I saw the Cary Grant movie, so when I came across the book in a used bookstore I thought, "Ah! It's a book!" and bought it. I thought the movie was so cute, so I was a little surprised and disappointed with the book:

The characters (Mr. and Mrs. Blandings) were not likable - but occasionally I felt that they were supposed to be like that, so that didn't bother me much.

Their daughters were complete brats. My sisters (who are the same ages as the Blandings daughters) don't act like that! But maybe I just come from a weird family.

I might say what really bothered me was the language. But I've read books with swearing on them, and at the most I only flinch whenever I come across a bad word.

So I think it was the unlikable characters plus their bad language, and the fact that I was expecting a cute - maybe even heart-warming book. And it was definitely not heart-warming.

(It was pretty funny, though.) ( )

Made into at least two movies, MR. BLANDINGS ... and THE MONEY PIT.