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currerbell's review
5.0
Just like Life Among the Savages, I did not want this to ever end. I laughed out loud so many times and I now feel like Shirley is an old friend - the absolutely hilarious, witty, clever kind that is so rare to find.
ketutar's review against another edition
4.0
I don't like these books about her life and kids as much as I like her other books... she has chosen a very shattered way of telling, it's more short anecdotes with not much connection, and it's a bit hard to hang on to it.
It would pass well as a magazine serial.
I'd love it to be illustrated.
It would pass well as a magazine serial.
I'd love it to be illustrated.
beyadob's review against another edition
5.0
Ah, the joys and miseries of being a mother and wife, not particularly in that order. Shirley Jackson weaves her magic again - stronger this time - painting a picture of a chaotic household with memorable characters that revolve around the funny, interesting, insightful personality that is the author herself.
This reads almost like a sitcom, something that I'd love to watch on TV. There's a sense of nostalgia, a strong feeling of time gone away, of children growing up, of old sticky family photos in that dusty album kept away in a forgotten corner of the house. The charm overflows and keeps getting better as the book nears the end.
It was painful to reach the end, knowing I'd never meet Jackson's family again, that this is our final goodbye. And what a goodbye it is! I hope Shirley's having a grand time raising hell wherever she is in the afterlife.
This reads almost like a sitcom, something that I'd love to watch on TV. There's a sense of nostalgia, a strong feeling of time gone away, of children growing up, of old sticky family photos in that dusty album kept away in a forgotten corner of the house. The charm overflows and keeps getting better as the book nears the end.
It was painful to reach the end, knowing I'd never meet Jackson's family again, that this is our final goodbye. And what a goodbye it is! I hope Shirley's having a grand time raising hell wherever she is in the afterlife.
emilyinherhead's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Volume two of Shirley Jackson's memoirs: more shenanigans from her life raising four(!) young children. I enjoyed this one, but have to say that the previous volume, Life Among the Savages, edges this one out. Some of the stories here dragged on a little long and lost my attention.
declaired's review against another edition
4.0
I like to start on a positive note and I feel like the Highest Praise I can offer this (or many) books is that I read a scene about a Family Christmas and got the warm fuzzies. It's not too maudlin, too false, too sappy, too spiritual, too close to home - obv your mileage may vary but I'm always impressed when something pulls it off against my spiteful cynicism.
Can't decide if I like this book less than the first memoir (Life Among the Savages) because I read it as an audiobook (no disrespect intended to the narrator, who did an Amazing Job inflecting all the subtleties of the humor and had a great voice), because I read an article that had excerpts from Shirley Jackson's diary about how miserable her marriage was, or because a few of these stories are truly great at depicting an Insufferable husband (but, humorously. humorously?)
It's still a string of mid-century middle class white nuclear family anecdotes, and they are as familiar as television, charmingly relatable, and slyly snarky with the bite all-but-repressed. I like some of the stories quite a bit; I'm very charmed at my perceived insights into the Jackson family (whether or not these insights are true; this book omits quite a lot, not least SJ's own writing, and her family are caricatures as much as characters- I believe she put quite a few of her own words into her eldest son, Laurie's, mouth, just as much as I'm sure he's her favorite at the time of this writing).
Can't decide if I like this book less than the first memoir (Life Among the Savages) because I read it as an audiobook (no disrespect intended to the narrator, who did an Amazing Job inflecting all the subtleties of the humor and had a great voice), because I read an article that had excerpts from Shirley Jackson's diary about how miserable her marriage was, or because a few of these stories are truly great at depicting an Insufferable husband (but, humorously. humorously?)
