Buffalo Gal: A Memoir

by Laura Pedersen

Growing up in the snowblower society of Buffalo, New York, Laura Pedersen's first words were most likely "turn the wheel into a skid." Like many families subsisting in the frigid North during the energy crisis, the Pedersens feared rising prices at the gas pump, argued about the thermostat, fought over the dog to stay warm at night, and often slept in their clothes.

While her parents were preoccupied with surviving separation and stagflation, daughter Laura became the neighborhood wild child, skipping school, playing poker, betting on the horses, and trading stocks. Learning how to beat the odds, by high school graduation Pedersen was well prepared to seek her fortune on Wall Street, becoming the youngest person to have a seat on the American Stock Exchange and a millionaire by age 21.

Combining laugh-out-loud humor with a slice of social history-her hometown was a flash point for race riots, antiwar protests, and abortion rallies, not to mention bingo, bowling, and Friday night fish fries-Pedersen paints a vivid portrait of an era.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Book Club

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

Laura Pedersen was born in Buffalo, New York (one of "God's frozen people") in 1965, at the height of The Folk Music Scare. (For details of misspent youth see essay at 'Is there a Nurse in the Church?'). After finishing high school in 1983 she moved to Manhattan and began working on The American Stock Exchange, a time when showing up combined with basic computation skills could be parlayed into a career. She chronicled these years in her first book, Play Money.

Having vowed to become anything but a journalist and with no conception of what a semicolon does, Laura spent the better part of the 1990s writing for The New York Times.

In 1994 President Clinton honored her as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans. She has appeared on TV shows including Oprah, Good Morning America, Primetime Live, and David Letterman.

In 2001, her first novel, Going Away Party, won the Three Oaks Prize for Fiction and was published by Storyline Press. Beginner's Luck was published by Ballantine Books in 2003 and subsequently chosen for the Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" program, Borders "Original Voices," and as a featured alternate for The Literary Guild.

Pedersen's other novels include Last Call, Heart's Desire, and The Big Shuffle.

Laura lives in New York City, teaches reading and trades Yu-Gi-Oh! cards at the Booker T. Washington Learning Center in East Harlem, and is a member of the national literary association P.E.N. (poets, essayists and novelists).

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitly a book about growing up in Buffalo. I could have written most of it myself. Several times I laughed out loud at such sage advice as "don't sit so close to the tv, you will go blind".
It took a long time for me to read this "easy" read. It was not the most engaging story I have read. It was more like reading about your own past. I think anyone over the age of 35 will be amused at remembering waiting in line for gas, turning your thermostat down to just above freezing and of course diving into a pile of snow gear and wearing anything that you come out with. Matching or not!

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Pederson has written a wonderful memoir about growing up in Buffalo in the 70s and 80s. It is very funny and brings back so many memories. Laura depicts the snowy winters in Buffalo. Growing up in Toronto, I remember my parents yelling at us to turn down the thermostat because we were going to heat the whole neighbourhood. We used to change into our school clothes at night so we wouldn't have to change in the freezing cold of the morning. So much of her upbringing was a great trip down memory lane. There were the canning sessions and the surplus of apples in the fall. I had forgotten about the casseroles with Campbell's soup. I have eaten my fair share of those.

Buffalo Gal is a social history of Buffalo and the times. It is a time when you knew your neighbours and they did favours for you with no payback expected. There was a sense of community. Pederson also talks about the industrial downturn and the plants shutting down.

Pederson grew up with no parental interference. She basically parented herself. She was free to skip school. She made her own meals and even went to gamble across the river in Ontario. This is probably what gave her the independence to become the youngest person with a seat on the American Stock Exchange. She was very industrious and had a number of interesting money making schemes.

I found Buffalo Gal to be funny and full of one-liners. It reads like a great comedy sketch.

[Paula Browning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked reading things about the Buffalo area but couldn't get through the whole book because felt like it was just going on and on without really getting anywhere.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't finish it ... I love the topic of Buffalo but her writing is disjointed and painfully boring.

[Maribeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh out loud funny. Great stories here.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author grew up in Buffalo,NY, her first words were probably " turn the wheel into the skid".

