What do you think?
Laugh Out Loud: 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now...Before We Forget
Remember ironing your hair? Rolling it in soda cans to straighten it? Lacquering it with enough spray that it could ward off bullets? Ever slather on cement-colored lipstick so heavy, you looked like a zombie princess? Remember hot pants and platform heels? The danger of patent-leather shoes? Were you a secretary, nurse, or teacher, but only, as our mothers urged us, until you found “Mr. Right.” In her new book, LAUGH OUT 40 WOMEN HUMORISTS CELEBRATE THEN AND NOW…BEFORE WE FORGET, Allia Zobel Nolan and 40 funny ladies from the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop chronicle these blips in time as they look back at life in the past lane. Zobel Nolan and the other dancing queens then fast forward to today and write about what it’s like to blink and wake up to be 50, 60, 70, and beyond—experiences ranging from cremation ceremonies to marrying younger men, from senior online dating to finding yourself a menopausal maniac in Mexico.
- GenresHumor
282 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2018
About the author
Allia Zobel Nolan
180 books40 followersAllia Zobel Nolan is an internationally published, award-winning author specializing in children’s trade and religious books and adult humorous books. She has written over 150 titles, and has over 2 ½ million books in print. For the past nine years, Ms. Zobel Nolan worked for Reader’s Digest Children’s Books as a Senior Editor. She became a free-agent as of April 07, and is now at work on several religious children’s books.
Ms. Zobel Nolan has been published by Workman, Andrews & McMeel, Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing, Barnes & Noble, Adams Media, Broadman & Holman, Zondervan, Cook, Scholastic (Veggie Tales), Concordia, Kregel, Standard Publishing, and Tommy Nelson. She has won several book awards, among them, the 2005 Mom’s Choice Award for the Most Outstanding Children’s Book for Preschoolers, an iParenting Award for Greatest Product of 2005, and the 2007 Teacher’s Choice Award.
Ms. Zobel Nolan has appeared on numerous TV shows, including Good Day New York, CNN, the Bertice Berry Show, Fox 5 "Pet Department," CBS News, Saturday Morning Live, The Channel 2 Six O’clock News; Hard Copy, the Fairfield Exchange, Westchester Channel 12, Channel 8 News New Haven, Education Notebook, and other nationally-syndicated television shows, in addition to interviews on radio, and extensive media coverage in local and national press.
Ms. Zobel Nolan is a member of the Cat Writer’s Association and Connecticut Press Club. She lives in Connecticut, with her husband, Desmond, and their three cats, Angela, Sinead, and McDuff.
She loves writing about God, cats, and for children.
- excerpted from her website
Ms. Zobel Nolan has been published by Workman, Andrews & McMeel, Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing, Barnes & Noble, Adams Media, Broadman & Holman, Zondervan, Cook, Scholastic (Veggie Tales), Concordia, Kregel, Standard Publishing, and Tommy Nelson. She has won several book awards, among them, the 2005 Mom’s Choice Award for the Most Outstanding Children’s Book for Preschoolers, an iParenting Award for Greatest Product of 2005, and the 2007 Teacher’s Choice Award.
Ms. Zobel Nolan has appeared on numerous TV shows, including Good Day New York, CNN, the Bertice Berry Show, Fox 5 "Pet Department," CBS News, Saturday Morning Live, The Channel 2 Six O’clock News; Hard Copy, the Fairfield Exchange, Westchester Channel 12, Channel 8 News New Haven, Education Notebook, and other nationally-syndicated television shows, in addition to interviews on radio, and extensive media coverage in local and national press.
Ms. Zobel Nolan is a member of the Cat Writer’s Association and Connecticut Press Club. She lives in Connecticut, with her husband, Desmond, and their three cats, Angela, Sinead, and McDuff.
She loves writing about God, cats, and for children.
- excerpted from her website
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 30, 2022
This book is a great romp of nostalgic humor. We all remember stories, incidents, trials, tribulations, and the aftermath where we can look back on the years and laugh at. We wore crazy styles, did stupid things, had wild crushes, crazy habits.
