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Four of a Kind: A Suburban Field Guide includes: The Grass is Always Greener Over the Sseptic Tank, If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, Aunt Erma's Cope Book and Motherhood, the Second Oldest Profession
Together for the first time--the late Erma Bombeck's observations on the hilarious aspects of family life. This four-in-one collection includes The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank, If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries--What Am I Doing in the Pits?, Aunt Erma's cope book and The Second Oldest Profession.
624 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1985
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116 people want to read
About the author
Erma Bombeck
103 books544 followersErma Louise Bombeck, born Erma Fiste, was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for a newspaper column that depicted suburban home life humorously, in the second half of the 20th century.
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Besides, the majority of her 15 books became instant best sellers.
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Besides, the majority of her 15 books became instant best sellers.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 20, 2025
A flashback to a time when most women were housewives and talked openly about birth control, but the new trend of working mothers was an acceptable alternative. When people moved to the suburbs to simplify their lives, but their lives became complex in other ways. When carpooling and neighborhood friends and parties were the norm. At the dawn of the self-help book era, when women (but not men) felt the need for improvement. When suburbs were actively being built. An era long past.
I remember reading Erma Bombeck’s newspaper column as a teen. I loved her humor then, as did countless readers. From today’s perspective, I feel the underlying pain and inner conflict in the humor. Not unlike a sophisticated and intelligent version of today’s no-win sitcoms. In laughing at her satire, I also felt not only nostalgia for the era, but also sadness for the struggle between motherhood and self-identification, and the limited potential for personal fulfillment.
In this 4-book volume, my favorite is Grass is Greener Over the Septic Tank, a discourse on moving to the newly-built (and in some cases not quite finished) suburbs, where many homes were identical, and true community developed in the tracts. Diets, dogs, shared vacations, pregnancy, and of course children are subjects. If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? considers some heavier suburban topics, like when children grow to parent their parents. One hilarious bit pits sportscaster lingo against betrothal announcement language, both of which are cloaked in metaphors.
Aunt Erma’s Cope Book is a romp through self-help books, each one recommended by a different neighborhood woman. Bombeck rather brilliantly parodies actual books from the 1970s-80s. I could have researched these to up the level of humor, but was keen to get on with the book. Still, I enjoyed the humor and irony.
Motherhood, the Second Oldest Profession could not be written today. It’s no longer “PC” to mention such methods of dealing with children, much less admit to them. That alone makes the book worth reading. A series of “what kind of mother would…” chapters show how conflicts were resolved much differently in those days. My favorite was the re-imaging of the wicked stepmother fairy tales, retold with the children as evil saboteurs. I’m sure there’s truth in this, though these days it’s more popular to place all blame on the stepmother.
A fun read for those who remember the era, or want to learn more about its popular culture. Some good insights into our parents’ and grandparents’ (and great grandparents’) worlds.
I remember reading Erma Bombeck’s newspaper column as a teen. I loved her humor then, as did countless readers. From today’s perspective, I feel the underlying pain and inner conflict in the humor. Not unlike a sophisticated and intelligent version of today’s no-win sitcoms. In laughing at her satire, I also felt not only nostalgia for the era, but also sadness for the struggle between motherhood and self-identification, and the limited potential for personal fulfillment.
In this 4-book volume, my favorite is Grass is Greener Over the Septic Tank, a discourse on moving to the newly-built (and in some cases not quite finished) suburbs, where many homes were identical, and true community developed in the tracts. Diets, dogs, shared vacations, pregnancy, and of course children are subjects. If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? considers some heavier suburban topics, like when children grow to parent their parents. One hilarious bit pits sportscaster lingo against betrothal announcement language, both of which are cloaked in metaphors.
Aunt Erma’s Cope Book is a romp through self-help books, each one recommended by a different neighborhood woman. Bombeck rather brilliantly parodies actual books from the 1970s-80s. I could have researched these to up the level of humor, but was keen to get on with the book. Still, I enjoyed the humor and irony.