The stories she tells of growing up in Buffalo are very funny,some bittersweet.She is snarky,ironic and laugh out loud funny. If you grew up in Buffalo and left Buffalo this is a lighthearted romp that you will enjoy. There are many "Buffalo-isms" that when she is telling some stories,you can see the punchline coming and it is still out loud funny. Her memories contain many places that are no longer with us in Buffalo. It is refreshing to read abt these places and strike up your own memories. The first 100 pages was quick speed on Buffalo,culture,history,national history, events ,etc. The longer, slower paced stories were more serious topics. Highly recommended to anyone with any Buffalo connection, "you'll get it!" In the end it is obvious she is quite proud of her Buffalo roots.

Her continued mention of Buffalo being in the Midwest, stopped me in my reading tracks everytime. Buffalo, NY is in NYS which was one of the 13 original colonies. We are in the East,not Midwest. Midwest is Illinois,Iowa, Indianna, etc. Her reference stillmakes me crazy.

[Laura Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humorous tale about growing up in the 60s in Buffalo, New York. As a fellow baby boomer, I lived through the same era and could relate to many of the events. The author seems to have an independent streak, which was perhaps more typical in the days when parents did not schedule every minute of a young person’s time and accompany their children 24/7. I found myself chuckling frequently and comparing the author’s childhood and teenage adventures to some of my own. The story ends about the time the gal graduates from high school, so we don’t learn much about her career, except from the blurb on the back of the book. Bring on a sequel.

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a laugh out loud romp through middle class life in 60s-80s Buffalo. Pedersen did a great job setting the historical context in with the personal context in with the Buffalo context, with wry, self-deprecating humor. Although she was almost a decade ahead of my childhood, there were still lots of similarities to my 70s-90s life. One minor critque is the title and artwork implies that it is "chick-lit," but I think the writing will appeal to both genders. Can't wait to share with my Buffalo pals.

[Lisa Wiertel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - 4.0 stars mainly because it was a walk down memory lane for me. Bastad clogs! LOL! I still can't believe that we wore those during the winter in snow. There used to be clumps of snow in the school hallways from everyone dislodging the snow below their clogs. I didn't go to Sweet Home for high school but went there for 4th and 5th grade. Still lived very close to it so I could vividly picture the places the author was describing. If you were born in 1965-1970 you will remember a lot of the things in this book and will laugh quietly to yourself.

[Katie Cultrara]

If it wasn't for the fact that it is had so many details of what it was like to grow up in Buffalo for the autho, or any Buffalonian for that matter, then I wouldn't have liked it. These are not the types of books I normally read. I was born in 1981 so I love reading about the times in Buffalo before I was born. AND the author grew up between where I currently live and where I last lived 4 years ago so there were so many familiar street names and landmarks.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pedersen grew up in Buffalo around the same time that I did. I did enjoy reminiscing about many of the shared experiences - pogeying, street hockey, the Blizzard of '77, etc., as well as the smattering of Buffalo history. But beyond that, the book didn't do much for me. I didn't find her personal anecdotes particularly insightful or humorous, and not knowing her from her work, her family history wasn't of particular interest to me (most of the 2nd half of the book).

[Krystin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ was surprised author went to Sweet Home with cute antidotes from when she was there in the 70/80s including stories about one of my favorite teachers. Interesting stories about buffalo history as well. I would only recommend to SH grads

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wild, fun, funny ride! Took me back to my childhood.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's more like 3.5 stars. I liked it. I don't know anything about Buffalo, but she did a great job of reminiscing about trends of the 80s. Brought back some good memories.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It’s extremely entertaining and laugh out loud funny! I also grew up in the Buffalo area and the author’s nostalgia brought back many happy memories.

[Florinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd never heard of Laura Pedersen before I was offered this book for review, but she's written several novels, and this is actually her second memoir. Her first, Play Money, talked about her career on the American Stock Exchange, where she was the youngest trader in its history and became a millionaire by the time she was 21. This memoir is about how she became the person who did that.

Pedersen is roughly my age (three weeks and one day older than my younger sister, actually), and we both grew up in the Northeast, although she somewhat convincingly argues that Buffalo, NY has more in common with Midwestern cities. She clearly remains fond of her hometown, and is aware of how its history has influenced her own. This memoir isn't just her personal story - it's also one of the town and times in which she grew up.

