What do you think?
Rate this book
Rurally Screwed: My Life Off the Grid with the Cowboy I Love
Jessie Knadler was a New York City girl, through and through. An editor for a splashy women's magazine, she splurged on Miu Miu, partied hard, lived for Kundalini yoga, and dated a man-boy whose complexion was creamier than her own. Circling the drain both personally and professionally, Jessie definitely wouldn't have described herself as "happy"; more like caustically content. Then one day, she was assigned a story about an annual rodeo in the badlands of Eastern Montana.
There, she met a twenty-five-year-old bull rider named Jake. He voted Republican and read Truck Trader. He listened to Garth Brooks. He owned guns. And Jessie suddenly found herself blindsided by something with which she was painfully unfamiliar: a genuinely lovable disposition. In fact, Jake radiated such optimism and old-school gentlemanliness that Jessie impulsively ditched Manhattan for an authentic existence, and an authentic man. Almost overnight, she was canning and sewing, making jerky, chopping firewood, and raising chickens. And all the while one question was ringing in the back of her head: "What the !#*$ have I done with my life?"
A hilarious true-life love story, Rurally Screwed reveals what happens to a woman who gives up everything she's ever known and wanted-job security, money, her professional network, access to decent Thai food-to live off the grid with her one true love (and dogs and horses and chickens), and asks, is it worth it? The answer comes amid war, Bible clubs, and moonshine.
There, she met a twenty-five-year-old bull rider named Jake. He voted Republican and read Truck Trader. He listened to Garth Brooks. He owned guns. And Jessie suddenly found herself blindsided by something with which she was painfully unfamiliar: a genuinely lovable disposition. In fact, Jake radiated such optimism and old-school gentlemanliness that Jessie impulsively ditched Manhattan for an authentic existence, and an authentic man. Almost overnight, she was canning and sewing, making jerky, chopping firewood, and raising chickens. And all the while one question was ringing in the back of her head: "What the !#*$ have I done with my life?"
A hilarious true-life love story, Rurally Screwed reveals what happens to a woman who gives up everything she's ever known and wanted-job security, money, her professional network, access to decent Thai food-to live off the grid with her one true love (and dogs and horses and chickens), and asks, is it worth it? The answer comes amid war, Bible clubs, and moonshine.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 2012
15 people are currently reading
501 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
November 11, 2022
In a small, cluttered bookshop in rural Montana, I lug a handful of used novels to the payment counter. The proprietor, a seventy-odd-year old rock of a man with a handsome, weather-beaten face and watery eyes nods at me but doesn’t say a word as he begins ringing up my purchases. I sigh, casting my eyes around his counter for a conversation starter. And, thank the gods, I find it.
“What a great title!” I laugh, pointing to a book at his elbow: Rurally Screwed.
The man goes pink in the face before bashfully confessing, “Now, that was… really good.”
“Yeah?” I ask, “What caught your fancy?”
He picks up the book, moves it back and forth in front of his eyes until his vision adjusts.
“Well,” he speaks slowly, “it’s a lady from New York City, marries a cowboy, settles in the country. She has a hard time of it. She’s kinda’… arrogant. But a storm hits, and her husband is away, and the whole community comes out to help her with the animals, ‘cause she doesn’t have a clue, and that starts a change in her… perspective.”
The man’s eyes well up with tears at the word community, so mine do, too.
Mutually tenderized, we shift gears, riff on the idea of perspective: how time seems to move faster as we age, how strange it is to look in the mirror and see your own face, but also that of a stranger who has crows feet and laugh lines. It’s the deepest, surprisingly sweetest conversation I’ve had with a stranger in ages.
After a good half-hour, our talk meanders toward a conclusion.
Suddenly, the man shoves the book we’ve been discussing across the counter, “Well, why don’t you just take that one, on me.”
“Are you kidding?” I ask, caught off guard.
“What, you gonna argue with me?” he barks with twinkling eyes, gesturing at the four walls of his shop, “I own the place; I do what I want.”
I thank him and promise to send a letter once I’ve read it, copied for you, below:
To the kindest Jim I know,
When I walked into your bookshop three months ago, I had no expectation of a conversation that would shift my perspective in so many ways. Thank you for taking time out of a busy day to talk with me, to share your wisdom with me, and to gift me a book with a title that made me laugh out loud: Rurally Screwed.
As promised, here’s a short reading response. If I’m correct in judging your character, you’re the sort who likes the bitter before the sweet. So, I’ll begin with two complaints:
1. The protagonist was born and raised in rural Montana, not New York. She was a full-grown adult when she moved to the city and is just as familiar with rural life as any other country girl, yet she aggressively markets this book as a “city meets country” affair. This feels like shameless spin to sell copies; it feels inauthentic.
2. The subtitle proclaims “my life off the grid with the cowboy I love.” This woman in no way, shape, or form lived off the grid. She had electricity, and indoor plumbing, and the freaking internet, for goodness sake! She shopped at Super Walmart and had two colleges not more than fifteen minutes from her farm. Again, this feels like shameless spin for sales.
