Best Friends, Occasional Enemies: The Lighter Side Of Life As A Mother And Daughter (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I've tried to read a few of Scottoline's mysteries in the past -- and I know she is well loved by many readers of that genre -- but I've always struggled getting into her books. I figured I would try this one because it was non-fiction, allowing me to see a different side to her, and I figured there might be some laughs here to share with my own mother. I don't know... the humor just struck me as pretty forced. I don't think I honestly laughed once. In fact, some parts had me really cringing and thinking it would be difficult for me to like Lisa as a person. Much of my reading of this just had me thinking "#whitepeopleproblems".For one thing, she laughingly writes about talking with her daughter while clipping her toenails in the kitchen. Do you not serve / prepare food in there, woman?! Yuck! SO grossed out by that! But that wasn't the biggie for me. The big issue for me is how she talks about how she speaks to customer service reps & retail staff -- calling a credit card company bitching about her APR (which she could have easily been aware of had she looked at her paperwork, I'm sure) busting out the word "usurious" -- that just struck me as pretentious right there -- or how she seems to take pride in debasing holiday staff with harshly sarcastic comments when they are honestly just doing their job. I feel for these workers because I've had those jobs and I've had customers much like the way Lisa describes herself in these situations -- though she sees nothing wrong with how she talks to them. It's more of a "Who's with me!" tone. Not me, Lisa, not me. It wasn't all a loss for me though, I did enjoy the stories about their pets (heartbreaking though they were) -- their reminisces about their retrievers and Francesca's horse. The part about their Golden, Angie is especially a heartstrings-tugger. I also enjoyed Francesca's memories of first experiencing a lunar eclipse and Lisa's story about returning to Italy to the town where her ancestors originated from, Ascoli-Piceno. Solid fans of Lisa's work will probably appreciate this, but it was a no for me. I will begin by apologizing - if you don't know the relationship that I personally have with my own mother it will be hard for me to articulate why I enjoyed this book so much. Lisa and Francesca remind me so much of my mother and myself: a single mother raising her only daughter that seem to be the best of friends now that the daughter has reached adulthood. The short stories were quick and easy to get through and were full of laughs. I felt that many of the stories hit so close to home that I actually retyped them into emails to my own mother. Sometimes it's easier to let someone else express your feelings for you I suppose. At any rate, I NOW know that Lisa Scottoline is a well-known fiction writer with stories that center around more serious subjects . . . I plan to read them, eventually. In the meantime though, I am looking for another book of short stories (Empty Nest....) because I love reading about another mother/daughter pair that reminds me so much of the (beloved) relationship I have with my own mother. If you feel a close friendship with your mom/daughter you should definitely give this book a try. If not - why not? You may not understand it but it still has plenty of laughs.
What do You think about Best Friends, Occasional Enemies: The Lighter Side Of Life As A Mother And Daughter (2011)?
Scottoline essays are just plain guilty pleasure fun -- always a great in-between read.
—dani
