The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation
by Elizabeth Berg
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
Toni
I am not a fan of the short story genre. I don't like becoming emotionally invested in characters only to have them leave me a few pages later. (No, I do not have abandonment issues.) But, heck, I'd read the back of a cereal box if it was written by Elizabeth Berg. Fortunately, I was not disappointed and only a bit miffed at the brief time spent with her characters.
This is most definitely a women's book but it is NOT chick lit. The collection of stories are not light, romantic fluff. Rather ...more
This is most definitely a women's book but it is NOT chick lit. The collection of stories are not light, romantic fluff. Rather ...more
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recommends it for:
Women Walking Fast
A great quote from the last page of the last story: "But time does not hold still, and Rita thinks now that it's a blessing, she thinks that what it means is that your life is free to make or unmake every day." The women in these short stories all consider making or unmaking their average lives in some way - a widow changes the course of her life by trading in orthopedic shoes for kitten heels and a trip to Vegas, a woman tries desperately to hide from her grown family in a closet at T...more
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Read in April, 2008
I'm just not a short story person. Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite writers but even she, with her considerable talents, cannot make me one. This was an enjoyable book though the pace was sort of uneven. Some stories were great, some good and a couple just OK. I found the great ones: Full Count, Rain, Mrs. Ethyl etal, and Truth or Dare frustrating because my time with the characters was too short. I wanted them to have their own books. As for the rest, I guess I would just rather be en...more
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Read in July, 2008
I enjoyed listening to the author read these stories. As with most short story collections, some of the stories were better than others. In particular, I enjoyed the story that was a letter reading a recipe for making apple pie and the story about Michael. I think I enjoyed listening to these stories more than I would have liked reading them -- the author reading them aloud made them feel like a conversation with a favorite aunt or an old friend.
I also was glad to hear a shout out to Nora...more
I also was glad to hear a shout out to Nora...more
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Read in May, 2008
For some reason, I had this idea in my head that Berg had ventured into non-fiction and this was a collection of essays by various authors. Perhaps this was a factor in my extreme disappointment in this book, but I owe it more to the indiscriminate nature of the charachters. Several stories referenced Weight Watchers, which made it feel like an advertisement and dated. Only the last story really moved me in any way.
Elizabeth Berg is a fast read-I don't go in looking for substance. Had it ...more
Elizabeth Berg is a fast read-I don't go in looking for substance. Had it ...more
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Read in July, 2008
Elizabeth Berg does an amazing job of getting into the heads of various female characters in this melange of short stories. Although each story is brief, Berg succeeds where others fail in capturing her readers' undivided attention. What I particularly like about Berg's writing style is how relaxed and unforced it is - it is almost as if she is telling you the stories instead of you reading them, such is the conversational tone of her prose. I also love how ordinary and honest her characters a...more
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Read in June, 2008
There are thirteen stories in this collection. I enjoyed reading all of them. My two favorites were:
Rain, about a guy who gives up the rat race to live a simpler life.
The Only One of Millions Just Like Him, about letting go of a beloved elderly dog.
With Elizabeth Berg, I always find something to enjoy, even in the stories I can't relate to. She makes observations about humans and life in general that are amusing or profound or both. You think to yourself, "Oh...more
Rain, about a guy who gives up the rat race to live a simpler life.
The Only One of Millions Just Like Him, about letting go of a beloved elderly dog.
With Elizabeth Berg, I always find something to enjoy, even in the stories I can't relate to. She makes observations about humans and life in general that are amusing or profound or both. You think to yourself, "Oh...more
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Yeah, more stories about dieting, making peace with one's body, etc., etc. However, did it stop me from reading? No.
Every time I feel ashamed for liking--and sometimes even loving--Elizabeth Berg (a couple of her books have been made into Lifetime movies--what's that tell ya?), I think of how Augusten Burroughs loves her too. It's coffee-clatch reading--easy, kinda sweet sometimes, sorta fluffy but not stupid and sometimes even kinda funny.
I hate when she writes about old people though,...more
Every time I feel ashamed for liking--and sometimes even loving--Elizabeth Berg (a couple of her books have been made into Lifetime movies--what's that tell ya?), I think of how Augusten Burroughs loves her too. It's coffee-clatch reading--easy, kinda sweet sometimes, sorta fluffy but not stupid and sometimes even kinda funny.
