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A review by arielle_reads
Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life by Laurie Notaro
5.0
ME: How are you, Colleen?
COLLEEN: I had chickens once. They were torn limb from wing by raccoons.
ME: You invited murder into your backyard. I’m sorry, that is not sad. But please remember to make sure you take whatever tortilla chip you touch. You have mouse shit hands. And most likely the hantavirus. Again, please stop touching all the chips.
This book was nothing like I expected. I ordered it for my library and the cover caught my eye when it arrived. Since the cover was a picture of woman covered in flour and the title reads, “Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life” I laughed to myself and picked up it. There have been so many books lately on keeping your house tidy and I just thought this would be more refreshing for who I am as a person. Having not read anything else by Notaro, I was COMPLETELY not prepared for how hilarious she is. Instead of this being some boring book about a person’s boring tale of an untidy house, it’s a bunch of short stories from her life. Most of them related to her having an untidy house, but every single story was so engrossing.
“Laurie? What is this? It’s pink—It’s not pink? What the hell color is it then? Dad says it’s peach. I don’t think it’s peach. You’re crazy, this is peach? Go back upstairs. I’m leaving a message, Jimmy. Anyway, your father found it in your room and we think it may be your underwear. It’s long for underwear, though. It looks like it has legs. At first Dad thought it was a pile of skin. Jimmy, I said go back upstairs. Anyway, it’s here. In case you are missing…skin. Yeah. I don’t really like touching it. Don’t ask me to mail it. I’m not sending underwear through the mail. That’s illegal.”
They jumped around time frame wise and none of the stories flowed together but I actually liked that. Each story was just a small snippet from her life, and all of them had me dying with laughter. You learn about her life in Eugene, Oregon, her hilarious interactions with neighbors and people in general, and her Italian heritage (there are a few recipes in there that I really want to try!). This is a fun, quick read about the untidy-ness of everyday life and I know without a doubt that I will be checking the rest of her books out ASAP.
Don’t waste time on books that suck. You have my absolute permission to abandon a book or movie that is not lighting you on fire.
COLLEEN: I had chickens once. They were torn limb from wing by raccoons.
ME: You invited murder into your backyard. I’m sorry, that is not sad. But please remember to make sure you take whatever tortilla chip you touch. You have mouse shit hands. And most likely the hantavirus. Again, please stop touching all the chips.
This book was nothing like I expected. I ordered it for my library and the cover caught my eye when it arrived. Since the cover was a picture of woman covered in flour and the title reads, “Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life” I laughed to myself and picked up it. There have been so many books lately on keeping your house tidy and I just thought this would be more refreshing for who I am as a person. Having not read anything else by Notaro, I was COMPLETELY not prepared for how hilarious she is. Instead of this being some boring book about a person’s boring tale of an untidy house, it’s a bunch of short stories from her life. Most of them related to her having an untidy house, but every single story was so engrossing.
“Laurie? What is this? It’s pink—It’s not pink? What the hell color is it then? Dad says it’s peach. I don’t think it’s peach. You’re crazy, this is peach? Go back upstairs. I’m leaving a message, Jimmy. Anyway, your father found it in your room and we think it may be your underwear. It’s long for underwear, though. It looks like it has legs. At first Dad thought it was a pile of skin. Jimmy, I said go back upstairs. Anyway, it’s here. In case you are missing…skin. Yeah. I don’t really like touching it. Don’t ask me to mail it. I’m not sending underwear through the mail. That’s illegal.”
They jumped around time frame wise and none of the stories flowed together but I actually liked that. Each story was just a small snippet from her life, and all of them had me dying with laughter. You learn about her life in Eugene, Oregon, her hilarious interactions with neighbors and people in general, and her Italian heritage (there are a few recipes in there that I really want to try!). This is a fun, quick read about the untidy-ness of everyday life and I know without a doubt that I will be checking the rest of her books out ASAP.
Don’t waste time on books that suck. You have my absolute permission to abandon a book or movie that is not lighting you on fire.