The mid-sixties through the early eighties were an odd time to be a kid, in some ways. The world was changing quickly, and we were surrounded by technology and issues that our parents wouldn't have even imagined when they were our age, but we were too young to experience it all first-hand - we were being kids, and we may have been the last generation to be kids before the computer revolution. I recognized many of the pop-cultural touchstones Pedersen mentions, and yet that also caused me some quibbles with the book - in at least one case, her chronology was wrong. Granted, I was reading an ARC and this might have been corrected in the final copy, but the band Alice in Chains didn't form until 1987, long after both of us were out of high school, and she referenced them twice. I have to wonder if she meant Alice Cooper, who did use chains in his stage props... If I weren't such a pop-culture junkie, that wouldn't have bothered me, but I should note that it didn't bother me enough to spoil my enjoyment of the book.

Aside from my little quibbles, though, it's clear that Pedersen is a fine observer, and her account of growing up as the only child of two loving, yet detached, parents in the suburbs of Buffalo is enjoyable from start to finish. She is inventive and resourceful, resilient and self-aware, and uses her well-developed sense of humor very effectively in telling her own story. That story is influenced by her parents, of course - and their long, drawn-out divorce during her teens (as an aside, state laws that make it difficult to get divorced may help "protect marriage," but they just make the process even more painful for those who decide they must go through it anyway) - but also by her friends, including the girl next door and the gay theater teacher at her high school, and by her city itself.

I liked this book a lot - it's funny, it's interesting, it's well-written, and it's not just about a life, it's truly about the "life and times" of Laura Pedersen, 1965-1983. I'm going to keep my eye out for her other books - now that I know her, I'd like to know them, too.

[Sandi Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buffalo Gal is part personal memoir, part social/economic history of Buffalo. It jumps around a bit and at times reads like one of those emails: "You know you are a child of the seventies when..." But it certainly made me laugh out loud and I can see why Pederson is a successful stand-up comic. Anyone who grew up in Buffalo or wants to know what it was like to grow up in Buffalo should read this book. The first chapter (which I read online and was hooked) is pee your pants funny. As I continued to read I felt a bit nostaglic (Pederson is ten years older than me, but I could relate to many of her scenarios)for the simpler times when the neighborhood kids would play outside until dark no matter the weather, and there was no such thing as the internet or cell phones to keep us socially isolated. (Yes, I note the irony.) I loved her description of stretching the phone cord in an effort to get as far away from eavesdroppers as possible - tripping family members in the process and then leaving a tangled mess.
Buffalo has certainly suffered its share of economic hardship and endured a bad reputation for pollution and massive amounts of snow, and Pederson does a nice job of lifting the city into survivor status, saying that those who live there are eternally optimistic (or IMHO often just too stubborn to leave). However I noticed that she lives in NYC. Hmmmm....

[Elizabeth K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was 1. interesting and 2. terrifying. First, interesting because it is a memoir about growing up in Buffalo by a woman who is just a few years older than I am. Some of it was even a little scary in that I can remember the exact same things. She even worked at the same summer camp I worked at (not the horrific military camp, the good slacker camp). The style was "lite humor," her first sentence as a toddler was "turn the wheels into the skid" which is really funny if you are from Buffalo. I felt like I would have almost rather read this material as an ongoing column, because after a while the corny jokes were too easy to predict and they get less funny when they are one after another with no break.

The terrifying part is that the author took a very kind and endearing approach to the people who show up, like her teachers and her neighbors, which is in keeping with the overall tone. Nothing was revealed that was shocking or overly personal. So by way of confirming my every fear about memoirs, when my mother handed me the book, she did so with a litany of inside information about the various people, the more scandalous/sad/personal things that didn't make it into the book. GOOD GRIEF.

Grade: B
Recommended: This has fairly specific audience appeal. People who grew up in the 1970s in places like Buffalo or other Great Lakes industrials would probably get the nostalgia.

[Karen Mellott-Foshier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memoir/economic commentary of a girl growing up in Buffalo, New York during the 70s and 80s. Loved the nostalgia, not sure those not from this era would fully appreciate what it was like to grow up during those times.

- Cool or clueless, everyone carried a comb in his or her back pocket (in junior high)

- Spending hours singing clapping songs...Miss Mary Mack Mack

- Singing "We don't need no education" loudly, yet dutifully went to class, did our homework and competed for grades and prizes.

