If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries What Am I Doing In The Pits? (1985) - Plot & Excerpts
I first heard of Erma Bombeck when I was 13. My mom had gone to the doctor and came home with the news she was pregnant. I was the baby up until then so you can imagine her shock. My dad, being funny, brought home a pillow that said, " It's A Crying Shame," and a book by Erma Bombeck. That book was If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries, What Am I doing In The Pits? My dad got hit by the pillow but the book cheered my mom up.When I saw this book on Net Galley I had to get it. But, I admit, that I was wondering if a book that my mom related to in the 70's is a book that would be relevant now. The answer to that is both yes and no. Family, motherhood, children, marriage changes all the time, yet in many ways stay the same. However there are some things in it that are dated. I did not think it took away from enjoying the book and relating to it. Actually I think it presents a funny slice of life from time gone by. Erma Bombeck was funny in the 70's and she is funny today. Her advice in the last part of the book was both touching and relevant. Erma had a gift and she shared it.I loved this book. From start to finish it was fun reading. If Life Is a Bowl Of Cherries, What Am I Doing In The Pits tickled my funny bone and touched my heart. The new version for the kindle contains an added part. A Biography of Erma Bombeck. I enjoyed reading about her. She wrote from the heart. There are photographs included of Mrs Bombeck and her family. They look very nice on the Kindle. What a beautiful bride she was. I recommend this book and am very happy to see it released in ebook form
On learning to play tennis--"To begin with, I have finally mastered what to do with the second tennis ball. Having small hands, I was becoming terribly self-conscious about keeping it in a can in the car while I served the first one. I noted some women tucked the second ball just inside the elastic leg of their tennis panties. I tried, but found the space already occupied by a leg. Now, I simply drop the second ball down my cleavage, giving me a chest that often stuns my opponent throughout an entire set." Erma Bombeck, the American Icon, lived life as "an everyday mother and housewife", but found the humor in it and made us all laugh with her columns and books. Although much of her material is dated (you had to live in the 70s to REALLY laugh hard), she still has an uplifting and positive response to the inconsistencies and challenges of life as a wife and mother. I'm sorry that my daughters don't have an equally-talented modern-day writer to help them laugh at themselves and their lives and frustrations with raising a family today.
What do You think about If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries What Am I Doing In The Pits? (1985)?
Even though this book was written in the 70's it is still relevant for me today. From the snoring husband, the overly dependent kids, the housework never ending, and of course the totally wrong fads and fashion(Pantsuit that doesn't look good on anyone unless your 2), this book had me laughing and saying at least I'm not the only one who thinks that.One of my favorite laugh out loud moments: "how come a child can eat yellow snow, kiss the dog on the lips, chew gum fromt he ashtry, put his mouth over a muddy garden hose...and refuse to drink from a glass his brother has just used."
—Sarah
Okay, I admit to being an Erma fan. I inherited several of her paperbacks when a friend of mine moved over seas and left several boxes of her books with me. I remembered reading this one as a teen, but it always seemed like something my mom would be interested in. However, for satirical insight on the middle-class female point of view on the big trends of the seventies and eighties, Bombeck is very insightful. I guess it took age and the ability to reflect back on those decades to appreciate her work. As her work progressed, some of it even became rather poignant (I Want to Grow up...) Every once in a while I find myself quoting something I read in her books.
—Clayton
Erma Bombeck is the queen of home-based humor. If you know anything about her it's that she used to have a humor column in newspapers and that she published multiple books. Her books consisted of some content from her columns and elsewhere, but they also contained new material as well. Her inspiration? Well her home life and her family. Bowl of Cherries continues to humorously dissect the image women have of ourselves, the image others have us in our multitude of roles. Bombeck takes on the subject of women taking on sports and our kids' sports, the joy of raising of kids and yet never understanding them.While Bowl of Cherries is not of the caliber of The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, it is certainly in true form of Miss Bombeck's talents. Her writing speaks to all women whether they're mothers, wifes, daughters, etc. Though readers may not relate to all of her words of "wisdom", there are portions that can be felt to have come directly from their own lives.
—Kristi