And now, the sweet:
1. I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book. I could write you a list of smart-ass wisecracks that gave me great pleasure, but my favorite is perhaps the most simple: I go nuts for Wrangler butts. I can't justify its place in my heart, but I now actively seek opportunities to use this line in everyday life. Not many arise, but when they do, I’m ready!
2. There are some very real issues in this marriage, and there is also deep, mutual love and respect. I appreciate the author’s careful balancing of these truths. She takes the bitter with the sweet, and calls each by its rightful name.
3. The community spirit in this book is enough to give me daydreams of moving to rural Virginia: neighbors who bring over pounds of ‘maters, and sides of beef, and gallon jugs of moonshine ‘just because.’ Folks who take care of each other in large and small ways, in practical ways.
I want to thank you for introducing me to a read that falls well outside my wheelhouse. I learned a great deal, and I enjoyed myself along the way.
If I’m ever back in Montana, I’ll stop in for another round of chatter. Until then, you and ‘Big Sky Country’ occupy a very warm place in my memory.
Take care,
Sarah
…
Note: The story Jim told me, about the storm, and the community coming to help, and that causing Knadler's shift in perspective? I discovered that isn’t actually in the book. Which really goes to show: memory is so much more about the feelings than the facts of a thing. Because that community feeling? That’s definitely in the book. Just... no storm, and Knadler's shift in perspective was more an "inside job" than a response to community.
Book/Song Pairing: Can't Let Go (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Live from Sound Emporium Studios)
“What a great title!” I laugh, pointing to a book at his elbow: Rurally Screwed.
The man goes pink in the face before bashfully confessing, “Now, that was… really good.”
“Yeah?” I ask, “What caught your fancy?”
He picks up the book, moves it back and forth in front of his eyes until his vision adjusts.
“Well,” he speaks slowly, “it’s a lady from New York City, marries a cowboy, settles in the country. She has a hard time of it. She’s kinda’… arrogant. But a storm hits, and her husband is away, and the whole community comes out to help her with the animals, ‘cause she doesn’t have a clue, and that starts a change in her… perspective.”
The man’s eyes well up with tears at the word community, so mine do, too.
Mutually tenderized, we shift gears, riff on the idea of perspective: how time seems to move faster as we age, how strange it is to look in the mirror and see your own face, but also that of a stranger who has crows feet and laugh lines. It’s the deepest, surprisingly sweetest conversation I’ve had with a stranger in ages.
After a good half-hour, our talk meanders toward a conclusion.
Suddenly, the man shoves the book we’ve been discussing across the counter, “Well, why don’t you just take that one, on me.”
“Are you kidding?” I ask, caught off guard.
“What, you gonna argue with me?” he barks with twinkling eyes, gesturing at the four walls of his shop, “I own the place; I do what I want.”
I thank him and promise to send a letter once I’ve read it, copied for you, below:
To the kindest Jim I know,
When I walked into your bookshop three months ago, I had no expectation of a conversation that would shift my perspective in so many ways. Thank you for taking time out of a busy day to talk with me, to share your wisdom with me, and to gift me a book with a title that made me laugh out loud: Rurally Screwed.
As promised, here’s a short reading response. If I’m correct in judging your character, you’re the sort who likes the bitter before the sweet. So, I’ll begin with two complaints:
1. The protagonist was born and raised in rural Montana, not New York. She was a full-grown adult when she moved to the city and is just as familiar with rural life as any other country girl, yet she aggressively markets this book as a “city meets country” affair. This feels like shameless spin to sell copies; it feels inauthentic.
2. The subtitle proclaims “my life off the grid with the cowboy I love.” This woman in no way, shape, or form lived off the grid. She had electricity, and indoor plumbing, and the freaking internet, for goodness sake! She shopped at Super Walmart and had two colleges not more than fifteen minutes from her farm. Again, this feels like shameless spin for sales.
And now, the sweet:
1. I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book. I could write you a list of smart-ass wisecracks that gave me great pleasure, but my favorite is perhaps the most simple: I go nuts for Wrangler butts. I can't justify its place in my heart, but I now actively seek opportunities to use this line in everyday life. Not many arise, but when they do, I’m ready!
2. There are some very real issues in this marriage, and there is also deep, mutual love and respect. I appreciate the author’s careful balancing of these truths. She takes the bitter with the sweet, and calls each by its rightful name.
3. The community spirit in this book is enough to give me daydreams of moving to rural Virginia: neighbors who bring over pounds of ‘maters, and sides of beef, and gallon jugs of moonshine ‘just because.’ Folks who take care of each other in large and small ways, in practical ways.
I want to thank you for introducing me to a read that falls well outside my wheelhouse. I learned a great deal, and I enjoyed myself along the way.