Funny women here sharing their humorous stories of the past, taking us on a nostalgic trip back through our own memory lane and having us shaking our heads in ‘I can’t believe I did or wore that’ or in affirming, yes, I totally remember that. In this anthology of fun you’ll read some funny side up stories about life from bell bottoms to Birkenstocks, from hot pants to hormones, from mood rings to menopause, it’s all here in 40 fun stories that will provide a few hours of many Lols, while keeping tabs on life from youth to aging and everything in between.
A few favs:
When We Were Fashionistas and the hilarious fashion rundown of the 1960s, Saturday Night Ain’t What it Used to Be – those long Saturday nights when other people had a date, but we didn’t, Menopausal Maniacs in Mexico – had me in stitches and nodding my head at the familiarity and the hilarity of aging gracefully – not, Breathless Encounter – takes us on one woman’s struggle to learn about wearing shapewear and the struggle of getting out of it, Losing It – will resonate with everyone who has struggled with diets, Taking my Face out of the Drawer – talks about when the author began wearing makeup and unapologetic for still feeling comfortable in seeing her face in makeup as the face she is still familiar with, and my ultimate favorite story by Sherri Kuhn – Loving the Skin I’m In – a story about aging and acceptance of beauty changes, fashion fails, settling for comfort unapologetically – “I didn’t get this way overnight, you know. Turning into a midlife goddess, completely relaxed in my body takes time and dedication.”
The book ends with a tribute to Erma Bombeck: Laughing Through the Pain by the author Allia Zobel Nolan who collaborated this most entertaining and clever anthology of humorous takes on women and aging who iconizes Bombeck for her wisdom’s on life, often of the mundane sort that become humorous to us women who can relate, despite Bombeck’s own tribulations in her own life. As Nolan writes, “She held up a mirror to her life, burst out laughing, then sat down and chronicled it for millions to enjoy.”
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I don’t have a single bit of talent left and could say, “I used everything you gave.” ~Erma Bombeck
Funny women here sharing their humorous stories of the past, taking us on a nostalgic trip back through our own memory lane and having us shaking our heads in ‘I can’t believe I did or wore that’ or in affirming, yes, I totally remember that. In this anthology of fun you’ll read some funny side up stories about life from bell bottoms to Birkenstocks, from hot pants to hormones, from mood rings to menopause, it’s all here in 40 fun stories that will provide a few hours of many Lols, while keeping tabs on life from youth to aging and everything in between.
A few favs:
When We Were Fashionistas and the hilarious fashion rundown of the 1960s, Saturday Night Ain’t What it Used to Be – those long Saturday nights when other people had a date, but we didn’t, Menopausal Maniacs in Mexico – had me in stitches and nodding my head at the familiarity and the hilarity of aging gracefully – not, Breathless Encounter – takes us on one woman’s struggle to learn about wearing shapewear and the struggle of getting out of it, Losing It – will resonate with everyone who has struggled with diets, Taking my Face out of the Drawer – talks about when the author began wearing makeup and unapologetic for still feeling comfortable in seeing her face in makeup as the face she is still familiar with, and my ultimate favorite story by Sherri Kuhn – Loving the Skin I’m In – a story about aging and acceptance of beauty changes, fashion fails, settling for comfort unapologetically – “I didn’t get this way overnight, you know. Turning into a midlife goddess, completely relaxed in my body takes time and dedication.”
The book ends with a tribute to Erma Bombeck: Laughing Through the Pain by the author Allia Zobel Nolan who collaborated this most entertaining and clever anthology of humorous takes on women and aging who iconizes Bombeck for her wisdom’s on life, often of the mundane sort that become humorous to us women who can relate, despite Bombeck’s own tribulations in her own life. As Nolan writes, “She held up a mirror to her life, burst out laughing, then sat down and chronicled it for millions to enjoy.”
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I don’t have a single bit of talent left and could say, “I used everything you gave.” ~Erma Bombeck
August 15, 2018
Ranging from cute to funny--if you need a dose of girlfriend, this is it.
March 4, 2021
Very funny ladies
Enjoyed every one of these stories, having been an Erma Bombeck fan for years. Lots of laughs for everyone here.
