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31st out of 556 books
—
489 voters
The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank
by
Erma Bombeck
It's the expose to end all exposes--the truth about the suburbs: where they planted trees and crabgrass came up, where they planted the schools and taxes came up, where they died of old age trying to merge onto the freeway and where they finally got sex out of the schools and back into the gutters.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
March 1st 1995
by Fawcett
(first published 1976)
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80 percent through this book and I thought I was done with Erma Bombeck. But then I noticed that I was getting less and less clueless as the chapters went by. I'm going to give this author another go, because I'm hoping her next bestseller is totally as nice as Chapters 11 and 12 here.
Something kept nagging my brain while I read. Then I realized that something was the repressed tone and dry humor. This book, published in the 70's but about events - I use the term loosely - in the 50's, reminde...more
Something kept nagging my brain while I read. Then I realized that something was the repressed tone and dry humor. This book, published in the 70's but about events - I use the term loosely - in the 50's, reminde...more
a long, long time ago... in a household far, far away... my mother kept this book on a shelf. i don't recall that i was ever told absolutely not to read it, but i do remember sneaking into the den when no one was watching, removing it from the shelf, and absconding with it to my bedroom (or to a certain snug cache behind the sofa) and thinking of myself as "quite grown up" because i was reading a book for adults. and on the sly no less. how funny to think of this now... :)
Feb 24, 2012
Needleroozer
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
freecycle-windfall,
life-stories
Of course, I've heard of Erma Bombeck for years, but I don't think I've ever read any of her books...
Hey, you know, when I was sixteen, I went on this all expense paid trip to Scottsdale/Phoenix for the American Academy of Achievement. All these high school students got sent to a fancy resort hotel in the desert for a long weekend (or maybe a week) in July to hang out with a bunch of famous "achievers." Erma Bombeck gave a talk the first night. She made a joke about mothers making their kids bri...more
Hey, you know, when I was sixteen, I went on this all expense paid trip to Scottsdale/Phoenix for the American Academy of Achievement. All these high school students got sent to a fancy resort hotel in the desert for a long weekend (or maybe a week) in July to hang out with a bunch of famous "achievers." Erma Bombeck gave a talk the first night. She made a joke about mothers making their kids bri...more
'The Grass is Always Greener over the Septic Tank' is a non-fiction story about the Bombeck familly moving to the suburbs in the 50s(ish) when they were still developping, and they weren't all pretty and nice as they are now. Erma Bombeck is a hilarious writer, and even though this sounds like a boring topic, if you don't know what the 'burbs are like it's a very fun read. Some of the stuff is so weird and funny, I sometimes wonder if she made some of it up! Either way, it's great for travelling...more
I love Erma's books! While other kids were sneakily reading the latest issue of Batman or Archie & Veronica comic books between the pages of their schoolbooks during class I was trying not to get caught laughing too loudly at the pages of the latest book by humorist author Erma Bombeck. Its safe to say that I grew up with her books and her name, and stories, just like V.C. Andrews', another author I grew up reading, brings back a lot of good reading memories. Erma, and her writing, will be d...more
I could be really snotty and say that this book is an essential read for anyone wanting to study the rise of suburbia in the United States, but that would belittle Erma Bombeck's gentle, satirical exaggeration of the woman's perspective on suburban life.
Just as with the Barbie and Ken dolls she encounters with some aggravation and then with amusement as she watches her children throw Ken in a box when he's supposed to be "at work" and they play at the domestic dramas they know, this book, betwee...more
Just as with the Barbie and Ken dolls she encounters with some aggravation and then with amusement as she watches her children throw Ken in a box when he's supposed to be "at work" and they play at the domestic dramas they know, this book, betwee...more
Erma Bombeck is still funny, but funniest if you remember the post war period and the building of suburbia. Her books seem to be collections of her columns and she has a good eye for details which take to expanding into comic situations. She wrote about her own life and was read by people going through much the same problems as she was. This book is illustrated by Judith Nilson (I think) and her drawings appear to be cartoons of real people which adds immeasurably to the humour. Some of the allu...more
Worth RE-READING! Years ago, this gave me one of my first reading experiences where I laughed out loud and then had to close the book to finish out my bout with hysteria, wipe my eyes, and then find my place in the book again to continue reading, only to start laughing all over AGAIN. Erma is just one of her her own kind, and there are a lot of different kinds, but her kind is best served with a box of tissues for those hysterical moments. Every reader's 'moment' will be different... THAT is why...more
Bombeck’s classic commentary The Grass is always Greener is no less entertaining today than it was when it was first published in the 1970s. Her wit is timeless.
She takes a stab a middle class America, its values, habits and foibles. She looks at the innate desire to move out, move up, and move somewhere that isn’t here. Bombeck acknowledges the flaws in this mentality on almost every page of the book: no telephone service, no washing machine repair men, no public transportation. But she also ac...more
She takes a stab a middle class America, its values, habits and foibles. She looks at the innate desire to move out, move up, and move somewhere that isn’t here. Bombeck acknowledges the flaws in this mentality on almost every page of the book: no telephone service, no washing machine repair men, no public transportation. But she also ac...more
It was so fun to get this book out after so many years. I read all of Bombeck's books as a child and thought they were hilarious.In fact, I used to write essays that were very Erma Bombeck-esc about my life as a middle child. Bombeck talks about Barbie and Ken, station wagons, land lines, and washer repairmen and although some of these things are practically obsolete, they still hold value. We are doing the same things as she did in the 60s--80s, it's just been tweaked a little with cell phones...more
This book is proof that humor is not timeless. While Ms. Bombeck probably had a fabulously funny book in 1976, in 2009 it doesn't stand up.I do imagine that had one lived during that time (and was conscious enough to remember it), one would find the text quite intriguing and perhaps quite hilarious.
