Love her writing-- always good for a laugh!

I had never read anything by Laurie Notaro before and was intrigued by the title and a brief description of the book. One of my guilty pleasures is watching the tv show "Hoarders". I thought "Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life" would be the inside story of a hoarder. This was not to be. Laurie is a hilarious writer who writes short stories/essays much in the style of David Sedaris whom I love. I found myself laughing out load at Laurie's antics and her view of the world. I think she would be a great person to know. She made me laugh and made me rethink my hatred of slips - the first thing I gave up when I moved away from home. I would highly recommend reading Laurie Notaro's books. I know that I will be.

Just what I needed today. Laughed till I hurt & that was a good thing!

Whiny.

I think Laurie Notaro and I would be good friends.

I absolutely love Laurie Notaro! I have read 4 of her books now and really enjoyed them all. She has a crazy, quirky sense of humor that I can really relate to. She takes the mundane and blows it out of portion in ways a lot of think about but don't say or do. My favorite chapter in Housebroken was about her reading that "Tidy Life" book - laugh out loud funny. Although, from one Italian to another, I will have to debate her on a true Italian "gravy" recipe - why would you add a can of tomato SAUCE to your own homemade sauce recipe? - but I love that she carries on her Nana's tradition. I highly recommend this fun book when you need a light read.

I've read some heavy books, and some not-so-well-received books. Time for a book that can make me laugh!

Sometimes I get worried when I hear how funny an author is, or how amazing their books are. I don't have the best track record of liking books or authors that the general population thinks is amazing. I have numerous friends who adore David Sedaris, but I do not get his sense of humor. I am a big Jen Lancaster fan, and I have heard over and over how I should give Laurie Notaro a try, as they are similar. Those who recommended her swore up and down I would laugh. I don't know why I waited so long, but after years of hearing it, I gave in and tried Housebroken.

This was exactly what I needed - I laughed multiple times throughout the book. Each chapter was a new short story, and so it was easy to digest the small stories throughout my day, which helped me finish the book in one day.

Each story pertains to some part of Notaro's life - we start out with a story about her family and how she became somewhat of a hoarder. We move onto a story about her garage sale (which had me rolling). Stories of her dad joining Facebook, new neighbors moving in and discovering rats (which I had happen at an old house I used to live in - yuck!), discovering a butcher doesn't know how to do math, and hoarding dress supplies much in the same way I hoard writing notebooks.

One story was even topical, unbeknownst to Notaro, as she told a tale of her husband eating very expired food found in their pantry from her hoarding food in case of a pandemic. That's right folks. This book is current, even thought it was published in 2016!

While this book is a standalone (meaning you can read it without reading any other Notaro books), I do wish that I was able to read her books in order. With reading Jen Lancaster from the beginning in order, I can see how you can grow with the narrator and get to know them and their family. You then begin to get a sense that you are friends with the author, but not in that weird, creepy, stalker fashion.

I really enjoyed this, and with school just around the corner, I need any and all laughs I can get. Fans of Jen Lancaster, sarcasm and autobiographical tales - give this one a try!

I received this ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Really liked this--food, self-deprecating humor, body positivity. Just my flavor of humor.