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vll295's review against another edition
I AM EXCITED TO BE HERE TODAY TO BRING YOU ANOTHER BETTY MCDONALD BOOK. THIS BOOK CONTINUED THE MINDSET OF A QUIRKY, FUN READ AND I ENJOYED IT MUCH LIKE THE OTHER TWO. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ OR LISTENED TO ANYTHING BY BETTY MCDONALD, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO CHECK IT OUT!
IN THIS BOOK, WE PICK UP FOLLOWING THE EGG AND I. THINGS ARE STILL NOT EASY FOR BETTY AND HER FAMILY FOLLOWING THE GREAT DEPRESSION. THAT SAID, SHE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY TO LAUGH AT HERSELF AND THE SITUATIONS SHE GETS IN.
I ENJOY THE NARRATOR OF THIS BOOK AND HAVE ENJOYED THE PROGRESSION OF THESE BOOKS. THANKS JESS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE PART OF THIS TOUR!
IN THIS BOOK, WE PICK UP FOLLOWING THE EGG AND I. THINGS ARE STILL NOT EASY FOR BETTY AND HER FAMILY FOLLOWING THE GREAT DEPRESSION. THAT SAID, SHE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY TO LAUGH AT HERSELF AND THE SITUATIONS SHE GETS IN.
I ENJOY THE NARRATOR OF THIS BOOK AND HAVE ENJOYED THE PROGRESSION OF THESE BOOKS. THANKS JESS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE PART OF THIS TOUR!
scarletohhara's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed reading this book and everything Betty has to say on that playful tone she uses to talk about how Mary would put her in circumstances saying ‘anybody can do anything’.
The love this author shares with her family is adorable - mother and Mary feel very inspiring and I enjoyed the narration of the travails of finding jobs in the middle of the depression.
The love this author shares with her family is adorable - mother and Mary feel very inspiring and I enjoyed the narration of the travails of finding jobs in the middle of the depression.
19paws's review against another edition
4.0
Not only do I love this book, but I love my copy of this book. It was published by The Book Club at 121 Charing Cross Road, London W.C2 in 1951 and was the property of the Garrowhill Post Office Library in Scotland. (Thank you paperbackswap!)
This covers the period in Betty MacDonald’s life that falls between The Egg and I and The Plague and I, and takes place during the 1930s. It’s funny like all of MacDonald’s books, and also very cozy. Leaving behind her husband and her lonely life on an isolated dreary chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula, Betty is thrilled to be bringing her two daughters home to Seattle where she will move back in with her mother, three sisters and a brother. Theirs is a somewhat quirky, warm, and supportive family headed by Mother, who “with one folding chair and a plumber’s candle, could make the North Pole homey.”
Most of the book chronicles Betty's succession of clerical jobs, none of which she is qualified for and all found by her older sister Mary whose slogan downtown is “Just show me the job and I’ll produce a sister to do it.” Mary dismisses the fact that none of her sisters know typing or shorthand, since what employers are really looking for are secretaries who “act like executives.” Mary manages to get the family through the depression (she even decides that their mother is the perfect person to write a daily radio show) and was largely instrumental in getting Betty to write The Egg and I.
This was warm, funny and charming. Now I want to track down the books written by Mary.
This covers the period in Betty MacDonald’s life that falls between The Egg and I and The Plague and I, and takes place during the 1930s. It’s funny like all of MacDonald’s books, and also very cozy. Leaving behind her husband and her lonely life on an isolated dreary chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula, Betty is thrilled to be bringing her two daughters home to Seattle where she will move back in with her mother, three sisters and a brother. Theirs is a somewhat quirky, warm, and supportive family headed by Mother, who “with one folding chair and a plumber’s candle, could make the North Pole homey.”
Most of the book chronicles Betty's succession of clerical jobs, none of which she is qualified for and all found by her older sister Mary whose slogan downtown is “Just show me the job and I’ll produce a sister to do it.” Mary dismisses the fact that none of her sisters know typing or shorthand, since what employers are really looking for are secretaries who “act like executives.” Mary manages to get the family through the depression (she even decides that their mother is the perfect person to write a daily radio show) and was largely instrumental in getting Betty to write The Egg and I.
This was warm, funny and charming. Now I want to track down the books written by Mary.
misajane79's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite authors--and the only one of her non-fiction books that I hadn't yet read.
Wish that the stories were a bit more linear (there was a bit of bouncing around), but it is laugh out loud funny and a great perspective on the Great Depression.
Everyone should read Betty.
Wish that the stories were a bit more linear (there was a bit of bouncing around), but it is laugh out loud funny and a great perspective on the Great Depression.
Everyone should read Betty.
rsehrlich's review against another edition
4.0
Anybody Can Do Anything is the most unfocused of the Betty MacDonald memoirs and not quite as engaging as the rest. However, this is completely made up for by Chapter 16, Let Nothing You Dismay, which is (in my opinion) one of the funniest things ever written. I first read Betty’s memoirs 12 years ago and still routinely go back to this chapter. Almost eighty years after this book was published, Betty still has me wondering what on Earth was going on with Dorita Hess.
heyjude1965's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve loved all her memoirs. This is the final one. In this book, Betty tells about her life following the events that took place in The Egg and I (her first memoir). I found it fascinating how much life HASN’T changed since the Great Depression, which is when this book takes place. She could be talking about things that happened yesterday instead of nearly 100 years ago! Funny how this is still so relatable! Listened to on audio.
5elementknitr's review against another edition
5.0
I believe this is the last of the Betty MacDonald memoir books, and that makes me sad.
She makes me laugh so much!
If anyone ever believes sexual harassment in the workplace is not a thing - well, how's that feigned ignorance goin' for ya? And also, read this book. She talks about it in a lighthearted way, but I was increasingly horrified by how casual and EXPECTED it all was! She does make it clear that she did NOT enjoy any of it and NONE of it was ok. Seriously, fuck those guys.
With these books, one should read it within context of the time. Betty talks about how she's not a racist, but occasionally she'll say things like "mighty white of him" or other racist sayings of the time. I guess I should apply that warning to the sexual harassment as well. I'm still working on me.
I love her sister's confidence and take-no-shit approach to all the jobs she had.
I pretty much love this family all to pieces.
She makes me laugh so much!
If anyone ever believes sexual harassment in the workplace is not a thing - well, how's that feigned ignorance goin' for ya? And also, read this book. She talks about it in a lighthearted way, but I was increasingly horrified by how casual and EXPECTED it all was! She does make it clear that she did NOT enjoy any of it and NONE of it was ok. Seriously, fuck those guys.
With these books, one should read it within context of the time. Betty talks about how she's not a racist, but occasionally she'll say things like "mighty white of him" or other racist sayings of the time. I guess I should apply that warning to the sexual harassment as well. I'm still working on me.
I love her sister's confidence and take-no-shit approach to all the jobs she had.
I pretty much love this family all to pieces.