If I’m ever back in Montana, I’ll stop in for another round of chatter. Until then, you and ‘Big Sky Country’ occupy a very warm place in my memory.
Take care,
Sarah
…
Note: The story Jim told me, about the storm, and the community coming to help, and that causing Knadler's shift in perspective? I discovered that isn’t actually in the book. Which really goes to show: memory is so much more about the feelings than the facts of a thing. Because that community feeling? That’s definitely in the book. Just... no storm, and Knadler's shift in perspective was more an "inside job" than a response to community.
Book/Song Pairing: Can't Let Go (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Live from Sound Emporium Studios)
April 29, 2013
The beginning of this book almost made me move on from it. I just did not connect with the author. After she moved from New York something changed. She spoke to my heart, hell I think she was speaking a lot of my thoughts for me. I live a similar life as she was and don't get me wrong-i love it but there are those times. Anyways I loved this book! Go run and get it and enjoy! This woman is real and she honestly could be someone I like
September 7, 2018
This 2012 memoir/love story is about a New York City girl who meets a Christian cowboy, falls in love, marries him, and moves to a rural chicken farm. Although fairly amusing in parts, the author is somewhat patronizing about country folk and Christians. (She is determinedly NOT one). Gives a few too many of the more sordid details of big city life. Not really recommended for Christian reading.
January 21, 2016
Rurally Screwed: My Life Off the Grid With the Cowboy I Love by Jessie Knadler (Berkley Books 2012)(Biography) was a book that I wanted to be charmed by. Would it happen? The answer was contained in the first few pages although I didn't recognize it. The telltale clue came early when the author described pitching a plagarized story idea in her job as an editor. It was a warning that I should have taken as a sign of things to come. But I failed to heed it, and I have only myself to blame. The problem with Rurally Screwed is simply that it has been done very publicly before. This book tells the story of a woman from New York who thrives on sophisticated city life before bowing to her mate's wish to move to a rural country farm. She, of course, inevitably has trouble fitting in, and hilarity ensues. I'm not sure how the author's publishing house failed to notice this, but everyone who has watched TV since 1965 has seen this story originally as a prime time series and ever since as ad nauseum reruns of the television series (you've already guessed it) "Green Acres." "Green Acres" told the story of (you guessed it) a woman from New York who thrives on sophisticated city life before bowing to her mate's wishes to move to a rural country farm. She, of course, inevitably has trouble fitting in, and hilarity ensues. Yessirree bobtail, the only difference between the TV show and this book is that the book stars Jessie and her cowboy while the original TV series starred Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor. Remember Eva? ("New York is where I'd rather stay; I get alergic smelling hay..."). Once I recognized that this book was a recasting of "Green Acres", the little text narrator in my head read the rest of Jessie Knadler's book in a Hungarian accent. Choose wisely, dear reader: spend a few hours with this book or tune in one single thirty-minute episode online or on your favorite retro-TV channel. My rating for the book: 3/10; finished 10/15/12.
July 10, 2012
This book made me cranky. I read it because I thought I might connect with Knadler's story given my own recent Phoenix-to-rural Wisconsin transplantation this spring. I found the book very readable, but I was surprised at how the author presented herself. She wrote herself in a way that made her seem very...I don't know...stupid. I hate saying that, but she did not present herself in a flattering light. I was constantly frustrated with her choices and complaints about rural living. And she wrote her husband as if he was some stoic, never faltering angel of a man. I know that this book is a slightly fictionalized version of her real life, but it made me uncomfortable to read because it was clear that there were deeply rooted problems in her relationship.
May 20, 2017
The first 300 pages are pretty much the same thing - Jessie Knadler complaining how the world hasn't stopped to make her happy. The dogs are the most enjoyable part of the book.
One star for the important message that people ought to find out who they are before resigning themselves to a life of being a sofa cushion and accepting the imprint of whomever has last sat on you.
One star for the important message that people ought to find out who they are before resigning themselves to a life of being a sofa cushion and accepting the imprint of whomever has last sat on you.
November 15, 2018
I hope some of this book is fictional, because I don’t know why any man would coexist with anyone who whines this much about a life she chose! Although the beginning of the book was somewhat amusing, the second half was just plain annoying! Knadler clearly thinks she’s better than the “redneck” populace around her, and it’s just a little sad that she proclaims to be an atheist (I guess that makes her more chill than the believers), but then carries on her husband’s before dinner prayer tradition when he stops. Was this because she felt sorry that she was responsible for its end, or because there was a molecule of belief in her after all?
I also can’t get past the two places where she wrote “Jake and I” and “he and I” where they should have been written in the objective case! Better editing needed!
I also can’t get past the two places where she wrote “Jake and I” and “he and I” where they should have been written in the objective case! Better editing needed!
February 14, 2014
I'm almost finished reading this and I'm glad I stuck with it, because it does get better -- which is why I amended my two star rating to a three star rating.
