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19th out of 83 books
—
400 voters
We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive
by
Laurie Notaro (Goodreads Author)
She thought she’d have more time. Laurie Notaro figured she had at least a few good years left. But no–it’s happened. She has officially lost her marbles. From the kid at the pet-food store checkout line whose coif is so bizarre it makes her seethe “I’m going to kick his hair’s ass!” to the hapless Sears customer-service rep on the receiving end of her Campaign of Terror,...more
Paperback, 223 pages
Published
April 19th 2005
by Villard
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I thought it would be funnier...
I was so excited to read this one, which makes the disappointment that much worse. I actually paid (gasp!) retail for it.
Comedy is at its best when it's effortless, and the author here is clearly trying too hard. Every time I found myself on the verge of laughter, she would continue just a step too far.
And sorry, but I did not enjoy all of the hating on skinny girls. Especially when I can't find anything in my size because the clothing lines I can afford label th...more
I was so excited to read this one, which makes the disappointment that much worse. I actually paid (gasp!) retail for it.
Comedy is at its best when it's effortless, and the author here is clearly trying too hard. Every time I found myself on the verge of laughter, she would continue just a step too far.
And sorry, but I did not enjoy all of the hating on skinny girls. Especially when I can't find anything in my size because the clothing lines I can afford label th...more
Non-Fiction, Short Stories. I wouldn't call Notaro the dorkiest girl alive, but she has her moments. These are just short little snapshots: the giant rat haunting her kitchen, a few minutes spent searching for her drunken husband in a mass of St. Patrick's Day partyers, her strange obsession with the guy who works at the pet food store. Notaro herself is sort of spastic -- aren't we all, even if it's just in the privacy of our own heads? -- but she's also more or less equally sarcastic and sympa...more
A self-proclaimed cranky lady, Notaro takes on Stupid Hair, book tours, and more in this collection of essays. I enjoyed many of her rants (who can't identify with those "idiot" moments, like leaving your wallet in a taxi or locking yourself outside?). But after 100 pages, I got tired. Very, very tired. While she has an acerbic wit she doesn't hesitate to turn on anyone (including herself), Notaro has no finesse. Everything is a baseball bat, even when a fly swatter would do. By the end of the b...more
The most important thing I learned from this book was that when you order a book from the library it's important to remember the title of the book you requested. That way when they call and you go to pick up your book you won't be insulted when the librarian says to you.."we thought you would be prettier" he was afterall merely reading off the title of the book and not expressing his disappointment.
This was my favorite book of hers that I've read. Just funny stories written by a sarcastic woman....more
This was my favorite book of hers that I've read. Just funny stories written by a sarcastic woman....more
I enjoyed this collection of Laurie Notaro’s essays of insanity much more than the last one (The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club) There were things that just amused me to no end, and her particular brand of humor reminds me of friends. She definitely seems like someone I already know (or I ought to get to know). It starts off with tales from her book tour, where she manages to lose her wallet, cut up her tongue during a reading, and fart in the restroom where her one (and only) fan shows up f...more
i really wanted to like this book a lot. i remember liking the one where she got married. i enjoy books in this style, short, blog-like funny essay chapters. But the little stories in this book were kind of hit or miss, and too many were miss. there definitely were some funny stories, but they were too few and far between. one reviewer on here commented she didn't like all the hate on skinny girls, i didn't find it as bad as i see in everyday life, so that didn't bother me, or maybe i've acquire...more
I thought the title of this book was highly inaccurate. To call herself 'Dorky' implies that the author is endearing in her own awkward way. I believe it should have been called "We Thought You Would Be Mildly Amusing: True Tales of the Most Irritating Female Archetype Alive." From the first page this book made me grit my teeth. Whether complaining about being a size 14 and fat (really?) or whining about how little room there is on an airplane (among numerous other comedy cliches), everything ab...more
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Comdy about an every day woman and all her hang ups in her life . She make bad judgements sometimes but who doesn't . This book had me laughing out loud a great read.
As usual Laurie Notaro’s look at life is hilarious her books are just so much fun. The story of the flippy hair guy or otherwise known as the day you realize you are no longer cool and have your mother’s voice living in your head! I loved this chapter!!
