Growing up in white-bread Omaha, Nebraska, Rachel Shukert was one of thirty-seven students (circa 1990) in Nebraska’s only Jewish elementary ...
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Jun 22, 2008
Sue
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The first couple of chapters of this book were hysterically funny, but then I got bogged down in the rest of the book.
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Dec 08, 2008
Erica
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this book was everything i wanted i was told there would be cake to be. funnier and jewier and just better. where sloane crosley is a normal person pretending to be interesting enough to write a book, rachel shukert is neurotic and crazy and awesome.
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May 17, 2011
Shannon
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This book was pretty much written for me. It's a hilarious collection of short stories about a Jewish girl who grew up in Omaha, NE. There's a hilarious list in one of the stories called "People Who Would Hide Us From Nazis," which Shukert wrote as a young girl and included "nice" neighbors and teachers. She was a child with a grim sense of humor not far from my own--she played Oregon trail to drown people she didn't like. This certainly is written from a dark, wry Jewish sen
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Mar 02, 2010
Unwisely
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This book started up well - as a midwestern girl myself, I can only imagine how it must've been to be Jewish. This starts off fairly engrossing, with the sort of vignettes I've come to expect from this genre. It starts getting a little weird with a digressive-yet-fascinating letter to Newt Gingrich, and then goes sort of off the rails into elliptical weirdness. The end chapter brings it back to the memoir style, but you've missed so much it's sort of jarring, like trying to figure out what ha
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Jan 03, 2011
NerdGirlBlogger
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Rachel Shukert is a writer who I greatly admire. This book is so funny, I could literally not stop laughing while reading it. Rachel comes across as if she isn't even trying hard to make the reader laugh--she's just telling a story. However, that's the brilliance behind her writing, because not everyone who is funny in real life can also write funny. Rachel is thankfully both.
I've had the pleasure of sitting next to her and hearing her stories in person (while not knowing she was a w More...
I've had the pleasure of sitting next to her and hearing her stories in person (while not knowing she was a w More...
Feb 23, 2009
Shoshana
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Clever and funny short stories - especially for Jews, but even for Goys! Rachel's notes to non-Jews help illuminate some of her finer tales and witticisms and she skillfully makes light of some intense and sad situations without feeling sorry for herself. I found this to be a really powerful read - by someone my own age no less!
Dec 08, 2008
Karen
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I really wish I could give this book 3 1/2 stars. It had a lot of good qualities: humor, sincerity, interesting insight into a different life-style. On the other hand, I found some of it difficult to relate to and the author was only marginally sympathetic. If I could have liked the author a bit more this would definitely get 4 stars.
Jan 20, 2011
Daisy
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I really enjoyed this book. I read her books out of order, and I think her second book was better and funnier than this one. I'm sure that's something that comes with writing your first book though. I cried in parts and still laughed out loud. I honestly feel like I know a lot about Rachel and that we're friends. The way she writes makes you want to know more about her life. If she writes more, I'll definitely read it.
Dec 31, 2008
Michelle
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I'm a big fan of memoirs and have taken quite an interest in book from a Jewish perspective since my conversion. They seem to help fill in gaps in my Jewish experience. I have to say that even if I grew up Jewish, I probably wouldn't have had the same experiences at BBYO or the same fascination with gas chambers, but this memoir was still telling nonetheless. It's incredibly brutal and honest and definitely provided a hilarious escape for a few hours.
Nov 29, 2010
Sunni
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Thank you for liberating me Janelle. I read a few of these short stories then abandoned the book. There is not doubt it is funny, but the humor was a bit acerbic for me...kind of like David Sedaris. I can only take this type of humor in small doses. But I'm sure others will LOVE it.
May 09, 2009
Martha
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Probably the best book about growing up Jewish in Omaha that I've read. The only one, anyway... Some parts more crude than comic, but on the whole a funny book.
Nov 30, 2010
Liza
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my friend's sister wrote this book so i of course had to read it. rachel's voice is really genuine and hysterical, and the book is super relatable. loved it!
Mar 07, 2009
Sara
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Shukert is the shiz-nit. She writes so well it makes you hate her. Except then you decide to love her instead. In a jealous way, but still.
Oct 07, 2008
April
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Witty, sarcastic, and very funny account of the author's life thus far. She was one of the only Jewish girls in her school in Omaha, Nebraska, and her adventures trying to make it in New York City are so well-written you feel like you're right beside her, trying desperately not to laugh at her amusing adventures. The book also has its moving moments, and I was so wrapped up in it I read the whole thing in one sitting. I had the priviledge of attending Frequency North, where she read an excerp
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Sep 22, 2010
Juliana
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If you are in the mood for a sarcastically funny, footnote heavy memoir, then definitely pick this up.
Nov 20, 2008
Josh
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I grew up her life, same place, same schools, same people, just a few years before her.
But beyond that, she's a real entertaining writer, talented too.
But beyond that, she's a real entertaining writer, talented too.
Oct 27, 2008
Lindsay
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These stories are smart and funny, just like Rachel Shukert. Not surprising at all, since the stories are as true as the lawyers would let them be. I laughed, I cringed, I learned. Go Rachel!
Sep 03, 2008
Emily
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Spot-on and hilarious. Thinking of annotating this and passing it to the girls I grew up with. Yashar koach, Ms. Shukert.
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