I seriously disliked the author when I began this memoir. I found her cynical and lazy, and yet hyper-critical of others. But it gets better as she gets out of her fast-paced and superficial NY environment and marries her "cowboy." She shows a willingness to try new things and really dives in to a much different and more authentic lifestyle.
However; a few quibbles here. I find the whole premise of the memoir to be a little misleading. For one thing, he is not a cowboy. He's a sometime farm/ranch hand from Baltimore who is also an Army Reservist. For another, no one lives off the grid. My husband bought me this book because we've been reading a lot of back to the land memoirs lately and he thought I would enjoy it. And while the author does go country -- raising chickens, growing gardens and canning -- they are decidedly not off the grid. So I was a little bothered by the intentional misleading.
Also, someone else mentioned this in a review -- it's very strange that the author moves from taking a break and distance from one another after he returns from a deployment....to getting married in less than five months! With no explanation of what happened to provoke that turnabout.
Overall, I'm enjoying this book much more now that Jessie and her husband have moved to the country. She is a good writer, with equal parts humor and humility in this phase. It's just weird to me that that charm didn't come through in the first few chapters.
I seriously disliked the author when I began this memoir. I found her cynical and lazy, and yet hyper-critical of others. But it gets better as she gets out of her fast-paced and superficial NY environment and marries her "cowboy." She shows a willingness to try new things and really dives in to a much different and more authentic lifestyle.
However; a few quibbles here. I find the whole premise of the memoir to be a little misleading. For one thing, he is not a cowboy. He's a sometime farm/ranch hand from Baltimore who is also an Army Reservist. For another, no one lives off the grid. My husband bought me this book because we've been reading a lot of back to the land memoirs lately and he thought I would enjoy it. And while the author does go country -- raising chickens, growing gardens and canning -- they are decidedly not off the grid. So I was a little bothered by the intentional misleading.
Also, someone else mentioned this in a review -- it's very strange that the author moves from taking a break and distance from one another after he returns from a deployment....to getting married in less than five months! With no explanation of what happened to provoke that turnabout.
Overall, I'm enjoying this book much more now that Jessie and her husband have moved to the country. She is a good writer, with equal parts humor and humility in this phase. It's just weird to me that that charm didn't come through in the first few chapters.
September 4, 2012
Jessie Knadler has an entertaining writing style and a fun story to tell. Her real-life experience of leaving a fast-paced life in New York to marry a cowboy and move to rural Virginia. While some of her experiences of the early days of marriage and adjusting to a new place to live were interesting and relatable, I felt Knadler was holding the reader at arm's length for much of the book. While her anecdotes were amusing, I never understood what truly drew her to her husband or why she committed herself so fully to this rural lifestyle. I also found myself looking in vain for an epilogue when the book ended, hoping for a satisfying round-up of how things had worked out. In the end, it's an easy read but left me wanting more.
September 17, 2013
The author of this memoir is whiny and unlikable. She lives in NYC, and the first half of the book details her job struggles, a trip during which she decides she needs to hook up with a cowboy on a trip, doing so, and then long-distance dating him. One sentence describes their decision to marry, immediately after the cowboy says he wants to take a break, so it comes completely out of nowhere. Way to gloss over the only interesting part of the story. And the second half of the book talks about their starting their life in rural VA, and her difficulty in assimilating, mostly because she's not really trying and again, she's whiny and annoying and condescending to others. Ugh.
April 22, 2012
So much better than that stupid Pioneer Woman book I suffered through. Knadler's writing is head and shoulders above Drummond's.
Admittedly, I have a hard time being objective about this one as the author lives in my general part of the world, and I have gladly followed her blog for some time now. I feel emotionally invested.
I was very glad to see that it wasn't just a rehashing of her blog - it has real narrative structure, though it occasionally veers off into telling and not showing. And why do these kinds of memoirs always have to have some sort of silly subtitle?
Admittedly, I have a hard time being objective about this one as the author lives in my general part of the world, and I have gladly followed her blog for some time now. I feel emotionally invested.
I was very glad to see that it wasn't just a rehashing of her blog - it has real narrative structure, though it occasionally veers off into telling and not showing. And why do these kinds of memoirs always have to have some sort of silly subtitle?
June 30, 2012
I sort of lied about it being "read" since I didn't finish this book. I decided that if I dread picking up a book to read it, it's time to dump it. I was surprised I didn't like it more because I had to wait a long time to get it from the library due to all of the holds. Also, it says the author sometimes writes for the Wall Street Journal, which I enjoy reading every day.
June 10, 2012
Loved this book mainly because I live in Rockbridge County and it was great hearing what a New York City gal thinks of us. The book is more about a woman finding her place and she is funny, honest and entertaining.
June 12, 2012
DEEP, INTELLIGENT SUMMER READ.
