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Jul 24, 2008

Madeline rated it:

First off, let me just say that I love Laurie Notaro. I've read and loved four of her previous books, and find just about every short story she writes completely hilarious. With this in mind, I was really excited to read this book, her first experiment with fiction - I figured if the nonfiction stories Notaro wrote nearly made me pee myself laughing, just imagine what she could write if she were allowed to make everything up!
And that's the problem: Laurie Notaro's first novel is about a wo More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2009

Britta rated it:

Here's my haiku for this book:

Making friends is hard.
Spontanious combustion
is a bummer too.

SUCH a good book. I guess it's technically chick lit, but I hesitate to label bit because of the negative connotations that go along with that genre. It's not fluffy or trite. There's no romance, and no one has a terminal disease.

Maye and her husband (and their dog, Charlie) are moving to Spalding, Washington from Phoenix, Arizona for the husband to take a More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2009

Marian rated it:

This book had everything, including the kitchen sink, thrown in--metaphors, similes, stereotypes, and an underlying Karate Kid theme (only less inspiring for all the dog poop). Sometimes it all worked and sometimes it didn't.

The story is over the top, for sure. Some of it is really funny. For example, the main character, Maye, having moved to a recycling, no meat eating town in Oregon finds herself telling lies to find friends. This, she reflects, is earning her places in the differe More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 30, 2007

Michele rated it:

Absurd . . . But Pure Laurie Notaro

Change the names, create an absurd little scenario, and call it fiction. As a fan of Notaro's essay collections, this story, There's a (Slight) Change I Might Be Going to Hell, didn't surprise or disappoint. It doesn't stretch too far from her roots in writing first person vignettes about a funny, irreverent woman, however, the woman in this story happens to be named "Maye." Maye is clearly a Laurie alter ego, and it helped to have rea More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2008

Dioscita rated it:

Already I am disappointed by the overwrought overwriting and the constipated way sentences are constructed in this story. I'd probably like it a lot better if the author (whose name I haven't even bothered to remember) didn't work so hard at trying to make me like it. But I can be contrary that way, too. Anyway, I won't finish this book which is in perfect condition. If you'd like a go at it, let me know what you have to swap and let's see if we can't find something better for each of us. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 02, 2008

Megan rated it:

I picked this book up because I'd been searching for Confessions of a Fat Bride but no one ever seems to have it in stock.

I have several complaints:

Notaro's writing style is gimmicky. I can't think of a better word, unfortunately. Her jokes are all formulaic a la Family Guy, but Family Guy still gets a chuckle or more out of me at least once per episode in spite of the obvious plot device being used over and over again. It reads like it written by an adolescent boy, which i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2008

Lisa rated it:

In the front of my ARC was a letter from the editor warning that you dare to read this book in a public place to be aware that you WILL laugh out loud and people WILL look at you funny. I didn't believe him. And then I read the book in a public place and I DID laugh out loud and people DID look at me funny. :)

I loved Maye's character and her struggle to find friends in the small town of Spaulding (home of the sewer-pipe king and host of the annual Sewer-Pipe Queen Pageant). After mis More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 21, 2008

Samantha rated it:

This book was a gift from my friend Liza. This got me through the strangest most boring (to date) temp job this week. I like that Notaro writes the way I think -- you know me, a little non-linear, self-deprecating - but I would really love to think -- very very funny and somewhat self aware.

You're well over a 100 pages in to the book before the real storyline begins. But if you got that far, you won't really care that much, because you'll be sufficently amused by the storyline. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Sally rated it:

This book was fun and ended up being better than I thought when I first started reading it. The novel thing is different from her normal style of writing, and I was open to it, but was at first disappointed with the similarity to her normal anecdotal style since none of it was actually true. I still wonder how much of it came from reality. The main characters are clearly based on her and her husband, but I assume everything else is completely fabricated. And yet, it almost has a quality of " More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2011

Statia rated it:

When I first, started this book, I found it a little hard to get into. I had only read a few of Laurie's books, and they were the short, embarrassing stories about her youth and young adulthood. Always one who loves others who can admit when they've made an asshole out of themself, I wasn't entirely sure if this book was fiction or not (another Christmas present on the kindle, and I didn't read the title, I just saw that it was by an author that I had previously read and liked. I was going on More...