Enjoyed every one of these stories, having been an Erma Bombeck fan for years. Lots of laughs for everyone here.
March 18, 2021
Remember When...
A jog to the memory of days gone by and events long forgotten...the stories brought tears to my eyes, a smile to my face and joy to my heart.
A jog to the memory of days gone by and events long forgotten...the stories brought tears to my eyes, a smile to my face and joy to my heart.
August 31, 2018
I regularly enter the Erma Bombeck writing contest put on by the University of Dayton. I have yet to win or even place but still hold out hope that one year I'll create the perfect funny essay that will wow the judges.
When I received an email asking me to read this book, I jumped at it. Why wouldn't I? I'm well over 40 and I still remember rotary phones, rolling my hair on orange juice cans and wearing garter belts to hold up my nylon hosiery. Throw in night sweats and hot flashes and I was all in. None of these things were especially funny when they were happening but time between then and now has turned them into fair game.
The first few stories reminded me of some things from my youth that I had forgotten like Jean Nate and having my ears pierced. I got a chuckled out of that. But the longer I read, even though they were written by different authors, the stories repeated themselves. I was no longer laughing by the fifth story about that lemon perfume.
I blame the editor for my disappointment not the individual writers. There is some funny stuff in here that any woman can relate to. Maybe don't try to read the whole book at once. Reading one or two stories at a time might keep it fresh and funny.
When I received an email asking me to read this book, I jumped at it. Why wouldn't I? I'm well over 40 and I still remember rotary phones, rolling my hair on orange juice cans and wearing garter belts to hold up my nylon hosiery. Throw in night sweats and hot flashes and I was all in. None of these things were especially funny when they were happening but time between then and now has turned them into fair game.
The first few stories reminded me of some things from my youth that I had forgotten like Jean Nate and having my ears pierced. I got a chuckled out of that. But the longer I read, even though they were written by different authors, the stories repeated themselves. I was no longer laughing by the fifth story about that lemon perfume.
I blame the editor for my disappointment not the individual writers. There is some funny stuff in here that any woman can relate to. Maybe don't try to read the whole book at once. Reading one or two stories at a time might keep it fresh and funny.
August 13, 2021
I am sorry to say this was only "meh" for me. I was mildly amused at first, then kind of bored as each chapter sounded so similar to the one before in both content and style that it was hard to believe they were written by different authors.
Another criticism I have is partially my fault. Based on the cover photo, I thought there would be some representation from people from different backgrounds. From what I could tell (and I googled quite a few of the authors) they were all white women. The cover features many skin tones--but also men, so I should have known it wasn't reflecting the make-up of the authors. But I have been trying to read more books by people of color and was disappointed this didn't seem to include any. I didn't google every single one, so maybe I missed one.
Anyway. This may have been the wrong book at the wrong time for me.
Another criticism I have is partially my fault. Based on the cover photo, I thought there would be some representation from people from different backgrounds. From what I could tell (and I googled quite a few of the authors) they were all white women. The cover features many skin tones--but also men, so I should have known it wasn't reflecting the make-up of the authors. But I have been trying to read more books by people of color and was disappointed this didn't seem to include any. I didn't google every single one, so maybe I missed one.
Anyway. This may have been the wrong book at the wrong time for me.
January 19, 2022
A collection of short stories that is basically the same story over and over. I think it was supposed to normalize the changes that come with age, but when nearly every essay begins with how flabby, how out of shape, and how overweight the author is, it didn’t feel very uplifting or positive regarding body image or self esteem.
November 16, 2024
Cute and somewhat entertaining but I think I only laughed out loud one time. Almost all were relatable to an aging baby boomer but I think my funny bone is deeper than this reached - these are definitely not knee slapping hilarious!
September 28, 2021
Cute but not really what I would consider funny.
June 15, 2022
Pleasantly amusing, but not as funny as I expected it to be going on the title alone.
July 9, 2022
This was a fun group of essays. As with any anthology, there are stronger voices and weaker ones, but they found a group that all had a uniform feel and even voice. Well done.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews