The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank (1995) - Plot & Excerpts
Bombeck’s classic commentary The Grass is always Greener is no less entertaining today than it was when it was first published in the 1970s. Her wit is timeless.She takes a stab a middle class America, its values, habits and foibles. She looks at the innate desire to move out, move up, and move somewhere that isn’t here. Bombeck acknowledges the flaws in this mentality on almost every page of the book: no telephone service, no washing machine repair men, no public transportation. But she also acknowledges the sense of camaraderie she feels with the neighborhood mothers. Bombeck has a sardonic, edgy view of the world. Joan Didion is quoted as saying, “In every book we betray someone.” I wonder if Mr. Bombeck ever felt betrayed. When the family purchased a TV his wife goes on for several pages – an entire chapter – about his catatonic state in front of the television. And if that’s not enough – she refers back to that chapter throughout the remainder of the text, once offering him up as a yard sale item and another time to the men who collect the trash. Bombeck’s portraits – caricatures – are stereotypes. The inattentive husband, the ditzy teenage daughter, the silly younger child, the overburdened house wife and the reader is aware throughout that these are stereotypes. But in each there is enough of a grain of truth to hold on to – enough of a moment to say, yes that could be me, my husband, son or daughter. Stereotypes exist for a reason and Bombeck uses those reasons to her benefit. I was especially interested in Bombeck’s work because I have often been compared to her in tone, style and subject matter. After reading this book I certainly see the similarities. I can hear her saying something I often find myself saying – with such rich characters on every corner – who needs fiction?
I love Erma's books! While other kids were sneakily reading the latest issue of Batman or Archie & Veronica comic books between the pages of their schoolbooks during class I was trying not to get caught laughing too loudly at the pages of the latest book by humorist author Erma Bombeck. Its safe to say that I grew up with her books and her name, and stories, just like V.C. Andrews', another author I grew up reading, brings back a lot of good reading memories. Erma, and her writing, will be dearly missed. We lucky that she left behind a treasure trove of very funny writing in her wake for generations to enjoy.
What do You think about The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank (1995)?
Erma Bombeck is still funny, but funniest if you remember the post war period and the building of suburbia. Her books seem to be collections of her columns and she has a good eye for details which take to expanding into comic situations. She wrote about her own life and was read by people going through much the same problems as she was. This book is illustrated by Judith Nilson (I think) and her drawings appear to be cartoons of real people which adds immeasurably to the humour. Some of the allusions have dated a bit, but I still laughed.
—Helen
It was so fun to get this book out after so many years. I read all of Bombeck's books as a child and thought they were hilarious.In fact, I used to write essays that were very Erma Bombeck-esc about my life as a middle child. Bombeck talks about Barbie and Ken, station wagons, land lines, and washer repairmen and although some of these things are practically obsolete, they still hold value. We are doing the same things as she did in the 60s--80s, it's just been tweaked a little with cell phones and SUV's. But we're still getting oursleves into the same situations. Life is funny.
—Amy Kitchell-Leighty
'The Grass is Always Greener over the Septic Tank' is a non-fiction story about the Bombeck familly moving to the suburbs in the 50s(ish) when they were still developping, and they weren't all pretty and nice as they are now. Erma Bombeck is a hilarious writer, and even though this sounds like a boring topic, if you don't know what the 'burbs are like it's a very fun read. Some of the stuff is so weird and funny, I sometimes wonder if she made some of it up! Either way, it's great for travelling becasue it's kind of a collection of short stories, and while they're all about the same familly, it doesn't matter what order you read them in because it's not even in chronological order, it's just divided into sections based on the topic.
—Graeme