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May 06, 2009

Lori rated it:

I so wanted this to be better, but-that said- it still had some very funny parts that had me laughing.

About 3/4 of the way through the book, I started to see a glimpse of where the friendship could have been taken with Ruby and I wished it would have been fleshed out more. The relationship seemed to stay on more of a superficial level, where I think the friendship could have had more richness and would have been an interesting juxtaposition to the humor.

I felt like the p More...

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Dec 27, 2008

Lori rated it:

It's the title's fault. It made me expect a little bit more. Almost four stars, but not quite.

Maye has lived in Phoenix all her life, when her husband gets a job at a small university in Washington State. She leaves her network of friends and moves to what appears to be an ideal small town... and doesn't make a single friend. Which drives her nuts. Her every attempt fails in some embarrassing and spectacular way.

The town is founded on a sewer pipe manufacturing compan More...

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Jul 04, 2009

Heather rated it:

I picked this book up at Bangkok Bookcrossers, snagging it after hearing about the setting in a quirky Northwest town.

After reading about half-way, I was struck by the thinly disguised references to Eugene, Oregon--the lady who lives under the tree on the university campus (RIP Hatoon); the self-righteous recycler/vegetarian; the Sewer Pipe Queen contest (read: Slug Queen); the wacky personal ads; the pagans; the over-educated/under-employed; the drum circles.... It's a nice reminder More...

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Mar 28, 2010

Charlotte rated it:

I love an author that makes me laugh out loud. Jen Lancaster is notorious for having that talent and so does Laurie Notaro, I discovered. There's a Slight Chance I Might Be Going to Hell was a funny book.

I could relate to the premise of the story. Maye moves from her hometown of Phoenix to Spaulding, Washington for her husbands career. Ummm, been there doing that for three months now. Spaulding is a little University town. To say that Maye has a hard time fitting in is a hilarious un More...

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Jul 02, 2008

Mary Sue rated it:

If you have ever felt lonely in a new town, or workplace, this is the book for you. Maye earnestly explores different avenues in search of friends in her new location. She finds a long string of characters and hilarious situations along the way. I needed this book after reading about polotics and murder mysteries for awhile.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2010

Jessi rated it:

Chick lit at its fluffiest. I thought this was going to be a biography. Imagine my shock when it ended up being a mystery story. And a thoroughly quirky one at that.
The main character, Maye Roberts has moved with her husband from Phoenix to the northwest. She lost her job with the move. A series of embarrassing events (getting naked at her husband's staff party, her dog attacking the mailman, mixing recyclables in with her trash) make it harder for her to assimilate into the local culture More...

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Aug 22, 2009

Sarah rated it:

Ah! I LOVED this book! There is absolutely no other way to express my love and appreciation for this book other than reverting to teenage girl text messaging grammar. OMG! ♥ ♥ ♥
Right, now that that's out of my system, this is the funniest book I have read in a long time. Unfortunately, I was reading it at work and had to control my snickering.
The story is set in this fictional town, Spaulding, Washington. It's little adorable little place that equates in my mind to the Fairhaven ne More...

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Apr 11, 2010

Erin rated it:

From the beginning I felt at home reading this book since the main character, Maye, seemed so much like the author. As I read through the chapters it brought to mind a number of Notaro's essays. Or, maybe a big part of it is just that Maye, like Notaro, has a self-deprecating sense of humor and has a flamboyant way of describing things.

I felt the actual story in the book was a little predictable (I won't spoil anything for you), but it was still fun. When reading Notaro's works More...

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Aug 28, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Who knew that one slightly quirky, but completely relatable young woman's quest to make friends as a transplant into the sewer pipe capital of the world could be so engaging and fun? Maye Roberts is a thirtysomething, childless, married writer who works from home. She doesn't have a build-in network, so she does everything she can to fit in odd small town and find a friend. After some unflattering exposure during a social dinner, narrowly escaping a water bath initiation into a coven, and some More...

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Apr 30, 2011

julia rated it:

Book club selection that I enjoyed. There were a lot of fun things about it! Funny story, and I particularly appreciated two things: that our heroine is a little fat but it doesn't consume her life or make her hate herself, and I loved how the marriage was depicted as a loving but silly partnership.. not the problem, not an end goal...