There was some funny stories about her book tour where only one person showed up and what happened before she went up on stage (in the bathroom) or losing your wallet or locking yourself out are all something that would happen to me or the shoppi...more
There was some funny stories about her book tour where only one person showed up and what happened before she went up on stage (in the bathroom) or losing your wallet or locking yourself out are all something that would happen to me or the shoppi...more
Liked it and didn't like it. Some parts were quite funny and I found myself laughing at loud quite a few times near the beginning of the book. But then that ended and it lost something. The numerous pop culture references were amusing, but would have been much funnier if I had read them closer to the publication date. Which means the more time that goes by, the more the book loses a big part of it. There were definitely parts that I, or any woman, could relate to; but there's nothing really memo...more
This book is closer to a 2.5. Truthfully, the sense of humor in this book was a bit baffling at times. I question how being "dorky" equates to being crabby, and I found the book to be far more cynical at times than funny. There were a few stories that I quite enjoyed, such as the one being married to a "book man" and or the one about the giant rat, but overall I was expecting dorkiness, and I didn't really find it here. However, I still plan on reading more of Notaro's work as I do like her narr...more
Notaro lived and had a weekly column in the local paper here in Phoenix before moving up to writing books. Good for her, because her writing was often the best to be found in the newspaper, but her work was buried in supplement pages. She's very funny and often moves into the outlandish in her essays. In this book she recounts events that might have occurred on his first book tour across America, taking an art class that employed a past-prime nude model and the problems with living across the st...more
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This was my second Notaro book, and I have realized that I just don't care for her style. There are so many essays in this book that I should have found funny, but I just... didn't. Is it Notaro's choice of vocabulary? Her sentence structure? Her obsession with her "fatness?" (Size 14 is NOT huge.) The simile abuse? I'm not quite sure, but whatever it is, it's not working for me. The book was short (I read it in an afternoon), so I did go ahead and finish it, although my eyes were glazing over b...more
I know, doesn't seem Like my stereotypical book right? But really when am I ever stereotypical? Other than my collection of cats and Ani DiFranco albums. Then again my mind needs a nice easy read now and then. I have to admit most female humor writers drive me insane. Too whiny & annoying about all the problems that beget us women. (I have no idea why so many hoo-has are crying these days but maybe a case study should be done).
Notaro, however is like the domesticated Chelsea Handler. Which I...more
Notaro, however is like the domesticated Chelsea Handler. Which I...more
It goes without saying that I love Laurie Notaro. She and I are kindred spirits who I'm sure would talk a mile a minute and try and outdo each other with ridiculous stories. We'd be in the Dork Olympics... who could "out dork" whom?
We Thought You'd Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive is another collection of short, humorous essays about days in the Life of the writer, Ms. Notoro. Whether she is impatiently waiting for slow people who seem to have no respect for her busy life, whet...more
This book is an absolute scream. My roommates got so sick of me laughing out loud every time I was reading this that we just had to read it together. As a bunch of 20-somethings, we could totally relate to Notaro's stories and even told a few of our own. We all want to "grow-up" to be just like Laurie.
As a follow-up to her first book, Autobiography of a Fat Bride, this book stands alone and stands even funnier. From half-cocked adventures with her husband to a totally out-of-whack mother, any w...more
As a follow-up to her first book, Autobiography of a Fat Bride, this book stands alone and stands even funnier. From half-cocked adventures with her husband to a totally out-of-whack mother, any w...more
Ms. Notaro is fun to read because she is openly mean and selfish, traits within all of us no matter how we try to disguise them. Reading her book is like watching a car wreck; it isn't GOOD, but you think, "Thank goodness that isn't me!" That being said, I didn't find the book to be interesting or memorable. Sure, I can identify with fat ankles and calves, and having too many books in the house (we fight over my books and his stereo equipment), and even finding a mouse (although ours was a cockr...more
I LOVE this book! Laurie Notaro is so funny! She either used to or else currently does live in Phoenix, which is where I'm from, so it is funny to hear her describe places and things that I can recognize and also find the humor in. Even if you don't live in Phoenix though, this lady is a crackup! She has a Facebook page which I also recently "liked" and she posts funny things on there all the time too. This book had me laughing (hard!) from start to finish! A winner!!!!!
One of THE funniest books I have ever read. Laurie makes fun of herself at length in this "memoir" and describes what about 85% of us women endure as well. I found myself often nodding and agreeing with her... saying "that happened to me!" or "uh huh, I know exactly what you mean". Her short chapters get increasingly funny and leave you with tears in your eyes from laughing so hard.
If I want a light-hearted read I go for Laurie Notaro every time, (or Janet Evanovitch.
If I want a light-hearted read I go for Laurie Notaro every time, (or Janet Evanovitch.
