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60th out of 411 books
—
413 voters
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
by
Jean Kerr
Please Don't Eat the Daisies has sold millions of copies since its original publication in 1957. It became a film in 1960 starring David Niven and Doris Day, and a television series in 1965. Now you can hear why many consider Jean Kerr to be one of America's funniest writers. In this unique collection of essays, Kerr captures the perils of motherhood, wifehood, selfhood, a...more
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published
June 1st 1959
by Doubleday
(first published 1953)
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I humbly entreat everyone to go out and get some Jean Kerr books. Pretty please. She's so funny and timeless. One of the pieces here is about writers fleeing the City for the country and a chance to really Live. I don't know which books she may have been referring to, but it could have been published in the New Yorker in the past year, and it would suit. Some of the pieces mention the children, and the tone is quite similar to Shirley Jackson's Life Among the Savages / Raising Demons, which I al...more
Mar 13, 2010
Erik Graff
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Kerr fans
Recommended to Erik by:
Fin Graff
Shelves:
biography
In 1962 Mother, my brother and I took the freighter HMS Milora from Duluth-Superior to Bremenhaven, Germany and a flight from Bremen via Copenhagen to Olso, Norway in order to see our family there. Our base in Oslo was the duplex in which she grew up on Prestegardsv'n 1, near the new campus of the University.
I'd read all the books taken along at sea, that trip having taken several weeks owing to the locks and a German dock strike. That left me with little option but to search my grandparents' ho...more
I'd read all the books taken along at sea, that trip having taken several weeks owing to the locks and a German dock strike. That left me with little option but to search my grandparents' ho...more
1 like · like · see review
Like Erma Bombeck after her, Jean Kerr has a humorous cynicism toward motherhood and life. This is a collection of her articles from the 1950s, and it was interesting to contrast this with the history of Betty Crocker I read a while ago: the domesticity women related to and laughed at vs. the domesticity they felt they were supposed to have. And I remembered that June Cleaver really was a fictional character.
Granted, Kerr wasn't the typical suburban housewife. Her husband was a theater critic,...more
Granted, Kerr wasn't the typical suburban housewife. Her husband was a theater critic,...more
I was given this book as a gift for my birthday. Having seen the Doris Day movie that the book was based on I knew that I would enjoy it. Unfortuately, I had a lot of other books piled up to read and it took me a little while to get to it. I did eventually read it and found it very enjoyable and funny. I especially got a kick out of the author's thoughts on raising children. Sadly, the pressure I felt to get it read did take away part of the joy of reading it for me. I need to go back and watch...more
Nov 21, 2011
Valerie
added it
Long before Erma Bombeck moved next door to Bil Keane (cartoonist of The Family Circus), Jean Kerr was writing these essays in the gaps between playwriting and childrearing.
There are things she does well, others not so much. I didn't care for her rewriting of stories in different styles, although the one with Lolita and Humbert Humbert and the relationship counselor came off well.
I often can't remember which of Kerr's works a particular essay is in. I also have The Snake Has All The Lines and Pe...more
There are things she does well, others not so much. I didn't care for her rewriting of stories in different styles, although the one with Lolita and Humbert Humbert and the relationship counselor came off well.
I often can't remember which of Kerr's works a particular essay is in. I also have The Snake Has All The Lines and Pe...more
Sep 08, 2007
Nancy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who needs a good laugh!
I picked this up at a book sale thinking it may have been the book that inspired the TV show (am I old or what?). and I was right. It's based on Kerr's life with her husband - a college professor by day and a play critic by night; herself - a playwright; and their 4 children - all boys, 2 of which are twins. I love Kerr's ability to see humor in everyday mundane things like the family dog. "The first dog I remember well was a large black and white mutt that was part German Shepherd, part English...more
My favorite paragraph, because it's such a great description of my mother:
"My mother came to help us move. This was a great boon, except that there is something wrong with her metabolism. She is not able to work for more than nineteen hours without stopping. During this period she is sustained by nothing more than several gallons of hot tea, which she consumes while on the the top rungs of ladders or deep inside crates. By midnight, when I was ready to sob with fatigue, it was nothing for Mother...more
"My mother came to help us move. This was a great boon, except that there is something wrong with her metabolism. She is not able to work for more than nineteen hours without stopping. During this period she is sustained by nothing more than several gallons of hot tea, which she consumes while on the the top rungs of ladders or deep inside crates. By midnight, when I was ready to sob with fatigue, it was nothing for Mother...more
So I found this gem after watching the Doris Day movie with the same title and just happened upon the book in the stacks.