October 8, 2022
2.5* My bf picked this one up for me after his neighbors recommended it, since it's written by a local woman who moved to Lexington, VA in the mid-2000s for love. It was an easy breezy read, and I enjoyed many of the local references, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Although she seemed to grow a bit as a person by the end and realize she might have been too judgmental, I didn't appreciate her condescending attitude or her overly broad characterizations of Washington & Lee, the town of Lexington and the three main categories of women, or her snarky opinions of other town folk ("rednecks"). I thought I'd relate to her more than I did as I also lived in NY after college (in Lexington), have been into fashion and yoga, and now return here to Rockbridge County for my love (and our friends and activities), while maintaining a home base near DC. IMHO, the memoir is a little whiny and self indulgent (but I guess all memoirs are to some extent), although it ends on an up note. After all this, I was sad to hear that she and her husband Jake divorced (I guess the psychic was unfortunately right), but I'd also be curious to hear more of her husband's side of the story as he is presented as sort of simple and one-dimensional. It would be weird to me to have my thoughts out there for the whole town/county to read and critique (she stills lives in the areas), so I admire her willingness to put it out there.
August 17, 2023
As I continued my summer reading of non-fiction and memoirs, I was looking for a “lighter” read and settled on this, intrigued by the title. It was a quick read but it was not all sunshine and rainbows. Jessie, raised in Montana, flees as soon as she turns 17 and heads to NYC. A dozen or so years later, she has found success as an editor of “fluff” magazines but is restless. She returns to Montana with the idea that she should “make out” with a cowboy so she can return to NYC refreshed and revitalized. The problem is she falls in love with the cowboy, ends up marrying him and moving to rural Virginia, where her life predictably does a 180. What follows is her account of this new life, its challenges, and rewards.
The book was published in 2012 so I admit I did an internet search to see where Knadler is today. I won’t reveal whether the continuation of the story is happy or not, in case you want to read it.
Yes, Knadler was a bit self-centered and annoying at times and she admits in her author's note that the subtitle of "off the grid" is not entirely factual. Would I have made a move like she did, even for love? Hard to predict, but I don’t think so but I did enjoy reading her story.
The book was published in 2012 so I admit I did an internet search to see where Knadler is today. I won’t reveal whether the continuation of the story is happy or not, in case you want to read it.
Yes, Knadler was a bit self-centered and annoying at times and she admits in her author's note that the subtitle of "off the grid" is not entirely factual. Would I have made a move like she did, even for love? Hard to predict, but I don’t think so but I did enjoy reading her story.
December 24, 2017
A successful editor in New York, Jessie Knadler left her city life behind and married a cowboy, settling in rural area of Virginia. Let's just say it wasn't easy. Ms. Knadler describes the immense changes in every aspect of her life (slaughtering chickens, anyone?) with great skill and a lot of humor. She offers deep and honest insight into her own struggles as to whether or not the entire situation is more than she can handle. I almost put the book down for good during the first third because there was so much about her city life and I was in a hurry to get to the "good parts" i.e. country living. This might not be an issue for other people :) And the "good parts" WERE good.
March 4, 2018
This book is fast and fun - it'd be a great read for a long flight. The author chronicles her lifelong struggle for identity, which eventually leads her into the arms of a bull rider she meets in Montana. What ensues is their love story: Two people from opposite ends of the cultural spectrum marry and set their minds to making their marriage/life/family jibe... although for one person in the relationship commitment is slower to come. I found a lot of relatable moments here, but there were also several moments/decisions I couldn't easily relate to. That said, the author's journey is her own, and I enjoyed being along for the ride.
February 13, 2018
Pure drivel. For all the bragging she does about being a magazine editor she sure doesn’t write very well. Sell centred and self absorbed, this book is mainly about how sorry she feels for herself at every stage and incarceration of herself. I kept thinking it would get better, or that it would be funny. It didn’t and it wasn’t. Her spoiled brat turned sulking wife was a bit much. I expect she will eventually get a divorce and become a lulu lemon wearing, coach purse carrying middle class carbon copy of all women who, like her, can’t think for themselves. This book was a waste of paper.
April 19, 2021
I wanted to like Jessie, the slick NY magazine writer. But I couldn't. Wait! She's not really from NY! The story, even though most of it is true, seems contrived. She goes on assignment to a yearly bucking house sale in MT, meets a cowboy, thinks she's in love. But wait! He's not really a MT cowboy, just a western wannabe from the east. I grew up in WY and MT, so I kind of took offense to how she characterized the whole population! I finished the book, and I'm happy she found her niche, but not one of my favorite reads.
September 18, 2017
The author's definition of "off the grid" is different from my own... she did not mean in the middle of nowhere without electricity or running water... she moved from Manhattan to Suffolk, VA.
This book was enjoyable. I especially liked the raw honesty the author shares about realizing truths about herself. She learned firsthand that when we move from one place to another, we don't leave our issues behind.
This book was enjoyable. I especially liked the raw honesty the author shares about realizing truths about herself. She learned firsthand that when we move from one place to another, we don't leave our issues behind.
