If you have ever felt lonely in a new town, or workplace, this is the book for you. Maye earnestly explores different avenues in search of friends in her new location. She finds a long string of characters and hilarious situations along the way. I needed this book after reading about polotics and murder mysteries for awhile.

I have half a dozen of Laurie Notaro's books on my bookshelf waiting for when I want to read something quick and witty. I was about to leave on vacation so I grabbed one thinking it would be perfect to read while gone since all of her previous books that I have read are personal anecdotal snippets that begin and end within a chapter. However, this one turned out to be a novel, but I ended up liking it quite a bit. It still had plenty of wit, sarcasm, and moments of outrageous/funny/inappropriate moments.

Some of the humor was definitely trying too hard in this book, and some of the scenes were a little too unbelievable, but overall it was a fun read -- and perhaps easier for me to relate to since I've made the move to an entirely new place myself. I think the heart of the book -- the importance of having meaningful friendships, and the struggle of trying to meet people in a new place -- feels authentic. I also appreciated that Maye wasn't afraid to be silly and laugh at herself in the pageant instead of suddenly discovering some remarkable innate talent for opera or something.

Uneven, but worth a read for true Idiot Girls (Notaro fans.)

The plot hits its stride about halfway into the book, and I did enjoy it. But the first half reads like a fictionalized rehash of Ms. Notaro’s non-fiction work (particularly “The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death.”) I know – that sounds like it would be great, but the actual end product is a bit disconcerting (its counterintuitive, but one woman musing about her chub rub is hysterical, a town full of people discussing chub rub – less so.)

When I realized this was a novel instead of Laurie Notaro's usual wacky memoirs, I was a little skeptical. However, it turned out to be humorous and engaging. If you've read her other books, you can definitely tell that there is a lot of Laurie in her main character. Incidentally, if Laurie is ever doing a reading in your area, it is definitely worth attending.

Laurie Notaro is hilarious. This is the first (and only) fiction novel I've read by her; maybe it's the only one she's written. But it is still written in her voice and style, and I had a hard time separating the main character from Laurie herself. It is about a young couple who moves to a new town several hundred miles away from their former home, and the wife's struggles to make friends and find acceptance. Having moved a couple of times myself, I could certainly relate. If you don't have young children, it is often hard to find a way to break into a social circle. Luckily, I've never had to resort to the craziness this poor woman has to!

Theres A Slight Chance I Might Be Going To Hell" wasn't amazingly written, but Laurie Notaro did make it easy to create a vivid picture in my head. Her over the top explanations and descriptions often left me giggling to myself. Maye is the perfect protagonist because you sympathize with all the quirky, awkward and embarrassing situations she gets herself into, but you also can't help but laugh at her for doing it to herself....in most circumstances. If I made enemies like Maye seems to so easily do... you better believeI would become the biggest hermit around, yet she just kept on trying to desperately make freinds. It's hard for almost anyone to leave behind the life they know and go somewhere new...but she is almost sabotaged every step of the way. The small town adventures and mysteries keep the pages turning, looking for answers and seeing the next crazy situation Maye will get herself involved with. This is really a story about a very awkward woman and her desperation to have freinds. Everything from the book club, to the pageant and the little old lady she befriends is kooky and makes the town come to life. This book wasn't a timeless literary masterpiece by any means, but it was pretty dang funny!

I picked this book up because I'd been searching for Confessions of a Fat Bride but no one ever seems to have it in stock.

I have several complaints:

Notaro's writing style is gimmicky. I can't think of a better word, unfortunately. Her jokes are all formulaic a la Family Guy, but Family Guy still gets a chuckle or more out of me at least once per episode in spite of the obvious plot device being used over and over again. It reads like it written by an adolescent boy, which is an odd choice of style for a book about a thirty-something woman.

The author spends the entire novel talking smack about nearly every person the main character meets. She bases her statements on tired stereotypes. It feels like the whole story is a not-so-veiled attempt at poking fun at liberals, even though the main character doesn't identify herself as conservative or republican. It makes me call into question the intentions of the author.

And making fun of vegetarians and liberals isn't the way to win my affections. She even went so far as to imply that all people who recycle are overzealous paranoids. Not even old people were left alone. She made fun of them for simply being old.

I don't know. This one totally rubbed me the wrong way.

I was really disappointed in this book. I love Laurie's short stories, and was excited for her first fiction novel. I didn't really like anything about it...it was too silly for me.
I am a person who will finish any book I start, even if I don't like it, so I did read the whole thing. Just wasn't very happy with it.

To appreciate this novel you need to read Notaro’s collections of short stories, she’s hilarious. And if you’re familiar with the Slug Queen in Eugene (Oregon) you’ll really love this book.
When Maye Roberts's husband, Charlie, gets a tenure-track job at prestigious Spaulding University, childless, 30-something Maye leaves her tight-knit group of friends and job as a Phoenix reporter to move to the school's eponymous Washington State burg. While Charlie fits in easily, Maye, after a faculty dinner run-in with Dean Spaulding's wife, Rowena, feels lonely and bored. When she learns about the Sewer Pipe Queen pageant, a local tradition that guarantees the winner a town full of friends, she enters with her singing dog, inflaming Rowena further. As tensions thicken, Maye's rather notorious pageant sponsor, Ruby, may hold the key to Rowena's continuing rage and to the decades-old incident that sparked it. This book is filled with the same winningly acerbic riffs that drive Notaro's popular essays.

Already I am disappointed by the overwrought overwriting and the constipated way sentences are constructed in this story. I'd probably like it a lot better if the author (whose name I haven't even bothered to remember) didn't work so hard at trying to make me like it. But I can be contrary that way, too. Anyway, I won't finish this book which is in perfect condition. If you'd like a go at it, let me know what you have to swap and let's see if we can't find something better for each of us.

Laurie Notaro is a comedic natural. I saw her at a reading a Changing Hands last year and she had the crowd laughing in their chairs. The book will have the same effect on you. The title alone gives you an idea of what you're in for. This is the story of Maye, who uproots her life in Phoenix to follow her husband to a new job in Oregon. Once there, she is determined to find friends but it's not as easy as it might seem. You'll laugh out loud at her zany attempts to try to fit in with the eclectic locals of the town. -Rossan S.