Motherhood, the Second Oldest Profession could not be written today. It’s no longer “PC” to mention such methods of dealing with children, much less admit to them. That alone makes the book worth reading. A series of “what kind of mother would…” chapters show how conflicts were resolved much differently in those days. My favorite was the re-imaging of the wicked stepmother fairy tales, retold with the children as evil saboteurs. I’m sure there’s truth in this, though these days it’s more popular to place all blame on the stepmother.
A fun read for those who remember the era, or want to learn more about its popular culture. Some good insights into our parents’ and grandparents’ (and great grandparents’) worlds.
August 30, 2022
4 books in 1 so 4 times the fun:
"The Grass is Always Greener ...." - Erma's thoughts on buying a new house and raising a young family.
"If Life is a Bowl of Cherries ..." - Erma's experiences being a stay at home mom. "I've seen kids ride bicycles, run, play ball, set up a camp, swing, fight a war, swim and race for eight hours, .... yet have to be driven to the garbage can."
"Aunt Erma's Cope Book ...." - some self-help advice that goes full circle. "The fact was I didn't want to look my age, but I didn't want to act the age I wanted to look either. I also wanted to grow old enough to understand that sentence."
"Motherhood ....." - there are all kinds of mothers: new mothers, TV moms, Mr. Mom, Everybody Else's Mother, Fairytale stepmothers, grandmothers and more.
"The Grass is Always Greener ...." - Erma's thoughts on buying a new house and raising a young family.
"If Life is a Bowl of Cherries ..." - Erma's experiences being a stay at home mom. "I've seen kids ride bicycles, run, play ball, set up a camp, swing, fight a war, swim and race for eight hours, .... yet have to be driven to the garbage can."
"Aunt Erma's Cope Book ...." - some self-help advice that goes full circle. "The fact was I didn't want to look my age, but I didn't want to act the age I wanted to look either. I also wanted to grow old enough to understand that sentence."
"Motherhood ....." - there are all kinds of mothers: new mothers, TV moms, Mr. Mom, Everybody Else's Mother, Fairytale stepmothers, grandmothers and more.
December 18, 2019
Unfortunately, quite dated
May 16, 2021
I didn't like these as much as some of Bombeck's shorts, columns, and more family-focused works, but there were funny pieces and the guide to the suburbs cracked me up.
October 28, 2022
A chuckle on every page.
April 16, 2011
I already owned two of the books contained here, but after finding this at a thrift store I thought it was an excellent time to reread them both (along with the two that were new to me). Bombeck's books are alternately poignant, sad, but most of all funny (sometimes even hilarious!). I appreciate these from the stance of a non-mother, for someone with kids they must be even better!
November 9, 2008
Erma Bombeck always makes me giggle. I think it's because she takes real life things that I can relate to and 'humorizes' them. This was a compliation of 4 of her books and while there were a few times that the anecdotes were duplicated it was still overall a wonderful fun read.
December 15, 2010
I had read these books ages ago and was thrilled to read them again. Erma can make you laugh and cry on the same page! What I treasure! I went straight to the library and got another one of her books!
March 18, 2011
Some parts were riotously funny- but I found it largely rather depressing. This may be because I have a rather British sense of humor, unlike Erma Bombeck. It would get a higher rating if the funny parts weren't so sparsely dispersed throughout the rather weighty tome.
August 16, 2011
Had always wanted to read "grass is always greener over the septic tank" after it was mentioned in another book. I then found this one that gave me three more, I love them all, they are great eleven you just want to laugh.
September 3, 2007
I love Erma Bombeck and her musings. Couldn't ask for anything more on a Sunday afternoon than one of her books to keep me company.
Want to read
January 4, 2012I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10362922
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10362922
Read
October 18, 2016It is amazing about how much my 'old mother' thoughts are because of Erma Bombeck - great read!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews