Enjoyable and funny, but I liked some of her other memoirs better.

Totally hysterical and irreverent! I loved it and can't wait to read another one of hers.

Laurie Notaro's work is the best place to turn to for comic relief. Her sarcasm is to be admired! She writes about the absurdity of life and all the lameness that comes our way. If you are looking for a book to give a girl friend of yours as a gift - turn to Laurie.

In Laurie Notaro's 2nd book, (the first being "The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club") Laurie tells stories of preparing to get married and then stories after the wedding. Although the first book was hilarious with totally random stories, the first part of the book choronologically tells about getting ready for the wedding and then the wedding itself. After that, the rest of the book is full of random true tales, much like the first book. Because the subject of weddings often bores me, I was not a fan of the first part of the book and was utterly dissapointed. It wasn't as funny and I was ready to quit reading. However, I am glad that I held out, because the essays following the wedding are back to the side-splittingly funny Laurie Notaro that I love!

The title is unfortunate because it would lead you to believe these are all stories about wedding prep horror. All the stories though are laugh-out-loud-funny. I recognized myself (and most women will at some point) in so many of the chapters. I even found myself reading some aloud to my husband, which I never do, and recommending the book to my sister, which I also never do.

She puts groups of people down in an attempt to be funny. There is one chapter about being a bride and more chapters about buying and refurbishing her house

I laughed out load several times while reading this book. I needed the pick me up after my Birthday:( Anyway, I loved it, and want to read some of her other stuff. I could relate to her stories quite a bit.

Some of the chapters had me busting a gut laughing, the rest of the time I giggled like a maniac to myself. I read it the week I felt a cold coming on and I never did get sick. Thanks for the laughs, Laurie!

Probably more of a 3 1/2 star rating, but I just had to round down on this one.

I just finished Notaro's first book, The Idiot Girl's Action-Adventure Club, which was a fun series of quick little anecdotes that made me giggle quite a few times. I dug into this one (her second novel) right away and was instantly overcome by deja vu.

I'm pretty sure these books are collections of Notaro's writings she did for her column, and we can tell. She repeats herself a lot, recaps stories we read only minutes ago, and introduces people we already know. I guess that's fine if you don't want to read the books in order, but it gets a little dull.

I also thought this collection was lacking focus- she had her first book to give us all her really good stories, the ones she's probably been telling all her life to audiences who roar with laughter, and with her second book, I can already tell she's reaching for material. Since her first book did not cover her marriage at all, Autobiography of a Fat Bride could be considered her "marriage humor" book, but then why the hell did we get a story about a creepy Halloween birthday party right after the wedding tale?

But I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the book. I was laughing throughout the book, especially at Notaro's husband, who seems totally awesome, and how they put up with each other's bullshit. But I'm just having trouble understanding how Notaro has nearly a dozen books that follow the same vein. How many stories can one woman have about her life? And I hope she starts learning from her little mistakes--the made-up dialogue, the run-on endings, etc.

You're a funny lady, Notaro, but I've got my eye on you.

I'm busy with school these days so my luxury reading time is limited. Generally I have my nose in a textbook! Because my "goof off" time is so rare, and often disjointed (snatches of time here and there over a period of months), I need a luxury read I can easily pick up and put down. This book fit the bill. Each installment is meant to stand alone and is a small window into Notaro's wacky, wonderful, weird, and highly amusing world. This book had me crying from laughter at one point. She is an author that sees the world like I do, so I thoroughly enjoy her perspective on things!

I only gave it 4 stars for this reason: I felt one or two of the installments were a bit forced. Also, if you are someone who is going through a sincerely big crisis in your life, you may find her griping, and laughing, about the ridiculous little inconveniences in life a bit annoying. Personally I thought they were hilarious, and I even had my co-workers doubled over laughing at the few passages. So if you're up for some giggles, pick up this book and enjoy.

I picked up this book by Laurie Notaro because I was in the process of writing my own set of humorous personal essays and was ruminating about just how far I could go. Writing about the people in your life (and by people, I mean a husband, mother, and/or mother-in-law) is an Evil Kneivel kind of thing to do in any case. It takes a certain amount of bravery and a deficit of common sense. Writing about loved ones with the goal of making readers laugh can be especially terrifying, and, like jumping over a moving truck on a rocket bike, stupid, stupid, stupid. Notaro helped me screw my courage to the sticking place. She doesn't shrink from gross bodily functions (hers and others), unredacted reporting of the outrageous things her mother says, and admitting her own messy emotions. I decided if being fearless and honest could also make me be this funny, I was in.

I reviewed one of her books about a week ago and gave it high marks. That book prompted me to get all her books from the library. I read this one quite quickly because it was that cute and just as wonderful as the last one. Great bath reading, actually. Funny, cute, and likeable - the author has a fantastic way of making fun of herself, along with everyone around her, without coming across as bitchy, annoying, or over the top. She just comes across as a truly honest person bumbling through life like the rest of us. Love love love this author. She makes you appreciate life for all its joy and all its ridiculousness . . .