Let me tell you how much I love Jean Kerr's perspective and humour. She is hilarious!
If you are looking for something light and funny to read this here is the book for you. It is a collection of short essays about everything from parenting to diets, dogs that hate her, decorating her new house, to being married to a theatre critic and being a writer herself.
Let me tell you how much I love Jean Kerr's perspective and humour. She is hilarious!
If you are looking for something light and funny to read this here is the book for you. It is a collection of short essays about everything from parenting to diets, dogs that hate her, decorating her new house, to being married to a theatre critic and being a writer herself.
A classic of my childhood, I picked this up to read to my son and was amazed to discover just how much of it is not appropriate for kids, considering it's ostensibly about them. Still, Kerr's comedic voice is finely tuned, and I realized I owe her quite an unconscious debt in the development of my own writing style.
Plus, I was riveted at the news that the house she described not only exists but is just as weird as she said it was.
Plus, I was riveted at the news that the house she described not only exists but is just as weird as she said it was.
This is a book of essays I picked up at a small-town library book sale in Oregon. Most of the essays are on motherhood. The book and the author's life are the basis for the Doris Day classic by the same title. Many essays on motherhood get sappy, or sarcastic, or long-suffering. Jean Kerr got it just right. I would have loved to have been a visitor in her home. I'll definitely look for more essay compilations by her.
This book was so poorly OCRd by Google it became distracting enough to lose a star
I LOVE Jean Kerr. I am old enough to remember the sitcom with Patricia Crowly as the Mom and a big ol sheepdog as Lad a Dog. Kerr was a prolific comedic writer , living on Long Island. She did have 4 children. I LOVE the description of why she became a writer:so she could sleep till the crack of noon.
This is a short fun read.
I LOVE Jean Kerr. I am old enough to remember the sitcom with Patricia Crowly as the Mom and a big ol sheepdog as Lad a Dog. Kerr was a prolific comedic writer , living on Long Island. She did have 4 children. I LOVE the description of why she became a writer:so she could sleep till the crack of noon.
This is a short fun read.
This is definitely at the top of all of my book lists. It's just a series of short essays about the life of the mother of a family of four. But it looks at the funny side of life. Jean Kerr recognizes the parts of life that overwhelm us all and shows you that there's something to laughing through life. You don't ever think to tell your kids "Please don't eat the daisies"
This was a good read. I was kind of expecting a novel instead of articles. I loved the movie and saw it before I read the book. This was a copy my mom had and I finally got to read it. I was a little bummed it wasn't in novel format, but it was still an interesting read. I didn't really see a lot of humor in the book, but it was a read that made me smile.
I believe the short stories in this book were originally published as magazine articles. This means they're full of jokes and references that were very current at the time but are now just very dated. There were some funny bits, but as I am not a mother, playwright, wife of a critic, 1960's housewife, or New Yorker, a lot of it went over my head. Meh.
It was rather interesting hearing this book, which I haven't read in several years. I was amazed at how much I remember of it. As a result, I was quite distracted by the voice of the narrator of this audio-book (Marti Webb who, according to the blurb, is a "professional voice-over actress"). Her mellifluous tones were not quite what I imagined Jean Kerr's to be (having never actually heard Jean Kerr speak); in my head, I had always heard an edgier voice taking wry pauses in her essays on raising...more
Enjoyed this super fast read from 1957. Loved the Doris Day movie and the tv show too. I had recently seen a little blurb in the book section of the Sunday New York Times on the author Jean Kerr. It had been the 50 year anniversary (April 6, 1958) that the book was #1. Had to put it on my reading list and found a copy at a local book sale!!
I had loved the humor of Erma Bombeck and Nora Ephron, and Jean is just as fun!
Since this is an older book, Jean's references to the cost of items were worth...more
I had loved the humor of Erma Bombeck and Nora Ephron, and Jean is just as fun!
