A review by dianametzger
The Potty Mouth at the Table by Laurie Notaro

3.0

This is the first collection of Notaro's I've read and my feelings about it were mixed. Do I think she's funny? Absolutely. She has some lines that did make my laugh out loud while reading. Is she a good storyteller? Eh. She builds all her stories as if they're going to have some big climax and a lot of them don't..they build big and fizzle. Is this an uneven collection? Totally. I think there are some stories where Notaro shines and I think it's when the stories are super specific to her life--the antique roadshow, the red chair, the train incident, the hobo. The best story in the whole collection is the last one bc its finding humor in pain--it's less obvious. The casual observation stories: about the pharmacy, facebook, etc felt really stale. They felt more like one-off standup than a fleshed out story and felt like things I'd heard before. They felt tired. I don't care that the Safeway bathroom is gross and things that annoy her on facebook. I get that some people like those "I feel that too!" Moments but I think they happen and feel far more earned when they come from a specific, unique place.