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Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir
Many Hands Make Light Work is the rollicking true story of a family of nine children growing up in the college town of Ames, Iowa in the ’60s and ’70s. Inspiring, full of surprises, and laugh-out-loud funny, this utterly unique family champions diversity and inclusion long before such concepts become cultural flashpoints.
Cheryl and her siblings are the offspring of an eccentric professor father and unflappable mother. Mindful of their ever-expanding family’s need for cash, her parents begin acquiring tumbledown houses in campus-town, to renovate and rent. Dad, who changes out of his suit and tie into a carpenter’s battered white overalls, like Clark Kent into Superman, is supremely confident his offspring can do anything, whether he’s there or not. Mom, an organizational genius disguised as a housewife, manages nine children so deftly that she finds the time—and heart—to take in student boarders, who stir their own offbeat personalities into this unconventional household. The kids, meanwhile, pour concrete, paint houses, and, at odd moments, break into song, because instead of complaining, they sing as they work, like a von Trapp family in painters caps.
Free-wheeling and contagiously cheerful, Many Hands Make Light Work is a winsome memoir of a Heartland childhood unlike any other.
Cheryl and her siblings are the offspring of an eccentric professor father and unflappable mother. Mindful of their ever-expanding family’s need for cash, her parents begin acquiring tumbledown houses in campus-town, to renovate and rent. Dad, who changes out of his suit and tie into a carpenter’s battered white overalls, like Clark Kent into Superman, is supremely confident his offspring can do anything, whether he’s there or not. Mom, an organizational genius disguised as a housewife, manages nine children so deftly that she finds the time—and heart—to take in student boarders, who stir their own offbeat personalities into this unconventional household. The kids, meanwhile, pour concrete, paint houses, and, at odd moments, break into song, because instead of complaining, they sing as they work, like a von Trapp family in painters caps.
Free-wheeling and contagiously cheerful, Many Hands Make Light Work is a winsome memoir of a Heartland childhood unlike any other.
289 pages, Paperback
Published August 6, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 7, 2019
The first book by Chicago Tribune writer Cheryl McCarthy is a rollicking good tale about growing up in a large family in Ames, Iowa. Told in the fashion of one of my favorite childhood books, Cheaper by the Dozen, in Cheryl's family they had a baseball team where all nine children were expected to be part of the family work crew. As each chapter spins out, displaying the life of this busy family, I was drawn in by the eye-popping organization of her two parents: the morning duty list for the many rental homes the kids were expected to work on each summer, the ingenious milk delivery system installed in the kitchen, the never-ending line of college students renting rooms in their already over-full house, and the ability to shovel snow from the front of all those rental homes, before breakfast each winter morning. Having grown up in a fairly dysfunctional family myself, I was in awe of how this family functioned, with love, humor, and song. If you need a chuckle, a pick-me-up, a reminder that hard work leads to success, that togetherness still exists, this book is a wonderful choice.
August 25, 2019
Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy's memoir, Many Hands Make Light Work. is a delightful memoir filled with positive messages and brimming with happiness. How refreshing to read a memoir that shares happy childhood stories of growing up in a large midwestern family. The author's easy to read writing style had me grinning at her recollections of her life in a household with nine children who learned the value early in life of the benefits of hard work.
Growing up in Ames, Iowa with eight siblings and numerous college students who often boarded at their home, Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy has plenty of stories and each chapter proved to be more entertaining than the previous one. I especially enjoyed chapter twenty three where the author brilliantly chronicles her babysitting adventure with a lion - yes- a lion.
There are many lessons to be gleaned from this memoir including how hard work does not have to be boring, that family bonds are important and a close family relationship is worth everything, and that life in a large family can be challenging but rewarding. Kudos to Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy for writing such a positive and upbeat book and for all that she has accomplished as a journalist in her life. I was given an advanced reader copy of Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir for review purposes.