And I also really liked that we have a childless thirtysomething who's having trouble making friends. Sometimes it seems like this is an issue that pop More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Robin rated it:

Not as funny as I had hoped, and the way the book ended made me roll my eyes.
On the plus side, it was a "light" read...just what I was looking for in the summer heat. And it gets a star just for the title.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2012

Kieran rated it:

I'm a huge Laurie Notaro fan and have followed her, relentlessly, since her days of 'Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club'. Another brilliant title made me laugh even in the book store (though hard to top 'We thought you'd be prettier') but I find it hard to reconcile with her shift from autobiographical work to fiction.....though having shamefully exploited her entire family I guess she's exhausted the topic.
The book, while funny, in parts, was a little forced and though I overlooked the se More...

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Sep 23, 2011

Kim rated it:

This is the first work of Laurie Notaro's I've ever read. While I was surprised at the number of lengthy metaphors, they were nevertheless entertaining and this book as a whole is extremely funny. I really enjoyed it.

Maye moves from Phoenix to a small town in Washington state and has a number of misadventures while trying to make new friends. An acquaintance suggests she compete in the annual Sewer Pipe Queen contest, as the winners are always popular - but she needs to find a sponsor More...

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Apr 02, 2009

Linda rated it:

Following her academic husband to a new job in a small college town in Washington, Maye is confronted by the challenges of making new friends and, after a series of missteps, decides to enter the annual Sewer Pipe Queen pageant, a popular local tradition.

This book was entertaining, but a little "over the top". The situations that Maye found herself in funny, but they weren't always believable. The author used a lot of similes and metaphors which
slowed the pace somewha More...

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Aug 24, 2010

Ann rated it:

I bought this book from a used-book store because years ago I read one of the author's books of non-fiction essays that I found highly amusing (The Idiot-Girls Action Adventure Club). I guess this is her first foray into fiction. It's humorous, but not laugh-out-loud funny. It takes place in Oregon but the characters are really worthy of a quirky Southern novel a la Sweet Potato Queens. They are a little too over-the-top wacky. But, I could connect with the narrator's struggle, as an adult witho More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Lauri rated it:

Laurie Notaro is hilarious. This is the first (and only) fiction novel I've read by her; maybe it's the only one she's written. But it is still written in her voice and style, and I had a hard time separating the main character from Laurie herself. It is about a young couple who moves to a new town several hundred miles away from their former home, and the wife's struggles to make friends and find acceptance. Having moved a couple of times myself, I could certainly relate. If you don't have More...

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Apr 22, 2011

Think rated it:

I was so hyped up to read anything by Laurie Notaro... and that was my mistake. The book was overall a decent read, but I expected it to be much, much funnier. Don't get me wrong, there were some cute little moments. And I did like how the bad gal finally got it in the end.

I am going to give it just 3 stars because it didn't really keep me entertained. I felt like I knew where it was going but went along for the ride anyways. I enjoyed it, but didn't LOVE it.

I kind of feel s More...

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Jun 28, 2008

Marie/laura rated it:

Funny and full of stories of the characters move to a small town which is especially entertaining if you happen to live in one!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 04, 2009

Sean rated it:

Really very amusing; Notaro's writing reminded me at times of the free-wheeling nuttiness that is Christopher Moore. It's fun to read with an eye toward the thinly vieled autobiographical touches, particularly her constant references to life in Phoenix Arizona. It's also a little wierd to read because I see her vividly enacting the stories in my mind's eye; I can easily hear the snarkiness, and experience the evil glint in her eye, as well as the genuine warmth of character. I'd imagine this More...

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Apr 24, 2010

Natalee rated it:

I really LOVE the adventures of Laurie Notaro. I thought I would really love the first fiction of Notaro as well. I liked it a lot!! Listening to the Maye's adventures to make friends in a new place was almost like my sad attempts in new places. The insane running post man, the hippies, the drunk friend lunch date all made it sound like Maye was better off not to be apart of the town. I was disappointed that I was almost finished the book when we get to the good stuff of the Sewer Pipe Queen Pa More...

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