- Pong

- Decades before TiVo and long before VCRs, we had to watch Christmas specials on one of the three network stations when they were aired...or wait 12 months

- Aluminum foil on TV antennas to get better reception (pre-cable days)

- Nothing on TV after midnight

Loved the Gertrude Stein quote (although not a fan of her books): "It is inevitable when one has a great need of something, one finds it."

A good quote by Pedersen, "It struck me that there are situations we have to be responsible for our own happiness."

Totally agree that those born in 1965 do not belong to the Baby Boomers generation...and definitely not Gen X...we don't fit into either category.

Totally disagree that Buffalo, New York is the midwest...not until you hit the western border of Ohio can you make that claim.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great trip into yesteryear for those of us born anytime after World war II. I fell into the age group that I was not a contempory of the author but also not old enough to be her mother so I could identify with all the same societal happenings she experienced. For me, the memory floodgates opened. Although she considers Buffalo the "midwest", I actually come from the midwest and must agree with her accessment in that many of the values she grew up with were reminiscent of the same values I was raised with. This could be not because of geographical location but because of demographics. Buffalo and where I come from where were predominantly comprised from church-going, working class people. I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable, laugh-out-loud read and would highly recommend to anyone.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book graduated from high school 1 year ahead of me about 10 minutes from my own high school in Western New York. Her accounting of her childhood through the end of high school could be my own. Some of her accounts are laugh out loud funny.

Something’s that left me smiling at my book where:

 String Art
 Buffalo’s Talking Proud campaign
 Chinese Fire drills
 Rainbow Suspenders
 Knowing all the words to “Super Freak” by Buffalo’s own Rick James and..
 The best part of going to any concert was wearing the t-shirt to school the next day.


I honestly cannot think of anyone outside of WNY and also who didn’t graduate from high school from between 1981-1988 that would appreciate any of it. However, if you find yourself being one of those lucky few, you will love this book enough to tell many others about it.

[Linda Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to memoirs, they have to look extremely interesting to get my attention; this book did not do that but it was the choice of the book club so I set off to read the book, positive I would hate it. I was wrong! I loved it! Maybe I wouldn’t have if I had not grown up in the Buffalo area, but I did and it took me along a memory path that I had not thought about for sometime.

There was a great deal of discussion about being second generation Americans, while I was fourth generation; I still totally understood what the author was talking about. The places that were discussed many of which no longer exist. The suburbs that sprung up from the wilderness, all of these things are shared memories, whether or not the author meant them to be.

I have to say, I am glad that this was chosen by the book club; I would have hated to miss it otherwise.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, it only got the 4th star because she was raised UU and wrote the better part of a chapter on it which I found fun.

Yet another Unitarian child who apparently turns a bit away from the lessons of her youth...fun stuff!n In addition anyone who grew up in cold midwestern climes and is int he 40 ish range should find yourself on familiar ground with her description of middle class life. Aaahh...who doesn't remember the battle of the thermostat!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely as it brought back many subtleties of pre-email, pre-cell phone life that had been lost in the recesses of my own mind. The description of the cold and barrenness brought a chill to my spine while the detail of the teachers had me rolling my eyes with a junior high school condiscendence. How she remembers all this detail is beyond me, but it brought the book alive for me, and I felt spoiled to have this opportunity to envision the past with such clarity.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. As a child of the late 1960's and of western New York, I wanted to love this, I really did. I enjoyed the personal bits but mostly the book read like one big long "you know you're a child of the 60's if..." or "you know you're from Buffalo if..." email. That said, I'll be reading Buffalo Unbound in the near future.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is entertaining for anyone who has lived in Buffalo. It is the story of the author's life growing up in Amherst in the 1970s. It is not very well written and often the story seems trite or even boring, but the Buffalo trivia, snow stories and name/place recognition make it fun to read.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been raised in a suburb of Buffalo, some of the stories made me laugh out loud! If you are under 40 and from Buffalo, I suspect you will also LOL. Younger and not from Buffalo...If you have experienced the weather and culture of western NY, you still will enjoy this read.

[Ike.Havel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who grew up in the snowbelt will appreciate this memoir. It brings back a lot of wonderful and funny memories. Schools didn't close so often back then and parents weren't in the habit of driving kids no matter how bad the weather.

[J]

Goodreads Librarians! Can you get this cover on the site?

I'm going to try to get the author into the store in the next few months. Publisher is pushing this one hard.

[Wiley]

AuthorsOnTheWeb Internet Marketing campaign for author Laura Pedersen.