Growing up in Ames, Iowa with eight siblings and numerous college students who often boarded at their home, Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy has plenty of stories and each chapter proved to be more entertaining than the previous one. I especially enjoyed chapter twenty three where the author brilliantly chronicles her babysitting adventure with a lion - yes- a lion.
There are many lessons to be gleaned from this memoir including how hard work does not have to be boring, that family bonds are important and a close family relationship is worth everything, and that life in a large family can be challenging but rewarding. Kudos to Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy for writing such a positive and upbeat book and for all that she has accomplished as a journalist in her life. I was given an advanced reader copy of Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir for review purposes.
May 27, 2019
How often do you read a memoir of a blissful childhood? “Many Hands Make Light Work” is the ultimate feel-good memoir of the nine Stritzel children and their two industrious and thrifty parents Joe and Marcella. The chapters are filled with the true stories of a Midwestern upbringing in bygone era where children were trusted to do anything from painting a house to pouring a concrete driveway. As a team, the Stritzels renovate and rent old college houses throughout the 1960s and 70s in Ames, IA - the heart of the American Heartland.
Each story in the book shines like a small gem. Individually, they are simple tales of childhood memories; a vacation at the lake, Christmastime at home, picking cherries from the tree in the backyard. Together, the collection of stories illuminates the forgotten parenting wisdom that children can grow and thrive by being trusted with the responsibility of hard work. McCarthy’s own experiences come to life through her experience being part of a family work crew under the direction of their unflappable father. Rather than lounging at the pool or lazing away their summer days, the Stritzels worked as a team to build and renovate homes. Because of this, the children grew up empowered to do anything and be anything. As one line in the book states: “Because he (Dad) believed in us, we believed in us.”
McCarthy’s style is masterful, yet easy to read. I found myself devouring this book in just a few sittings, eagerly turning pages to see what adventures the Stritzels encounter. “Many Hands” made me nostalgic for an era I’ve never known. A wonderful read that will have you smiling on every page.
Each story in the book shines like a small gem. Individually, they are simple tales of childhood memories; a vacation at the lake, Christmastime at home, picking cherries from the tree in the backyard. Together, the collection of stories illuminates the forgotten parenting wisdom that children can grow and thrive by being trusted with the responsibility of hard work. McCarthy’s own experiences come to life through her experience being part of a family work crew under the direction of their unflappable father. Rather than lounging at the pool or lazing away their summer days, the Stritzels worked as a team to build and renovate homes. Because of this, the children grew up empowered to do anything and be anything. As one line in the book states: “Because he (Dad) believed in us, we believed in us.”
McCarthy’s style is masterful, yet easy to read. I found myself devouring this book in just a few sittings, eagerly turning pages to see what adventures the Stritzels encounter. “Many Hands” made me nostalgic for an era I’ve never known. A wonderful read that will have you smiling on every page.
July 16, 2019
I loved this book! I'm a bit biased because I know the people it's about, but you're likely to love it, too, even if you don't know them. Good stories, big heart, fun read. I love Cheryl's writing - she's an excellent storyteller with a knack for a great turn of phrase.
March 30, 2023
I did not enjoy this book. I felt her writing was very preachy and judgmental. I'm not a fan of the idea of "The Good Ol' Days" which is the foundation of this book.
August 25, 2019
After seeing all the news coverage of events from 1969, like Woodstock and the Apollo 11 moon landing, one can't help but be nostalgic for that time, and that makes it the perfect time to read Cheryl Stritzel's family memoir Many Hands Make Light Work.
Stritzel came of age in Iowa in the 1960s and 1970s, one of nine children born to Joe, an agronomy professor at the University of Iowa, and his wife Marcella. Joe saw that as more young people were going to college, more housing was needed. So they bought up several homes in the neighborhood and turned them onto student housing.
Joe and Marcella grew up during the Depression and their mentality was to do for themsleves. Therefore, the children all pitched in and helped rehab the homes. The youngest children, dubbed "the Littles" pulled nails and stacked wood, the older kids tore up carpets and tore down wallpaper. (One old house had 22 layers of wallpaper!) In the winter, they got up early and shoveled all the sidewalks of the homes before heading off to school.
