false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181794958m/339189.jpg 339189 6 The first novel from the New York Times bestselling author of <i>The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club</i> is a rollicking tale of small-town peculiarity, dark secrets, and one extraordinary beauty pageant. When her husband is offered a post at a small university, Maye is only too happy to pack up and leave the relentless Phoenix heat for the lush green quietude of Spaulding, Washington. While she loves the odd little town, there is one thing she didn’t anticipate: just how heartbreaking it would be leaving her friends behind. And when you’re a childless thirtysomething freelance writer who works at home, making new friends can be quite a challenge. After a series of false starts nearly gets her exiled from town, Maye decides that her last chance to connect with her new neighbors is to enter the annual Sewer Pipe Queen Pageant, a kooky but dead-serious local tradition open to contestants of all ages and genders. Aided by a deranged former pageant queen with one eyebrow, Maye doesn’t just make a splash, she uncovers a sinister mystery that has haunted the town for decades. 10648 book 29 5 2007 There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble total:1537|5:9|4:14|3:14|2:12|1:3| 1537 5250 2469 375 2 5 false false Thu Jul 24 12:02:05 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 12:23:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 27 08:50:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 02 08:38:50 -0700 2008
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 tr...more...]]> 3 2 false false Fri Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 15:00:46 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 11:17:42 -0800 2009
The story is over the top, for sure. Some of it is really funny...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 20 12:48:51 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 30 17:26:19 -0700 2007 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...more...]]> 1 2 true false Wed Jun 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 21:18:13 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 15:11:09 -0700 2008 make me like it. But I can be contrary that wa...more...]]> 1 1 false false Tue Sep 02 10:56:31 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 11:09:42 -0700 2008
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, bu...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 25 21:22:56 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 29 10:44:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 20:43:44 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 20:50:01 -0700 2008 ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 13:03:26 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 17 12:58:38 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 04:03:48 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 04:17:11 -0700 2009
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 relations...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 08:05:03 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 07:38:44 -0800 2008
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 ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jul 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 04:22:13 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 01:31:19 -0700 2009
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); ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 13:19:27 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 13:24:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 22 11:38:10 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 11:46:59 -0700 2009 Right, now that that's out of my system, this is the funniest book I have read in a long time. Unfortunately, ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 03 11:52:38 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 03 11:54:06 -0700 2007 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.]]> 3 0 false false Thu Apr 02 13:51:18 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 13:52:52 -0700 2009
This book was entertaining, but a l...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jun 28 08:34:32 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 08:36:12 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Jun 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 11:13:18 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 11:20:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 30 15:13:46 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 06:10:38 -0800 2008
I wanted to like this book as much as I've liked Ms. Notaro's other books, but her first foray into fiction wasn't very compelling, nor was it all that funny. Sure, it had its moments where you might chuckle, and while it did read a little bit on the autob...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 13:24:57 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 13:27:00 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=339189