There were parts of this made me chuckle. Enjoyable, and I'll look for other books that Notaro has written.

If being funny gets you sent to hell, Laurie Notaro is destined for the deepest, most hilarious corner of the netherworld. The story itself pulls you along like walking down a gorgeous beach, which is plenty for any novel, but Notaro has strewn the path with little humorous gems in nearly every paragraph. Lots of fun!

Review of the Book
I have often seen books by Ms Notaro reviewed both here on GR and on Amazon, as well as in the library, but I had never actually picked one up. But all I can say now is what the heck have I been missing by not reading her. Since this is her first novel and the rest of her writing is non-fiction humor, I don't know if that will change my perception of the writing, but I hope not. This book focuses on Mae, who moves to a small town following her husband getting a new job and a small college and her search to find new friends. There were definately many laugh out loud moments, but if you don't have a dirty/ slightly corrupt sense of humor, I don't know if you will enjoy it as much.

Review of Narration
Not only was this my first book by Notaro, this is the first time i've listened to a narration by Susan Denaker, but it def. won't be the last. She had an ability to accent the funny parts in a way that i'm sure had my co-workers looking at me like I was nuts when I started laughing in my cubical.

I wanted to like this book more but the author described every action, person, feeling as a metaphor in an attempt to be humorous. I would rather have it sprinkled in, not be overwhelmed by the endless runs. Instead of having some laugh out loud moments it got trite quick. I did like the friendship between Maye and Ruby and her talent number though.

I literally grabbed this book off the shelf at Target while gathering OTC meds. to keep sick kiddos comfortable. I usually comtemplate my reading choices more than that and even though I had never heard of the author, I was not disappointed.

The book was absolutely filled with humor and I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. At times, I thought the humor was a bit forced, but it was funny none-the-less. The characters were well developed and I found myself somewhat emotionally involved.

What a fun, fast read! Thirty-something lady with no kids has trouble making friends in a new hippie-dippie town. Odd hijinx ensue as she enters the town's all-inclusive (men, women, children, trannies) pageant in hopes of making friends. Thanks so much to Jenny for sending this my way.

loved it. laughed out loud at my grandson's swim lesson...fun and meaningful as well.

Worth the romp.

I was up and down in my feelings for this book. I really wanted to dislike it, then I really wanted to like it, and in the end...ehhh 3 stars is fairly generous.

As a former student of fiction in college, my impulse was to workshop the heck out of this thing, making notes in the margins like "Oh, this really doesn't work," and "Way too much exposition!"

The jokes were funny...sometimes, but just came off as judgmental and cruel at other times, ultimately making me unsure if I liked the protagonist, or if I just liked her better than the villainous Rowena. I could tell the author was trying to throw in a little bit of this "Hey, love me, I'm insecure!" to bring us around as Maye fans, but the detours into jokey one-liners seemed to really take away from feelings of compassion and sympathy I might have had for her and left me thinking "REALLY? Get on with it!" I also was unsure if her husband really liked her and felt genuinely surprised when he appeared in the text rooting for her so wholeheartedly.

The heart of the story did not appear until nearly 2/3 into the book. 2/3! It was not a terribly long book, but the story-- a good story!--was simply buried under superfluous tangents. Once I got to that part, I read straight through. I even stayed up until the crack of 11 pm (on a week night, you know) to finish it, even though I had basically figured out "whodunnit?" and then some before the plot ever "turned," though gentle curves, might be more of an adequate description.

Ultimately, I am not sorry I read it and I doubt it will ever be great literature, but I think it could have been vastly improved with a sharp editor. But if it's a little fun you're after and you don't care if a pesky little thing like sentence structure and freight-train-sized metaphors are constantly running you over...go for it.

Funny and full of stories of the characters move to a small town which is especially entertaining if you happen to live in one!

This is a very witty tongue-and-cheek book. The main part of the book takes place in hippy Washington in the current time and is about the struggle of a newcomer to fit in and make friends. She really tries everything in the book, and at every turn something terrible happens. So for a last ditch effort she enters the town's beauty pageant. In doing so she uncovers the town's greatest secret. This book is one that I found so hard to put down and found myself laughing out loud. I truly recommend this book to everyone who has some time off to read and wants a easy, fun book.

Funny original book that follows a middle age woman trying to fit in to a new community. My original review was much better but I lost it!