Having nine children meant being thrifty. They had a commercial milk dispenser installed in their kitchen and bought milk in five-gallon metal cans. They grew green beans, green peppers, and varieties of lettuces in the garden of one home, huge plots of tomatoes in another home, and an entire yard was filled with sweet corn.
They had peach, pear, plum and apple trees. One the more memorable scenes was of the children undergoing preparation to pick the cherries from the fifteen foot Montmorence cherry trees that dominated their yard.
First Mom made plates of pancakes, topped with butter and honey (from their own hives of course), and a single slice of bacon. (The children grew up never realizing that you could have more than one slice of bacon for breakfast.) Then the Baseball team, as Dad called them, donned their equipment- each had an old metal coffee can with a piece of twine at the top that allowed for the can to hang off their waist so they could use two hands to pick more efficiently. Singing "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma meant that work could begin.
Many Hands Make Light Work is such a delightful, warm-hearted book. The memories (eating Spudnuts donuts after church, Greg sitting at "the Toast Seat" during breakfast, stopping at the A&W restaurant for 11 root beers to go along with the packed sandwiches during a rare family vacation) will bring to mind your own family memories.
The craziest story involved Cheryl babysitting for a family. It should be an easy job- the only child, a baby, would be asleep, and Cheryl could watch TV and do her homework. But as the parents were leaving, they handed her a flyswatter and told her that if the lion acted up, just tap him on the nose. Yes, they had a lion. Not a baby lion, one that was more like a teenager. He slept in the chair in the living room, where Cheryl was to be. That scene was straight up nerve-wracking, but as I was reading it, I thought to myself, yeah, that kind of stuff happened back then.
I can't recommend Many Hands Make Light Work more highly. It brought me joy, made me laugh ,and and made me feel grateful for growing up in my own big Catholic family. If you grew up watching The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family, this is for you. I loved reading all about the Stritzels, and if you long for a good family story, pick up this book now. It's one of my favorite books of the year.
Thanks to She Writes Press for providing me a copy of this wonderful book for an honest review.
Stritzel came of age in Iowa in the 1960s and 1970s, one of nine children born to Joe, an agronomy professor at the University of Iowa, and his wife Marcella. Joe saw that as more young people were going to college, more housing was needed. So they bought up several homes in the neighborhood and turned them onto student housing.
Joe and Marcella grew up during the Depression and their mentality was to do for themsleves. Therefore, the children all pitched in and helped rehab the homes. The youngest children, dubbed "the Littles" pulled nails and stacked wood, the older kids tore up carpets and tore down wallpaper. (One old house had 22 layers of wallpaper!) In the winter, they got up early and shoveled all the sidewalks of the homes before heading off to school.
Having nine children meant being thrifty. They had a commercial milk dispenser installed in their kitchen and bought milk in five-gallon metal cans. They grew green beans, green peppers, and varieties of lettuces in the garden of one home, huge plots of tomatoes in another home, and an entire yard was filled with sweet corn.
They had peach, pear, plum and apple trees. One the more memorable scenes was of the children undergoing preparation to pick the cherries from the fifteen foot Montmorence cherry trees that dominated their yard.
First Mom made plates of pancakes, topped with butter and honey (from their own hives of course), and a single slice of bacon. (The children grew up never realizing that you could have more than one slice of bacon for breakfast.) Then the Baseball team, as Dad called them, donned their equipment- each had an old metal coffee can with a piece of twine at the top that allowed for the can to hang off their waist so they could use two hands to pick more efficiently. Singing "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma meant that work could begin.
Many Hands Make Light Work is such a delightful, warm-hearted book. The memories (eating Spudnuts donuts after church, Greg sitting at "the Toast Seat" during breakfast, stopping at the A&W restaurant for 11 root beers to go along with the packed sandwiches during a rare family vacation) will bring to mind your own family memories.
The craziest story involved Cheryl babysitting for a family. It should be an easy job- the only child, a baby, would be asleep, and Cheryl could watch TV and do her homework. But as the parents were leaving, they handed her a flyswatter and told her that if the lion acted up, just tap him on the nose. Yes, they had a lion. Not a baby lion, one that was more like a teenager. He slept in the chair in the living room, where Cheryl was to be. That scene was straight up nerve-wracking, but as I was reading it, I thought to myself, yeah, that kind of stuff happened back then.
I can't recommend Many Hands Make Light Work more highly. It brought me joy, made me laugh ,and and made me feel grateful for growing up in my own big Catholic family. If you grew up watching The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family, this is for you. I loved reading all about the Stritzels, and if you long for a good family story, pick up this book now. It's one of my favorite books of the year.
Thanks to She Writes Press for providing me a copy of this wonderful book for an honest review.
June 29, 2019
This book is so much fun! After I read it, I gave it to my work colleague. She came dragging into work the next day, saying, “Warning! Do not start this book in the evening. I stayed up all night finishing it!”
“Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir” is the feel-good book of the year—and it’s a feel-good read in the face of opposition. The ‘60s and ‘70s ushered in free love, Vietnam, the sexual revolution, Kent State, Watergate, and putting a daisy in the barrel of a policeman’s gun. Those were wild times, a difficult time to raise children. Woodstock, and photos of naked people there covered with mud, with flowers in their hair, got publicity.
Enter the Stritzel family, where the parents expected their children to learn how to pull nails out of old lumber, paint, do drywall, and pour cement to refurbish the rundown, formerly grand old houses in their college town to rent out to students, and thus, provide the money needed to raise nine kids on a professor’s salary. Incredible? Yes, but those children grew up believing that they were capable of anything.
We’ve always been fascinated with stories of large families. Cheaper by The Dozen. Swiss Family Robinson. The Fischer Quintuplets. The Von Trapp family (featured in the movie, The Sound of Music) faced incredible odds and needed to escape. The parents in “Many Hands,” Joe and Marcella Stritzel, didn’t need to escape, but they saw a need for more income to raise their large family. Their children learned how to work hard and how to have fun with each other doing it. They often broke into song while they worked, not unlike the Von Trapp Family Singers.
“Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir” doesn’t sugarcoat anything. It tells the good, the bad, and the musical.
One of my favorite chapters in “Many Hands” is Chapter 21 titled “Some Joker,” about the only vacation the family ever took, to Virginia Beach, where the teenage Stritzel kids poke affectionate fun of their dad. Their dad owns only three sets of clothes: professional wear for teaching at the university and going to church; carpenters white overalls for work on their rental houses; and casual clothes for church picnics and such. Nothing for a beach vacation. Of course he doesn’t own sandals, though Marcella has bought him swim trunks. The sand at Virginia Beach is insanely hot, so he has to walk out on it wearing swim trunks and wingtip leather dress shoes. With ankle socks. When he gets into the water to float on an inner tube (he can’t swim) he leaves the wingtips neatly side by side on the beach, where… you’ll have to read the chapter to find out what happens.
The book could’ve segued into something saccharine, but it never does. How do you raise nine children born within a span of 11 years? This book shows how.
When they make the movie of this book, as they surely will, the soundtrack is already built in. The kids sing while they work, to hymns and folk ballads and the great pop songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
It’s the feel-good book of the year, but don’t start reading it at 8 o’clock in the evening. You’ll be up all night! How many books leave you laughing, make your heart happy, and leave you wishing there were more chapters?
But don’t wait. Pre-order it now, because it’s $5 off on Amazon, and that will only last till the publication date of August 6th. I’m going to order five copies now to give to my girlfriends and family members as gifts.
“Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir” is the feel-good book of the year—and it’s a feel-good read in the face of opposition. The ‘60s and ‘70s ushered in free love, Vietnam, the sexual revolution, Kent State, Watergate, and putting a daisy in the barrel of a policeman’s gun. Those were wild times, a difficult time to raise children. Woodstock, and photos of naked people there covered with mud, with flowers in their hair, got publicity.
Enter the Stritzel family, where the parents expected their children to learn how to pull nails out of old lumber, paint, do drywall, and pour cement to refurbish the rundown, formerly grand old houses in their college town to rent out to students, and thus, provide the money needed to raise nine kids on a professor’s salary. Incredible? Yes, but those children grew up believing that they were capable of anything.
We’ve always been fascinated with stories of large families. Cheaper by The Dozen. Swiss Family Robinson. The Fischer Quintuplets. The Von Trapp family (featured in the movie, The Sound of Music) faced incredible odds and needed to escape. The parents in “Many Hands,” Joe and Marcella Stritzel, didn’t need to escape, but they saw a need for more income to raise their large family. Their children learned how to work hard and how to have fun with each other doing it. They often broke into song while they worked, not unlike the Von Trapp Family Singers.
“Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir” doesn’t sugarcoat anything. It tells the good, the bad, and the musical.
One of my favorite chapters in “Many Hands” is Chapter 21 titled “Some Joker,” about the only vacation the family ever took, to Virginia Beach, where the teenage Stritzel kids poke affectionate fun of their dad. Their dad owns only three sets of clothes: professional wear for teaching at the university and going to church; carpenters white overalls for work on their rental houses; and casual clothes for church picnics and such. Nothing for a beach vacation. Of course he doesn’t own sandals, though Marcella has bought him swim trunks. The sand at Virginia Beach is insanely hot, so he has to walk out on it wearing swim trunks and wingtip leather dress shoes. With ankle socks. When he gets into the water to float on an inner tube (he can’t swim) he leaves the wingtips neatly side by side on the beach, where… you’ll have to read the chapter to find out what happens.
The book could’ve segued into something saccharine, but it never does. How do you raise nine children born within a span of 11 years? This book shows how.
When they make the movie of this book, as they surely will, the soundtrack is already built in. The kids sing while they work, to hymns and folk ballads and the great pop songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
It’s the feel-good book of the year, but don’t start reading it at 8 o’clock in the evening. You’ll be up all night! How many books leave you laughing, make your heart happy, and leave you wishing there were more chapters?
But don’t wait. Pre-order it now, because it’s $5 off on Amazon, and that will only last till the publication date of August 6th. I’m going to order five copies now to give to my girlfriends and family members as gifts.
August 10, 2019
Many who came of age in the Midwest during the '60s and '70s will immediately understand the allure of seasonal family routines, avocado green appliances and Pontiac station wagons celebrated in Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy's Many Hands Make Light Work. But more than just nostalgia justifies revisiting the era.
Younger generations, of course, won't immediately appreciate the period's nuances. But thanks to the new memoir, lessons are available demonstrating how hard work and respect often work together to pay great dividends regardless of the era. The book presents fundamental lessons demonstrating how challenges can become opportunities and how children can become more independent and better prepared for modern challenges, without proving dependent upon their parents' intervention at each step, if engaged early and consistently.
McCarthy, who grew up in Ames, Iowa, as one of nine siblings, expertly weaves stories of her family's routines and relationships. Read the book and, if you're like me, you'll be left wondering why the same strategies are so often abandoned in today's frenetic microwave society. Certainly, the experiences recounted within the book and the subsequent erosion of the corresponding values help explain intense divisions so apparent today.
Discipline, structure and routine are almost always regarded as admirable traits. Yet, those elements alone are insufficient for sustaining success. Special binding ingredients are also necessary, and it's those ingredients that McCarthy captures: respect and unity of purpose. As McCarthy demonstrates, there was no lack of work or responsibilities, even for the youngest siblings. Whether collecting and pitting cherries for preserving, preparing and serving meals or assisting with the remodeling and maintenance of the family's many rental properties, everyone pulled their weight. More notably, everyone acted not only with purpose, but with respect. Courtesy was a hallmark. It's no secret the importance of courtesy and civility have waned, and that's unfortunate.
A true-to-the-Midwest memoir, Many Hands Make Light Work is immediately reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's works, but with numerous contemporary twists. Think of the book as a homespun Sting-Ray Afternoons (sports columnist Steve Rushin's wonderful nonfiction title).
If you grew up in the '60s or '70s, or if you seek a slower-paced book confirming faith-based lives can be lived according to foundational principals that also prove inclusive and welcoming of diversity, check out McCarthy's new memoir. Immersing yourself in the Stritzel family's history is a pleasant way to pass a summer day, and you might just learn something.
Younger generations, of course, won't immediately appreciate the period's nuances. But thanks to the new memoir, lessons are available demonstrating how hard work and respect often work together to pay great dividends regardless of the era. The book presents fundamental lessons demonstrating how challenges can become opportunities and how children can become more independent and better prepared for modern challenges, without proving dependent upon their parents' intervention at each step, if engaged early and consistently.
McCarthy, who grew up in Ames, Iowa, as one of nine siblings, expertly weaves stories of her family's routines and relationships. Read the book and, if you're like me, you'll be left wondering why the same strategies are so often abandoned in today's frenetic microwave society. Certainly, the experiences recounted within the book and the subsequent erosion of the corresponding values help explain intense divisions so apparent today.
Discipline, structure and routine are almost always regarded as admirable traits. Yet, those elements alone are insufficient for sustaining success. Special binding ingredients are also necessary, and it's those ingredients that McCarthy captures: respect and unity of purpose. As McCarthy demonstrates, there was no lack of work or responsibilities, even for the youngest siblings. Whether collecting and pitting cherries for preserving, preparing and serving meals or assisting with the remodeling and maintenance of the family's many rental properties, everyone pulled their weight. More notably, everyone acted not only with purpose, but with respect. Courtesy was a hallmark. It's no secret the importance of courtesy and civility have waned, and that's unfortunate.
A true-to-the-Midwest memoir, Many Hands Make Light Work is immediately reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's works, but with numerous contemporary twists. Think of the book as a homespun Sting-Ray Afternoons (sports columnist Steve Rushin's wonderful nonfiction title).
If you grew up in the '60s or '70s, or if you seek a slower-paced book confirming faith-based lives can be lived according to foundational principals that also prove inclusive and welcoming of diversity, check out McCarthy's new memoir. Immersing yourself in the Stritzel family's history is a pleasant way to pass a summer day, and you might just learn something.
October 27, 2019
Many Hands Make Light Work by Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy is a wonderful family memoir about growing up in a Christian family in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
The author is one of nine children who had what sounds like The Waltons type childhood. Mum and Dad happily welcomed strangers into their home in the form of a series of college students needing board and lodgings.
As with all large families, a degree of organisation is needed to function. The family all pulled together to keep everything running smoothly.
I loved the idea that the family sang together as they worked together. I even found myself singing along in my head as I read! Some songs did create moments of hilarity too.
Prayer, church attendance and God were all present in the children’s lives as good strong influences on the adults they became.
I really enjoyed Many Hands Make Light Work. It was entertaining, wildly funny at times and truly inspirational. I loved reading about the family who worked, played, sang, worshipped, lived and loved together. The inclusion of photos enabled me to put faces to names. At the end there is a section on what all the household is doing now, which was good to know.
I will leave you with my favourite quote which comes after the family had visited their grandparents:
“Love isn’t always obvious, effusive and extroverted. Sometimes it is bent, shuffles with age, and wears a newsboy cap.”
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
The author is one of nine children who had what sounds like The Waltons type childhood. Mum and Dad happily welcomed strangers into their home in the form of a series of college students needing board and lodgings.
As with all large families, a degree of organisation is needed to function. The family all pulled together to keep everything running smoothly.
I loved the idea that the family sang together as they worked together. I even found myself singing along in my head as I read! Some songs did create moments of hilarity too.
Prayer, church attendance and God were all present in the children’s lives as good strong influences on the adults they became.
I really enjoyed Many Hands Make Light Work. It was entertaining, wildly funny at times and truly inspirational. I loved reading about the family who worked, played, sang, worshipped, lived and loved together. The inclusion of photos enabled me to put faces to names. At the end there is a section on what all the household is doing now, which was good to know.
I will leave you with my favourite quote which comes after the family had visited their grandparents:
“Love isn’t always obvious, effusive and extroverted. Sometimes it is bent, shuffles with age, and wears a newsboy cap.”
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
April 22, 2020
Many Hands Make Light Work is an interesting memoir that presents the life of a family of nine children whose parents believed that with all hands on deck, there wasn't anything they couldn't accomplish. No business idea was too adventurous or out of reach. The adventurous spirit of this family led their parents to pass unto their children many skills that eventually played out nicely in their personal lives. Aside their amiable attitude toward hard work, the courage to open up their household to many college students over many years whom they'd never met, across the spectrum of cultures, is breathtaking. Not only did they earn money from this, but the students gained so much from this family's culture.
Looking at the world at large today, it's quite understandable why McCarthy would write a memoir about her family, because a story like this untold by the one who lived it, would appear unbelievable placed alongside today's culture. The gift of this story offers an organic history of family and hard work that would cause a reader to pause and wonder about their attitude toward life, and what they pass on to others. McCarthy's will to offer this story is an act of bravery that would benefit anyone who wonders about the importance of choosing principles of family and hard work that served many families well, financially and otherwise, while preparing such families positively for an inevitable future.
Looking at the world at large today, it's quite understandable why McCarthy would write a memoir about her family, because a story like this untold by the one who lived it, would appear unbelievable placed alongside today's culture. The gift of this story offers an organic history of family and hard work that would cause a reader to pause and wonder about their attitude toward life, and what they pass on to others. McCarthy's will to offer this story is an act of bravery that would benefit anyone who wonders about the importance of choosing principles of family and hard work that served many families well, financially and otherwise, while preparing such families positively for an inevitable future.
June 5, 2019
Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy’s “Many Hands Make Light Work: A Memoir” was such a delightful read, it left me wanting more – somewhat like I feel when I have that last bite of the warm gooey chocolate chip cookie. As a reader, I was immediately drawn smack dab into the middle of this charming, hectic, crazy, loving, HUGE, family. The words that come to mind as I try to describe this memoir are: Fun, Endearing, Honest, and packed full of Life Lessons. By the way, it is also beautifully written. McCarthy uses humor, soul baring honesty, and wonderfully descriptive writing, which kept me thoroughly engaged in her journey of growing up in such a large family. A family of this size could be chaotic and dysfunctional, but the gifts these parents taught their children were wonderful skills that they all learned and honed early in life. Everyone pulled their weight, and they did so with humor, song, and incredible love for each other, and their family as a unit. This is a book I look forward to giving as a gift to dear friends and my adult children. I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this would deserve more if allowed. A beautifully written read about life.
June 6, 2020
The Stritzels Are America ‘s Family
This book gripped me as no other has in many years. It ended leaving a tear in my eye. I was honored to have been a student of Dr. Stritzel in the 70’s. Today, I still fondly remember some of the things he taught. I only wish I had the class notes as I remember writing down many of his quotes. What I didn’t know was anything about family and his work away from the university. I do remember him telling me he was from northern Ohio (as was I) and that his brother was still farming theire at that time. This book is truly a great read and truly an inspiration for those raising a family that think they don’t have time. Joe Stritzel proves, large family or not, there is enough time and family and God are important. This is a great read that both young families and old will appreciate for time to come. Bless you Cheryl for you brought me so much happiness in this book. My only wishes are it didn’t end and it would someday become a movie.
This book gripped me as no other has in many years. It ended leaving a tear in my eye. I was honored to have been a student of Dr. Stritzel in the 70’s. Today, I still fondly remember some of the things he taught. I only wish I had the class notes as I remember writing down many of his quotes. What I didn’t know was anything about family and his work away from the university. I do remember him telling me he was from northern Ohio (as was I) and that his brother was still farming theire at that time. This book is truly a great read and truly an inspiration for those raising a family that think they don’t have time. Joe Stritzel proves, large family or not, there is enough time and family and God are important. This is a great read that both young families and old will appreciate for time to come. Bless you Cheryl for you brought me so much happiness in this book. My only wishes are it didn’t end and it would someday become a movie.
September 5, 2022
My boss put this on my desk at work and told me I should read it. Over the course of this summer I'd shared with her some of the dirty side of owning rental units (literal dirtiness, like a freezer being left behind, unplugged with food still in it . .) and she thought I'd enjoy this book.
She was right. I always like a good memoir, and this one really struck a cord because my folks had rentals when I was growing up, and now we have a few rentals of our own. (Though my dad did not work me like the Stritzel kids worked.) It is also a local story, so when Stritzel talked about Welch Avenue, the Iowa State campus and the Towers, it was familiar and I could picture myself on the street where much of the story took place.
Between the connection I felt with the world of rentals, the familiarity of location, the nostalgia of a life before Internet and cell phones and very good story telling, I enjoyed this book a lot. I'm glad Cathy made me read it :)
She was right. I always like a good memoir, and this one really struck a cord because my folks had rentals when I was growing up, and now we have a few rentals of our own. (Though my dad did not work me like the Stritzel kids worked.) It is also a local story, so when Stritzel talked about Welch Avenue, the Iowa State campus and the Towers, it was familiar and I could picture myself on the street where much of the story took place.
Between the connection I felt with the world of rentals, the familiarity of location, the nostalgia of a life before Internet and cell phones and very good story telling, I enjoyed this book a lot. I'm glad Cathy made me read it :)
August 9, 2019
This delightful memoir is filled with tales from the author’s childhood with 8(!) siblings, their loving and industrious parents, and others who found a place in their busy Ames, Iowa home in the 1960s and 70s. All members of the Stritzel family, regardless of age, worked hard, played hard, and had great everyday adventures. I grew up in the same era (in a much smaller family) so this brought back many fond memories.
If you enjoy stories of wholesome family fun in times before technology dominated our days, pick up this book.
If you enjoy stories of wholesome family fun in times before technology dominated our days, pick up this book.
April 1, 2023
I was not at all a fan of this book. I didn't like the writing, I almost never say this but there were too many details. Especially when it came to the dialogue, which is said to be imagined. After you read the 2 to 3 paragraphs of details between dialogue, what they're saying doesn't even make sense. I also did not like how judgmental the author is. While she doesn't say everything out right there is judgement to anyone who doesn't live and think the way that she does.
October 11, 2019
Loved this memoir of a functional family. It's not often you read a book about a healthy family dynamic these days, so this wonderful tale of a large Midwestern family that rehabs houses, while they sing, is a true treasure. A true tale of the family I wish I'd had! McCarthy kept the action moving while creating great characters.
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June 20, 2023Nine children!
Loved reading this book as I have lived in Ames,Iowa all my life. My husband went to school with Clare. I thoroughly enjoyed all the stories about their family. A lot of hard work those kids went through.
Loved reading this book as I have lived in Ames,Iowa all my life. My husband went to school with Clare. I thoroughly enjoyed all the stories about their family. A lot of hard work those kids went through.
January 15, 2022
Book club selection for January.
Enjoyed reading.
Enjoyed reading.
July 23, 2019
Fun memoir about a woman who grew up in the 1970s and 1960s in Ames in a family with 9 kids, all working together to flip rental houses and make things right. Read to review for Little Village.
May 28, 2022
A delightful memoir, it was great to read about a happy childhood in a happy home. This book was so wholesome, I read it with a smile on my face.
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