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kellnels55's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.25
labunnywtf's review against another edition
1.0
Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
I love good southern humor. We bless hearts and sip sweet tea and smile sweetly as we mention that your outfit is so daring, we could never pull that off.
This is not good southern humor.
This doesn't even come close to good southern humor.
I believe Helen Ellis is probably a fantastic oral story teller. When you tell a funny story in person, you get to embellish, make hand gestures, enunciate different words. The presentation of a funny story is far more important than the story itself.
In person, maybe the story of Helen accidentally mistaking someone else's $800 coat for her own $800 coat is hysterical. But there's no umph to this story. She calls two people, confirms it's not their coat, then she and her husband go to a store to buy a $1200 coat to make her feel better about her belief that the coat she has is not her own.
This story is a lot of things, but funny isn't one of them.
Same for the story of a friend's husband's tale of a three-way he witnessed. That sounds like an amazing set up, but too much time is spent dissecting the husband's story telling method, and the wife's response to hearing the same story repeatedly.
That is not humor. It's barely story telling in itself.
The only story I enjoyed was Serious Women, wherein Helen sits in the courtroom while her friend prosecutes a woman who murdered a former high school classmate and cut her baby out, pretending it was hers.
There was no humor in this story. There wasn't supposed to be. And the story telling itself wasn't particularly good. But I kept thinking, "Damn, did someone write a book about this? Because I would read it."
Then I set this book down and started googling the news story.
This is not a good book. There's no Southern Lady Code word for that. It's just bad.
I love good southern humor. We bless hearts and sip sweet tea and smile sweetly as we mention that your outfit is so daring, we could never pull that off.
This is not good southern humor.
This doesn't even come close to good southern humor.
I believe Helen Ellis is probably a fantastic oral story teller. When you tell a funny story in person, you get to embellish, make hand gestures, enunciate different words. The presentation of a funny story is far more important than the story itself.
In person, maybe the story of Helen accidentally mistaking someone else's $800 coat for her own $800 coat is hysterical. But there's no umph to this story. She calls two people, confirms it's not their coat, then she and her husband go to a store to buy a $1200 coat to make her feel better about her belief that the coat she has is not her own.
This story is a lot of things, but funny isn't one of them.
Same for the story of a friend's husband's tale of a three-way he witnessed. That sounds like an amazing set up, but too much time is spent dissecting the husband's story telling method, and the wife's response to hearing the same story repeatedly.
That is not humor. It's barely story telling in itself.
The only story I enjoyed was Serious Women, wherein Helen sits in the courtroom while her friend prosecutes a woman who murdered a former high school classmate and cut her baby out, pretending it was hers.
There was no humor in this story. There wasn't supposed to be. And the story telling itself wasn't particularly good. But I kept thinking, "Damn, did someone write a book about this? Because I would read it."
Then I set this book down and started googling the news story.
This is not a good book. There's no Southern Lady Code word for that. It's just bad.
cecarson's review against another edition
1.0
I have no idea how this ended up on my “want to read” list and now I’m questioning my own judgment. Only listened to the whole audiobook because it was super short.
mlemma's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Very helpful for the socially inept!
novelvisits's review against another edition
4.0
My Thoughts: I want to be friends with Helen Ellis! After listening to her narrate her own essays, I feel like I know Helen and that we’d have great fun hanging out together, plus i could learn a thing or two from her. I tend to be a little blunt in expressing my own opinions, but Helen always uses the “Southern Lady Code” to say something not very nice. In this way she says something that initially appears to be very nice, very polite, but may leave the recipient a little muddled on what Helen really meant. I just can’t think that fast on my feet!
All her essays were hilarious, whether on serious topics like supporting a friend who was prosecuting a tough case, or Helen’s own attempts at becoming a pot smoker. She had me laughing out loud over and over. I’d highly recommend listening to this one as the author’s own expressive voice added greatly to my enjoyment. Grade: B+
For more reviews and bookish news: https://novelvisits.com/
Note: I received a copy of this book from Doubleday (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
All her essays were hilarious, whether on serious topics like supporting a friend who was prosecuting a tough case, or Helen’s own attempts at becoming a pot smoker. She had me laughing out loud over and over. I’d highly recommend listening to this one as the author’s own expressive voice added greatly to my enjoyment. Grade: B+
For more reviews and bookish news: https://novelvisits.com/
Note: I received a copy of this book from Doubleday (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
ashleysweitz's review against another edition
more of a caricature, reads for non Southerners, also some weird stereotyping of queers
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
squirrelsohno's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
A quick read with some humor, but also some weird fetishization of gay men, a weird essay about rooting for the prosecution at the trial because the prosecutor was her friend (and clearly against the defendant, mocking her apologies and remorse over what she did as "that was some bullshit"), and other stuff. I know her viewpoint as a southern lady who comes from a higher class than the vast majority of those in the south, but even in New York, there is just stuff that she finds as funny and an object of humor that is off-putting.
bailey_bea's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like Southern Lady Code, but it just wasn't happening. It reads more like "look at what an interesting life I lead!" than a collection of humorous essays about being southern or what it's like to be a southern women. As a southern woman, this was frustrating.
The book's description describes it as a "fiercely funny collection of essays." It is not. I have no doubt Ellis is funny in other venues and maybe in her other books. She also seems like she's fun at parties. But this book fell flat.
The only part of Southern Lady Code I really liked was the chapter about her mom. I think I could read a whole book about her parents.
The book's description describes it as a "fiercely funny collection of essays." It is not. I have no doubt Ellis is funny in other venues and maybe in her other books. She also seems like she's fun at parties. But this book fell flat.
The only part of Southern Lady Code I really liked was the chapter about her mom. I think I could read a whole book about her parents.