January 17, 2021
©2012
This nonfiction book is the story of a NYC magazine writer/editor who falls for a cowboy when on assignment in Montana. She is a good writer. Her transition from city to country goes well for awhile...*
*Deployment occurs, so this might appeal to others who have gone through this experience.
This nonfiction book is the story of a NYC magazine writer/editor who falls for a cowboy when on assignment in Montana. She is a good writer. Her transition from city to country goes well for awhile...*
*Deployment occurs, so this might appeal to others who have gone through this experience.
February 5, 2024
A nice story about a woman finding the love of her life. Loved that their love story started in Miles City at the BHS, which gave me a nice tie in to home, but felt pretty underwhelmed after that for the duration. A nice story, but also just very, meh.
November 8, 2013
i couldn't finish this. it was THAT bad. even my love for bullriders and cowboys couldn't withstand the utter crappiness of this book.
How/why would you wanna be with a guy who watches porn all the time. And not just any porn. Child porn. Ugh! Im so disgusted.
Then she mentions this guy with strawberry blond curls. And says if she smiled, he’d probably like her. You’re dating someone!
This is what happens when you get adult books. The women party and engage in other morally corrupt, sleezy crap. &date guys that watch porn religiously. Im disgusted. I have a feeling im going to keep saying those words.
Im not far in and im already noticing this book is wordy. I want more conversations, less paragraphs.
So far this book has had a level of classlessness that I just cant handle.
The dirty panties. The sex talk left and right. It’s too much.
The fact that she tried to rip off an old magazine irritated me, too.
She goes to therapy. She says she smokes too much weed and drinks too much. She won’t break up with her porn-addicted boyfriend. Omg. This is trash.
Oh gosh, and her haircut. a curly bowl-shaped style. I cant find a single thing to like about this girl. Even her hair is bad.
Shes materialistic, a tad snobby.
There is so little conversations in here. She meets jane & cody, people she’s going to be working with at the rodeo, and there are no introductions. Idk if this girl thinks she’s too chic for conversations or is really that blasé, but it’s seriously annoying, and the lack of conversation is making me feel disconnected to the characters. I cant get a sense of anyone’s personality.
I know Zip was difficult to interview, but you didn’t have to be childish and call him zit.
You plan to kiss a cowboy. Why? I thought you didn’t like the manly men from your home state. And you have a boyfriend. So you just sunk even lower in my opinion.
She’s also not a good reporter. Her questions are dumb.
since when does she cuss like that? and its completely unnecessary.
'because I was coming off a relationship with a man.' whoa, lets hit the brakes there. you aren't coming off a relationship. you're still with him. you haven't broken up with him yet. because you're an idiot.
you plan to hook up with someone before you leave. so you tackle a somewhat self-respecting young man. you invite him back to your motel and you halt things to smoke weed. classy.really, I mean that.
I finally find a book about a bull rider-there are so few!!-and its this filth. this utter trash.
he asks if she's an angel. was that supposed to be romantic? because she threw around some totally unnecessary F bombs &then smoked weed. if she is an angel, she's a fallen one.
&im so disappointed that he likes the main character. cuz I don't like her. at all. in the slightest. even remotely.
I now don't like jake just because he likes the main character. &why would he call her twinkle toes? &wth did that mean? or did he like her crazy curly, short hair in the shape of a bowl? or her winning personality, or lack of?
&he says he doesn't normally have one-night stands, so he decides to with her. why exactly? because of her good looks? because when she described herself-long nose, sunken cheeks, beady eyes, I wasn't getting a very good mental picture. the bowl-cut curly "in-style" hair cut she got couldn't have helped either. &the twinkle toes made me think she was wearing sparkly ballet flats. I thought she had tennis shoes on.
&then the idiot left his dog in the truck all night. which really upset me. because he was in a motel room with this mess of a person.
I don't like reading about perfect characters with no problems. but good grief, this character is beyond hope.
you quit your job because you suck at it. they should have fired you. I mean, you were trying to rip off old magazines. you decide to write about a rodeo which is completely random for someone as "chic" and "sophisticated" as yourself. you cant break up with your childporn-watching boyfriend for some weird reason. just.open.your.mouth.and.do.it.
you run off to Montana, don't even mention seeing your family. plan on making out with someone just to purge the last pathetic years of your life-great plan, btw. because you're still dating someone. and act like country ppl are beneath you. so idk why you'd wanna hook up with them anyway. you then decide to have a one-night stand w/someone you dk. Idk how to even solve this characters problem. you're already in therapy. clearly that isn't helping. and if that's not helping, then you're screwed. good title 4this bk; it really fits.
if sophistication is sleeping with men who watch child porn, smoking weed, getting drunk all the time, taking pills, and engaging in one-night stands, then I want to be a hick.
this book is boring. theres no life in it. nothing's funny. its too wordy. there needs to be more conversations, more personality and more humor. i.e. better in every way.