I hate when she writes about old people though,...more
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A collection of stories about everyday life that addresses dieting and aging. Delicious food represents all those things we want. We eat while what we really want is love, recognition or even limits to boredom. It is at times laugh-out-loud funny. I especially loved the story about the woman meeting her first love after many, many years. So much of that story rang true. I laughed out loud at the half dollar bill - reminded me of "My Summer With George". We women do it to ourselves w...more
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Read in May, 2008
this book was defintely not as "chick-lit"-y as it looks, which was a pleasant surprise. granted, it was mainly about women, their relationships, and body image issues, but it had substance to it. i really found myself relating to the characters in these stories. my favorites were "rain" and "mrs. ethel menafee and mrs. birdie stoltz." i've never read anything by elizabeth berg before, but i definitely plan to read more of hers.
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Read in August, 2008
Good vacation book...lovely little short stories, some I enjoyed and some not so much. I think I now need to read a book about people with real problems, as opposed to touchy-feely relationship type problems which I'm a little tired of at the moment (this, for the record, probably says something more about me than about the books I'm reading).
Still, good and easy read, filled with women who when they are unhappy actually do something about it instead of just talking/complaining about it. An...more
Still, good and easy read, filled with women who when they are unhappy actually do something about it instead of just talking/complaining about it. An...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Melanie Cohen, Suzette Ross
I don't think I've read any Elizabeth Berg before but I'm so glad I stumbled on this collection of short fiction. She has a brilliant ability to clarify very disparate characters with a few strokes. Each short story has a different protagonist and a new insight into relationships, loss, aging, womens' lives, and of course food and dieting. I would definitely read more of her work. And this book gets brownie points for her humorous yet totally realistic take on Weight Watchers meetings and ...more
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Read in July, 2008
Elizabeth Berg is a favorite author of mine. I think I have read all of her books. she is so good at getting the characters right and making you care about them. This book is a book of short stories. I loved the title. the stories are about diet, old boyfriends, daring to do something different. I liked the one about the apple pie and the Ethel and birdie. Their are some 4 letter words and some mention of sex. So this may not be your cup of tea. I will add my favorite book 'Dream when you're fee...more
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Read in June, 2008
I listened to this. Elizabeth Berg reads the stories herself. (Her voice is similar to Barbara Kingsolver!) I liked listening to short stories. Elizabeth has a way of taking ordinary people and making them vulnerable. She takes ordinary situations and makes them extraordinary. The stories made me want to look more closely to my surroundings and enjoy them. They made me want to be more sensitive and kind to others, also. We are all here together, living this life, and facing these challenge...more
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Read in July, 2008
This book wasn't bad. It was just mediocre, which is possibly even worse as now I can't remember anything about the stories at all. At best, some of them can be characterized as mild diversions...at worst, some are simply not worth reading. Don't spend your money on this one...and scrutinize suspiciously the friend who gives it to you or recommends it as a good read. Basically, this book has a sexy title that promises much but delivers very little. Read it on the plane.
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I guess I'm learning to love short stories. I reserved this title because I read Berg's "Dream When You're Feeling Blue" and absolutely loved it. This had wonderful stories. Another reviewer wrote that Berg writes about ordinary people doing ordinary things and this hits it right on. She writes with such an easy, flowing manner and it is such a pleasure to read.
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Read in June, 2008
I wanted to like this book since I have liked some of her novels (and some, not at all). The main problem for me was there was an air of girlfriend confessional chattiness in all the stories and yet I couldn't relate. For that kind of narration to work, I need to feel like I get the person or at least see some of my friends in the characters. I just didn't. Reading it was like watching an Oprah where everyone "shares" and you think - who are these people?
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What a delightful little book, and an interesting contrast to David Sedaris’ When You are Engulfed in Flames, which I had read a few days earlier. Although written in the third person, there is a similar sense of a life mined for material, but from a singularly female perspective. Commentaries on the small pleasures and disappointments of daily existence, seasoned with humor, and cut up and served in small portions; a perfect late-night snack.
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If you don't have issues with food, DON'T read this. You won't get it. If you do, well it's a delight. Not like that whiney person at WW, but rather a collection of shorts about the intersection of life and food. It says some of the things you have always wanted to say and a few you didn't think of but now want to shout from the roof tops. I don't give it 5 stars because I could not relate to parts of it but all in all, an interesting read.
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Okay, as I started reading this book, I wrote in my review it was "chick-lit." It is SO not. I take it back!
It's not fluff, but it is easy-to-read.
Each short story has words so true that they make my heart ache in my chest -- pieces about everyday life, food, marriage, how you love your children.
I'd read it again in a heartbeat. Some stories I liked better than others. But I'd even buy a copy of this to put on my own bookshelf.
It's not fluff, but it is easy-to-read.
Each short story has words so true that they make my heart ache in my chest -- pieces about everyday life, food, marriage, how you love your children.
I'd read it again in a heartbeat. Some stories I liked better than others. But I'd even buy a copy of this to put on my own bookshelf.
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