It's still a string of mid-century middle class white nuclear family anecdotes, and they are as familiar as television, charmingly relatable, and slyly snarky with the bite all-but-repressed. I like some of the stories quite a bit; I'm very charmed at my perceived insights into the Jackson family (whether or not these insights are true; this book omits quite a lot, not least SJ's own writing, and her family are caricatures as much as characters- I believe she put quite a few of her own words into her eldest son, Laurie's, mouth, just as much as I'm sure he's her favorite at the time of this writing).
inesdalmeida's review against another edition
5.0
This book gave me so many warm smiley feelings, it’s hard to accept it’s over
Shirley Jackson truly has a way with words that will forever amaze me. She’s the queen of sarcasm I swear! The way she lets you in her world of comic situations and frustrations is just so unbelievably sarcastic that you cannot not smile to yourself at least (whilst laughing on the inside)
I was hesitant to read this book as well as its companion novel, because I often find autobiographical accounts of authors lives to sadden me due to my craving for a separation between the authors and their work; however, I am so glad I got over it and read this either way! It was upsetting at times to read about her frustrations in her daily life that she beautifully emphasised with sarcastic remarks and especially to read about her relationship with her husband (especially knowing about its problems already before starting these books), but the way she also shines some light onto what gave her joy is just very inspiring because at the end she was not fully happy or unhappy; she was just a normal person like us all whose life was full of dull and exciting and unhappy and happy moments
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes her fiction books and wants to feel part of her world
Shirley Jackson truly has a way with words that will forever amaze me. She’s the queen of sarcasm I swear! The way she lets you in her world of comic situations and frustrations is just so unbelievably sarcastic that you cannot not smile to yourself at least (whilst laughing on the inside)
I was hesitant to read this book as well as its companion novel, because I often find autobiographical accounts of authors lives to sadden me due to my craving for a separation between the authors and their work; however, I am so glad I got over it and read this either way! It was upsetting at times to read about her frustrations in her daily life that she beautifully emphasised with sarcastic remarks and especially to read about her relationship with her husband (especially knowing about its problems already before starting these books), but the way she also shines some light onto what gave her joy is just very inspiring because at the end she was not fully happy or unhappy; she was just a normal person like us all whose life was full of dull and exciting and unhappy and happy moments
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes her fiction books and wants to feel part of her world
manwithanagenda's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
After trying to put away some of her children's toys and finding nowhere to put them without displacing something else, our narrator (an idealized Shirley Jackson) realizes the family needs a new house. Just like 'Life Among the Savages', the surface of the book is wry and warm, but there are tremors under the surface. The children keep saying cryptic things, appearances are hard to maintain, and people are always watching, and our narrator can't help pointing out the inequities of her times. The children, too, are getting older and their personalities are gelling, leading to more complicated problems with their social lives and extra burdens their mother must accommodate. All of this is mined wonderfully for humor.
Moving to a new house, a crooked gatepost, a family vacation, a school play, a new pet, the forming of a little league, a contested car accident...there is no real plot and it could have started or ended at any point in the book, but through the little snapshots you get a good picture of the family. Jackson may not have been altogether happy in her home life, reports may have been exaggerated, it doesn't matter so much as she knew how to transform herself and her husband and her children into the image of an acceptably dysfunctional family and endearingly frustrating to each other.
This was designed to appeal to the readers of the women's magazines she sold the stories to, but the humor still feels fresh, and you'll laugh all the way through. It helps if you've lived in a small town. I also enjoyed the cat on the cover.
Previous: 'Life Among the Savages'
Moving to a new house, a crooked gatepost, a family vacation, a school play, a new pet, the forming of a little league, a contested car accident...there is no real plot and it could have started or ended at any point in the book, but through the little snapshots you get a good picture of the family. Jackson may not have been altogether happy in her home life, reports may have been exaggerated, it doesn't matter so much as she knew how to transform herself and her husband and her children into the image of an acceptably dysfunctional family and endearingly frustrating to each other.
This was designed to appeal to the readers of the women's magazines she sold the stories to, but the humor still feels fresh, and you'll laugh all the way through. It helps if you've lived in a small town. I also enjoyed the cat on the cover.
Previous: 'Life Among the Savages'