okay, Joyce not as happily), but this author layers witty remark on joke on snide comment in a way that just isn't... fun. She seems more interested at times in cramming in every possible comment and funny viewpoint than in just making the journey fun for the reader. I find it a little self-involved, I guess. She IS funny and talented; I just wish she'd edit a little more.

In addition to that, the whole thing just gets a little snarky after awhile. And if you know me, consider the source when you weigh that comment.

I doubled over with laughter three or four times, driven to the point of tears and gasping for breath. I can't remember the last time I read a book that made me do that, and it made me so happy to know that words on a page could bring that out in me. However, in between those exceptionally funny bits, I just kind of felt like I was reading a book that was trying to be funny but was missing the mark. I would never expect anyone to be non-stop funny for over 200 pages, but it seemed that was the author's goal. She just fell a little short with me.

This book is fantastic - as a stressed out, neurotic, sarcastic bitch myself, I can totally relate to Laurie Notaro's take on the world. Her laughable, out there observations and quirky way of thinking left me feeling like "thank God I'm not alone" - definitely many, many laugh out loud moments. A great light read - a hysterically wonderful time!

DNF. Not funny.

I’d probably have rated it higher but I don’t really like non-fiction or short stories. Even funny ones, like these. It’s kinda like a pizza, the first couple of slices you have are like you’ve never tasted anything so good, then you start to slow down on the 3rd but you are still enjoying it, then you start the 4th and are like omg I’m so done, and the other half of the pie is like “blech, take this outta my sight, I’m done”.

This book is more of a collection of funny essays, some are hilarious and some made me cringe. The author is brutally honest and self-deprecating, which I can appreciate, but at times I just kind of shook my head like "Wow, did she really just go there?"
Overall, it was a quick, easy read and I will definitely read more of her work when I feel like reading something funny and lighthearted.

At times entertaining, but other times it felt as if the writer was trying too hard to be funny. My daughter stole my bookmark out of my book and rather than search for where I left off, I chose to end the book. I had about 4 more chapters to go. So, that should tell you everything!