For those of us who are younger, it may be best as an anthropological study about what life may have been like in the U.S. suburbs (subtracting all the humor) in those days. The book's a quick read, r...more
For those of us who are younger, it may be best as an anthropological study about what life may have been like in the U.S. suburbs (subtracting all the humor) in those days. The book's a quick read, r...more
Aug 09, 2007
John Wiswell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Humor readers, people interested in women's studies
I hadn't read any Erma Bombeck in about a decade, so I thought I should check in. Fortunately I found her to still be the mother of wit. Like her own children, she only shares humor because of the grief it causes her. Her style is always dry and somehow never too self-indulgent even if she is her own favorite subject. In this collection she extends from motherhood and the way women are treated in our society to discuss the insanities of social life, like sports, working and dieting (including a...more
We were living in Peck when I heard about Erma Bombeck's books. This is fun. It was reading that was light, funny and too true! She was like a neighbor with a great sense of humor. She added humor and fun to the day.
Yeah for the Mulvane Public Library. I couldn't afford to buy books. so if they didn't have it through the inter library loan, they could get it for me.
Yeah for the Mulvane Public Library. I couldn't afford to buy books. so if they didn't have it through the inter library loan, they could get it for me.
There was only ONE Erma Bombeck. Her humor made life bearable for many housewives and working women who tried desperately to understand WHY they were expected to "do it all." Erma understood everyday things and wrote about those with skill, grace and hilariously funny attitude. Anything by Erma Bombeck is worth a first, second and even third read.
This book seemed to be more about family life than suburban life. Some of the scenes were out of date and didn't hold up. But others were right on the mark and easy to relate to, like tupperware parties and being the GS cookie mom. Overall, an entertaining read, but I do take issue with Erma's definition of a good friend.
this was written by a comic genius as far as i am concerned. you read Proust and i will take Erma Bombeck and we will see at the end who had the happiest reading experiences. Erma has died since i started reading her books many years ago.i will guess a year but i just know it was for sure before 1982.
I think I might have rated this 5 stars when it came out in 1976. Now in 2012 it just made me wish Erma Bombeck were one of the many mommy bloggers today - her exaggerated yet spot-on humor would fit right in. As always Barbara Rosenblat did an excellent job reading for the audiobook version.
I grew up reading Erma Bombeck's books, even though I realize now that I understood maybe 40% of the jokes. And yeah, it's a dated description of suburban life, but that only makes it funnier, in my opinion. Definitely good for a laugh and an easy read.
Read this in the mid '70's, out loud with my aunt who was then the age I am now. We laughed until we cried. I think this is book where she complains that her doctor is younger than her cookie sheets. Think I will go and reread her for therapeutic measures.
It is a silly look at life as a mom in suburbia. You have to be in the right mood. I kept finding myself chuckling or just shaking my head at her funny observations. As I was reading the book I realized I had read it before. I enjoyed it again.
Another one that I read when I was much younger that I should read again as an adult/wife/mother. I bet I didn't even get half the jokes when I was 12! But I know I thought it was hilarious then, so it'll probably be twice as funny to me now.
Just as many laughs as ever. Also she takes a good look at societies ills and odd points of view, many have yet to change, and many will bring more laughs as you think of how we still skate around the same issues on a day to day basis.
I haven't read this book in years, but I remember I LOVED it and became a life-long fan of Erma Bombeck's because of it. As am adult, I really wantto read it again because I do think some of the humor was lost to me before I was a parent.
I can't count how many times I laughed out loud reading this book. Anyone that is married, or has a house, or has a car, or has children will relate to these silly stories. It's such a fun short read!
quick read about life in the suburbs. Even though the book was written in the 1970s, if you've lived in the suburbs at some point in your life, you can identify with something in this book.
Dec 31, 2008
Dolly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone, especially Moms
I love humorous writing, and Erma Bombeck was always good at making that wry, sarcastic observation that was so true... and so funny! Great story, especially from those of us in suburbia.
I don't think this book has aged well. Although the suburbs are alive and well ~ and new housing (and moving) has certainly not gone away.... I just couldn't find the humor in it.
Jun 07, 2010
Kristi (Books N Beans)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
All Moms
Shelves:
funny
If you only read one more book, you have absolutely GOT to read this one.
As a mom (ANY mom) this is a book that will most definitely speak to you.
For anyone, I think you'll find it a funny read/listen. This book (I had the audio version), made my hours working with the landscaping so VERY enjoyable.
As a mom (ANY mom) this is a book that will most definitely speak to you.
For anyone, I think you'll find it a funny read/listen. This book (I had the audio version), made my hours working with the landscaping so VERY enjoyable.
This book does a great job at finding the humor in ever day life. Some of the situations may be outdated, but can all be related in some way to today.
I re-read this again the other day. I forgot how funny she was. Despite not being YA, I loved this book when I first read it in junior high.
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Erma Louise Bombeck, born Erma Fiste, was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for a newspaper column that depicted suburban home life humorously, in the second half of the 20th century.
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada...more
More about Erma Bombeck...
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada...more
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“Laugh now, cry later.”
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Jan 20, 2012 08:58pm