I loved Notaro’s second collection of essays, Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood, so I had some high hopes to see this collection follow along that path. Unfortunately, this entire collection, though it followed the same essay format as her other books, only contained a few laugh-out-loud-funny parts. There weren't any essays in this collection that particularly stood out to me, unlike the previous collections. I just didn't really like this one as much... There wasn...more
Let me just say this: Notaro has nothing on Jen Lancaster. The book started out ok, with some semi-funny stories, but the disjointed way the chapters read ultimately made me lose interest. The tales started to sound WAY out in left field (as in "too unbelievable to even make me laugh") and some of them I couldn't even keep up with - someone would say something completely random and since I'm not the author, I had no idea what this person was talking about. I didn't even finish the tales because...more
fun, offbeat quirky memoir that just goes to show you a title and a book cover can sell books. "True Tales from the dorkiest girl alive" is the subtitle. who wouldn't want to read about that? I had to find out what qualifies her. So far I am loving the type font and her outspoken narrative that describes funny events and tid bits out this author's real life. I will def. read her first book that was a NY Times Bestselling book.
***Not necessarily my type of read, but find it engaging enough to fi...more
***Not necessarily my type of read, but find it engaging enough to fi...more
Laurie Notaro cracks me up. Seriously, the girl is just funny and is again in this collection. OK, some of her stories hit home with me better than others, but all are quality. I particularly enjoy her exploits with online medical sites and stories on her relationship with her family. She tends to not have an edit button between her thoughts and her mouth, which gets her into trouble and also makes for some interesting tales.
Oct 16, 2011
Susanna
added it
For an author that "may be the funniest writer in this solar system," I was completely disappointed. I found it mildly amusing at best. I really liked one essay; Several others became so tiresome I skipped them altogether. Odd name dropping in the form of insults, super over-exaggerations...maybe she tries too hard; maybe I'm just hard to please. I have her first book here, so I'll give her another chance.
I absolutely adored Laurie Notaro's first book, but this one was a little too mundane for me. I think my problem was that Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club was about a 20 something with glimmers of maturing, while this book is an adult with glimmers of immaturity. I'm prefer to put myself in the former still and don't want to be reminded that it's time to grow up. Bring on the drinking stories!
I liked the first book I read by Laurie, "Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood ".
This one, however, was not my kind of humour.
Was it that the author was trying too hard to be funny? Was it that I didn't find anything humourous in any of the situations/puns/jokes?
I don't really know, but I didn't find it funny and stopped trying after four chapters.
This one, however, was not my kind of humour.
Was it that the author was trying too hard to be funny? Was it that I didn't find anything humourous in any of the situations/puns/jokes?
I don't really know, but I didn't find it funny and stopped trying after four chapters.
Eh, it has a few funny moments, but I'd say the success rate was about 25%. Some parts felt...contrived, like she was throwing in tiny bits of fiction to make an amusing story. I'm wondering why my friend even gave this to me in the first place..seems obvious I'm not anywhere near the target demographic. I will most likely not be partaking of Notaro's works anymore in the future.
I'm not generally a reader of the "modern sassy-girl telling various stories in an episodic format" genre. I bought this book about 4 years ago, and then lost it to the black hole that is my parents' storage when they moved while I was away at college.
I just found it and decided to restart it.
First of all, it seems a main problem with this genre seems to be how quickly the references and jokes become dated. That certainly is true with this book. There are several times where the jokes or referen...more
I just found it and decided to restart it.
First of all, it seems a main problem with this genre seems to be how quickly the references and jokes become dated. That certainly is true with this book. There are several times where the jokes or referen...more
Laurie Notaro is laugh out loud hilarious..in fact, she's laugh out-loud-snorts-ensure hilarious. I'd recommend this book to anyone who thinks they've had a bad day...because she's had bad months or even bad years! It's the way that Laurie looks at life and in the way that she tells her stories that makes you feel like a confidante and that you really can take over the world.
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“Okay, okay,' I said to my husband as he picked up a food dehydrator off the table and shot me a look. 'Maybe I did get carried away. Maybe the world won't end in a year, maybe it won't end until 2028, when the Aztec calendar stops.'
'The Bugles will be very old by then,' my husband said. 'They will have lost their snappy crunch.'
'They weren't to eat,' I said. 'They were to put on our fingers and poke the eyes out of looters.”
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3 people liked it
'The Bugles will be very old by then,' my husband said. 'They will have lost their snappy crunch.'
'They weren't to eat,' I said. 'They were to put on our fingers and poke the eyes out of looters.”
“As soon as Nicholas was born, my mother swore she'd rather see her daughters become Jehovah's Witnesses or pole dancers before she saw her first grandchild in daycare when my sister went back to work. I don't think it was originally the idea of daycare that didn't sit well with her but the fact that there, in a bassinet, was a fresh slate, a lump of clay that could be worked on and molded into the perfect child who had eluded her the first time around with her own daughters.”
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3 people liked it
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