I ended on page 59. it felt like much longer. Im surprised I stuck with it that long. I should have ended it long before. at the child porn thing.
How/why would you wanna be with a guy who watches porn all the time. And not just any porn. Child porn. Ugh! Im so disgusted.
Then she mentions this guy with strawberry blond curls. And says if she smiled, he’d probably like her. You’re dating someone!
This is what happens when you get adult books. The women party and engage in other morally corrupt, sleezy crap. &date guys that watch porn religiously. Im disgusted. I have a feeling im going to keep saying those words.
Im not far in and im already noticing this book is wordy. I want more conversations, less paragraphs.
So far this book has had a level of classlessness that I just cant handle.
The dirty panties. The sex talk left and right. It’s too much.
The fact that she tried to rip off an old magazine irritated me, too.
She goes to therapy. She says she smokes too much weed and drinks too much. She won’t break up with her porn-addicted boyfriend. Omg. This is trash.
Oh gosh, and her haircut. a curly bowl-shaped style. I cant find a single thing to like about this girl. Even her hair is bad.
Shes materialistic, a tad snobby.
There is so little conversations in here. She meets jane & cody, people she’s going to be working with at the rodeo, and there are no introductions. Idk if this girl thinks she’s too chic for conversations or is really that blasé, but it’s seriously annoying, and the lack of conversation is making me feel disconnected to the characters. I cant get a sense of anyone’s personality.
I know Zip was difficult to interview, but you didn’t have to be childish and call him zit.
You plan to kiss a cowboy. Why? I thought you didn’t like the manly men from your home state. And you have a boyfriend. So you just sunk even lower in my opinion.
She’s also not a good reporter. Her questions are dumb.
since when does she cuss like that? and its completely unnecessary.
'because I was coming off a relationship with a man.' whoa, lets hit the brakes there. you aren't coming off a relationship. you're still with him. you haven't broken up with him yet. because you're an idiot.
you plan to hook up with someone before you leave. so you tackle a somewhat self-respecting young man. you invite him back to your motel and you halt things to smoke weed. classy.really, I mean that.
I finally find a book about a bull rider-there are so few!!-and its this filth. this utter trash.
he asks if she's an angel. was that supposed to be romantic? because she threw around some totally unnecessary F bombs &then smoked weed. if she is an angel, she's a fallen one.
&im so disappointed that he likes the main character. cuz I don't like her. at all. in the slightest. even remotely.
I now don't like jake just because he likes the main character. &why would he call her twinkle toes? &wth did that mean? or did he like her crazy curly, short hair in the shape of a bowl? or her winning personality, or lack of?
&he says he doesn't normally have one-night stands, so he decides to with her. why exactly? because of her good looks? because when she described herself-long nose, sunken cheeks, beady eyes, I wasn't getting a very good mental picture. the bowl-cut curly "in-style" hair cut she got couldn't have helped either. &the twinkle toes made me think she was wearing sparkly ballet flats. I thought she had tennis shoes on.
&then the idiot left his dog in the truck all night. which really upset me. because he was in a motel room with this mess of a person.
I don't like reading about perfect characters with no problems. but good grief, this character is beyond hope.
you quit your job because you suck at it. they should have fired you. I mean, you were trying to rip off old magazines. you decide to write about a rodeo which is completely random for someone as "chic" and "sophisticated" as yourself. you cant break up with your childporn-watching boyfriend for some weird reason. just.open.your.mouth.and.do.it.
you run off to Montana, don't even mention seeing your family. plan on making out with someone just to purge the last pathetic years of your life-great plan, btw. because you're still dating someone. and act like country ppl are beneath you. so idk why you'd wanna hook up with them anyway. you then decide to have a one-night stand w/someone you dk. Idk how to even solve this characters problem. you're already in therapy. clearly that isn't helping. and if that's not helping, then you're screwed. good title 4this bk; it really fits.
if sophistication is sleeping with men who watch child porn, smoking weed, getting drunk all the time, taking pills, and engaging in one-night stands, then I want to be a hick.
this book is boring. theres no life in it. nothing's funny. its too wordy. there needs to be more conversations, more personality and more humor. i.e. better in every way.
I ended on page 59. it felt like much longer. Im surprised I stuck with it that long. I should have ended it long before. at the child porn thing.
May 24, 2017
The middle was the best. I almost stopped reading the book in the beginning. The end was anti-climactic...but I guess real life is like that.
August 15, 2017
Since I've always thought about what it'd be like to live in a rural community, this was right up my dirt road.
July 23, 2018
It was cute. A sweet story.
February 15, 2020
She brought it back around
I was up and down on this - but also couldn’t put it down. I thought she was whiny and immature - but she was and acknowledged that. A great “coming of age” book. Highly recommend for anyone interested in memoirs, rural living, and a good love story.