Since this is an older book, Jean's references to the cost of items were worth...more
This book was written about 20 years before I was born, but its humor is timeless! I read sections when I need a little pick-me-up of funniness, and this never fails to deliver. Jean's ability to bring out the humor in every day situations is fantastic, and her writing is very relatable.
Sep 12, 2009
Marjorie Campbell
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes Erma Bombeck.
Jean Kerr's collection of humor essays is a fun read. Many of the essays are unrelated to each other and a couple are esoteric with play critic humor that did not make much sense to me. But the essays on her family life are terrific.
My mom always had this sitting around on one bookcase or another when I was growing up. So of course I eventually read it, the way you do when you're a kid and you read whatever the folks have just to see what it's all about.
I actually have a 1962 paperback copy. Price was 35 cents!
I used to read this book over and over when I was a kid. I found it hilarious.
I especially liked how the author knew the family from the book Karen; they both lived in the same area.
I noted that on page 120 of my copy of Please Don't Eat the Daisies, there's a reference to "Karen." Actually, looked again and it's a reference to Karen's younger brother Rory.
Martha Blanchard's drawings are always entertaining and so is Jean Kerr's writing....more
I used to read this book over and over when I was a kid. I found it hilarious.
I especially liked how the author knew the family from the book Karen; they both lived in the same area.
I noted that on page 120 of my copy of Please Don't Eat the Daisies, there's a reference to "Karen." Actually, looked again and it's a reference to Karen's younger brother Rory.
Martha Blanchard's drawings are always entertaining and so is Jean Kerr's writing....more
Please Don't Eat the Daisies is a witty, colorful, well-written book about a woman's efforts to contain her four boys and her husband within the limits of sanity. It's definitely a must read!
Written for the 50's...not as witty and funny as stated...but I guess it may have been back in the day. The Doris Day movie may have been inspired by this book, but the movie was much more fun.
Precursor to Erma Bombeck. Breezy, airy style, quick read. Seriously covet the house. Interesting section on spanking.... this was, apparently before spanking was considered bad...
This book is definitely dated but has some funny moments and I appreciated her writing style. Quick read and focuses on being a wife and mother in the 50's.
I read this first when I was about 12, I guess. It was in that phase when I had finished every kid's book I could find (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Jr., Alcott, Stevenson, Dr. Doolittle, etc.) and somehow leaped up to "adult" books with no transition...I don't remember any YA books from my youth, jaded as it was. Anyway, I loved this as a child, bit now not so much. She is funny, yes, but in a kind of bland way. Of course, this feeling may be a result of re-reading Shirley Jackson's memoi...more
I laughed til I cried. Still have a dog eared copy that I pick up once in a while when I need to cheer myself up.
I thought this book was rather funny, it featured 15 short stories about the author's life during the 1950s.
Funny especially for the dated commentary yet the children's antics are timeless.
In 1981 I presented a monologue from this book to an audience of 60+...
I remember reading this as a young mother. Much needed laughs.
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Jean Kerr was an American author and playwright, best known for her humorous bestseller, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and the plays King of Hearts and Mary, Mary. She was married to drama critic Walter Kerr and was the mother of six children.
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“Dearer to me than the evening star
A Packard car
A Hershey bar
Or a bride in her rich adorning
Dearer than any of these by far
Is to lie in bed in the morning”
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9 people liked it
A Packard car
A Hershey bar
Or a bride in her rich adorning
Dearer than any of these by far
Is to lie in bed in the morning”
“The thing that worries me is that I'm so different from other writers. Connecticut is just another state to me. And nature - well, nature is just nature. When I see a tree whose leafy mouth is pressed against the earth's sweet flowing breast, I think, 'Well, that's a nice-looking oak,' but it doesn't change my way of life.
Now I'm not going to stand here and run down trees and flowers. Personally, I have three snake plants of my own, and in a tearoom I'm the first one to notice the geraniums. But the point is, I keep my head.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
Now I'm not going to stand here and run down trees and flowers. Personally, I have three snake plants of my own, and in a tearoom I'm the first one to notice the geraniums. But the point is, I keep my head.”
Apr 23, 2013 12:18pm
Apr 24, 2013 05:31am