I was up and down on this - but also couldn’t put it down. I thought she was whiny and immature - but she was and acknowledged that. A great “coming of age” book. Highly recommend for anyone interested in memoirs, rural living, and a good love story.
April 30, 2012
Jessie Knadler was dissatisfied with her life in New York City. She had just started freelancing as a journalist and went to Montana to cover a rodeo where she met Jake, a twenty-five year old bullrider and cowboy. What was initially supposed to be a one night stand with a hot cowboy eventually turned into a long-distance relationship between New York and Montana, even surviving Jake's one year deployment to Iraq for the Army Reserve. When he came back from his deployment they decided to get married and chose to move to Virginia where they purchased an 8 acre farm. Jessie quickly found herself planting vegetable gardens, canning, butchering chickens, and even sewing. But, soon she became frustrated with all the back-breaking chores and living under the small-town microscope. Eventually she begins to appreciate her country lifestyle more and even decides to have a baby.
Overall, there were parts to the book that were laugh-out-loud funny and the author definitely exposed her shortcomings and showed the reality of her extreme life change. But, one of the things that bothered me the most was that Jake made it clear to her from the beginning that he was a Christian, went to church, and that it was very important to him. But, they were also having sex from the day they met each other. Jake didn't like Jessie to say the word "fuck", but I guess he didn't mind them ACTUALLY fucking (sorry to be vulgar, but it gets my point across better). And by the end of the book they had quit attending church. As a Christian this just really bothered me. I can understand to an extent Jake accepting that Jessie wasn't a Christian, but if that was such an important part of his life he shouldn't have quit going to church just because she didn't enjoy it. That just pretty much soured the book for me.
The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, by Ree Drummond is a MUCH better book on the same topic.
Overall, there were parts to the book that were laugh-out-loud funny and the author definitely exposed her shortcomings and showed the reality of her extreme life change. But, one of the things that bothered me the most was that Jake made it clear to her from the beginning that he was a Christian, went to church, and that it was very important to him. But, they were also having sex from the day they met each other. Jake didn't like Jessie to say the word "fuck", but I guess he didn't mind them ACTUALLY fucking (sorry to be vulgar, but it gets my point across better). And by the end of the book they had quit attending church. As a Christian this just really bothered me. I can understand to an extent Jake accepting that Jessie wasn't a Christian, but if that was such an important part of his life he shouldn't have quit going to church just because she didn't enjoy it. That just pretty much soured the book for me.
The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, by Ree Drummond is a MUCH better book on the same topic.
July 11, 2012
If you have started Jessie Knadler's "Rurally Screwed" and have doubts, keep going, it's worth it. The first quarter of the book is slow and even though I am a city girl, I couldn't relate to Knadler. Her behavior and attitude were both irritating. It really wasn't until after she married her cowboy and moved to the country that I began to really like her. By the end of the book, I totally fell in love with Knadler and her family.
This isn't a relationship advice book, but it has a lot of solid advice. At it's core, this is a book about identity and how we perceive ourselves. Knadler wrestles with identifying herself as a city girl and trying to convert to a country girl when she marries. While living in the country, she tries a whole host of activities to acclimate (learning to sew, attending bible study, slaughtering chickens) and eventually has a break down as she feels that she is trying to conform to something that she is not. She often mentions trying to live an "Authentic Life". Knadler is not the only person in the book doing it, nearly everyone is also trying to create what they are supposed to be, through clothes, actions, living situations...all of the time, everywhere, people are busy creating their image of what they feel their life should be. In the meantime, life is happening. All of the effort to "be yourself" is meaningless, because yourself is your day to day and the people that surround you. It's not what you want it to be, but what you already have and it doesn't need to fit into a box. I like how Knadler found an understanding with the women in her bible group, rather than writing them off as being too different to be her friends.
The love letters in the book are beyond sweet. Even though it's bumpy, it's hard not to be envious of the life that Knadler and her cowboy have carved out for themselves.
This isn't a relationship advice book, but it has a lot of solid advice. At it's core, this is a book about identity and how we perceive ourselves. Knadler wrestles with identifying herself as a city girl and trying to convert to a country girl when she marries. While living in the country, she tries a whole host of activities to acclimate (learning to sew, attending bible study, slaughtering chickens) and eventually has a break down as she feels that she is trying to conform to something that she is not. She often mentions trying to live an "Authentic Life". Knadler is not the only person in the book doing it, nearly everyone is also trying to create what they are supposed to be, through clothes, actions, living situations...all of the time, everywhere, people are busy creating their image of what they feel their life should be. In the meantime, life is happening. All of the effort to "be yourself" is meaningless, because yourself is your day to day and the people that surround you. It's not what you want it to be, but what you already have and it doesn't need to fit into a box. I like how Knadler found an understanding with the women in her bible group, rather than writing them off as being too different to be her friends.
The love letters in the book are beyond sweet. Even though it's bumpy, it's hard not to be envious of the life that Knadler and her cowboy have carved out for themselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews