"Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" is a solidly written, sarcastic-laced memoir by Rhoda Janzen, a woman who discovers in her early forties that life is not what she thought it was. This unexpected turn of events results in her moving back to her parent's house and her Mennonite roots.

While some reviewers may feel that Janzen is "mean" or degrading to her family and the religion, I personally enjoyed Janzen's sense of humor and clever wit. She certainly can turn a phrase! Yes, Janzen is incredibly sarcastic, so if that is not your preferred flavor of humor, you may not enjoy this memoir as much.

My only concern with this memoir is the organization, or lack thereof. Janzen skips around in a discombobulated way through her wacky, unparalleled past--we pick up at close to present day, skip back to her six-year-old self, pick up again at present day, back to her 12-year-old self, then to her college days, then do her childhood, and back to present day (for a few examples).

However, overall I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to read a memoir that isn't completely bogged down in the writer's own misery. While Janzen has had to overcome some eyebrow-raising obstacles, she does so with aplomb. ( )

This was surprisingly dull. It promised to be really funny, yet I found myself bored. She spent 15 years with a mentally ill and abusive husband - intersting, no? but spends pages and pages waxing poetic on Mennonite food. She could have spent more time on her recovery from her car accident. I also felt like I'd been left hanging; did she return to the Mennonites? What happen with the 27 year old boyfrind? Did her house sell? What happened to

Janzen's bipolar, extremely emotionally abusive husband leaves her for a man he met on gay.com and, after a health crisis and a bad accident, she goes home to California to stay with her Mennonite family. She's a brilliant, insightful scholar, yet she put up with 15 years of a marriage right out of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf. It's not that she didn't know any better. In fact she describes her friend Eva who has remained in the church: "The very picture of mental health and self-respecting balance, Eva would have told Nick in the first month of marriage, "If you can't make some changes in how you manage your illness, I'll be making some changes in how I manage this commitment." But if she hadn't had that disaster of a marriage, she wouldn't have written this hilarious book, and would have deprived us of her enlightenment. A good Mennonite embraces suffering, and we thank her for that. ( )

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is Rhoda Janzen's account of growing up Mennonite and her return to the fold after her husband leaves her for a man he meets on gay.com. This book is filled with kooky characters, not the least of which is her own parents. Seriously, you couldn't make people like this up!

The book is all about humor which sometimes succeeds and sometimes doesn't. There are a lot of pee bag jokes that get kind of old and the frequent mention of disgusting bodily fluids by her mother are really just disgusting. However there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, many of which caught me by surprise.

I listened to the audio version and it was a lightly entertaining way to pass a few hours. The reader is good with the mother's voice being my favorite. In the end you'll get at least a few laughs out of the book and that's worth a listen right there. ( )

Remarkably funny little book--you can tell Janzen has a real warmth and affection for her Mennonite family and community. Also a great novel about going home again for some R&R after life knocks you for a loop (or 3). Janzen has a distinct, funny voice (her descriptions of some Mennonite food are absolutely hysterical), and I'm looking forward to her next one! ( )

This was a fun, light read. Rhoda Janzen comes from a long line of devout Mennonites. The book opens after she has left the Mennonite community, and married a man with bipolar disorder and proclivity for emotional abuse who has just left her. She returns to her family to recover and regain her sense of self. It's a discussion of the quirks of Mennonite culture from the eyes of someone both in and outside of it. It is both flattering and critical - this isn't a hit piece against a religion, but nor is it a resounding endorsement. More like a resigned and love-filled discussion of the people who mean a lot to her, and how the Mennonite religion has figured so strongly into their lives and hers. She's a hilarious writer, although sometimes a little too precious - I think it was helpful that I was reading the book in short spurts instead of all at once, so that her humor didn't wear thin. ( )

The chapters in this book read like an NPR story snippets. Reading anecdotal moments in Rhoda life instead of hearing it on the radio. I selected this from the LT Early Reviewers list because of my recent separation and divorce and it was just the right amount of humorous moments with real life situations. Though it was a bit cliche that most chapter headers came from the closing line or paragraphs. Much like a salty-dog pun-story. ( )

A definite page turner, as soon as I picked this book up I was unable to put it down. The hilarious memoir of Rhoda Janzen, it depicts the life growing up as a Mennonite and no matter what life throws at you, with a little faith and the support of friends and family, you can overcome it. I recommend this to anyone who's looking for a couple of good laughs. ( )

Amusing memoir by a woman brought up as a Mennonite who leaves the tribe as a young adult and drifts back into the safety of her family of origin in her 40s, after an automobile accident leaves her with some serious injuries. She has also divorced her husband, who, as you would read numerous times, left her for a guy named Bob who he met on Gay.com.

Janzen is a good writer, though the humor wears a little thin at times. But what really bugged me was the jumbled up time frame, I was frequently confused about when and where she was. Also a bit repetitive (see above, re: Bob). Janzen does do a fine job painting her characters.

I learned quite a bit about the Mennonite culture and history. In the Appendix, told in a Sarah Vowell-ish style, Janzen describes the Mennonites' "three centuries of high-handed superiority" in Russia and Prussia. But then "in a shocking historical reversal, the very Mennonites who were once the cool kids on the block became not fifty years later the überdorks of the universe, just in time for my childhood." ( )

This book is an example of turning lemons into lemonade as only a skilled writer can do. Have you ever noticed that some of the most interesting stories we tell others are those personal experiences where everything went wrong? Well, Rhoda Janzen has written about a time in her life when everything that could go wrong happened. Her skilled writing has turned her memories into an entertaining, often humorous, memoir. Contrary to Thomas Wolfe's novel, "You Can't Go Home Again," Rhoda went home to heal. Apparently, if you're Mennonite you can go home. It sort of puts the old home folks into a new light.

Much of Janzen's book reads as a script from the monolog of a stand-up comedian. Her narrative wanders through her life experiences in random order moving from health problems to marital difficulties, from stories about growing up in a Mennonite family to almost attending a Mennonite seminary. She seems to accept the possible premise that her life may have been different had she decided to attend the seminary. But instead she obtained an English PhD from UCLA, won some prizes along the way, and landed a professorship at a liberal arts college. All these stories are told in a flippant humorous format that makes light of even the miserable times in her life.

In a chapter titled "The Trump Shall Sound" she adopts a bit more somber tone to discuss her view of religion. She explains why she has not stayed within the faith of her ancestors, and then proceeds to give some compliments to the Mennonites that she has left. "Consider what happens when scholarship and education expose many of the assumptions of organized religion as intellectually untenable. ... Yet I cannot deny the genuine warmth my mother seems to radiate--indeed, that all these Mennonites seem to radiate. It’s clear that this Mennonite community is the real deal. They really try to practice what they preach." She acknowledges that religion can help some people live a virtuous life. "If in the service of choosing virtuous behavior we need to practice some odd belief, where's the harm? ... there are many paths to virtue, many ways of creating the patterns of behavior that result in habitual resistance to human badness. ... At this stage of my life, I am willing to accept not only that there are many paths to virtue, but that our experiences on these varied paths might be real. "

She proceeds to give her own "self-help" advice in a chapter titled "And That's OK" where she describes her 12-step program for people recovering from a divorce based on her personal experiences. There is plenty of irony and humor in her comments, but it certainly has a serious side. I don't think she wants to be considered as a self-help guru. But she certainly lays out some suggestions that I imagine to be good discussion starters for book groups that read and discuss her book.

When people learn that she is divorced and single they often try to fix her up with dates with single men. So she proceeds in a chapter titled "The Raisin Bombshell" to explain her definition of sexiness in men. She says that she and her sister, " ... never met a datable Mennonite man." I began to feel less sympathy for her marital misfortunes after she made that comment. (In the interest of full disclosure I must admit here to being a Mennonite man, though admittedly undatable due my marriage status.)

She even includes an irreverent Appendix at the end of the book in which she tries to anticipate the questions of readers about the Mennonites. A quote from the Appendix that caught my attention is, "A liberal Mennonite is an oxymoron... ." She goes on to explain how Mennonites are so conservative that they end of being sort of liberal -- anti-war, anti-death penalty, anti-consumer, and advocates for simple lifestyle and the environment. I was not very impressed with her knowledge of the historical reasons for the Amish-Mennonite split. All I can say is, don't let this woman write the Wikipedia article about Mennonites! I'll grant her a top grade for creative writing, but it's just as well that she didn't choose to be a historian.

I couldn't help but notice that Janzen makes numerous references to things Mennonite, but never mentions that the church denomination in which she grew up goes by the name, "Mennonite Brethren." I can understand that most who read this book probably don't care about this distinction. But for those who are familiar with the different shades of Mennonite, it does make a difference.

For a review of the book from the Mennonite Weekly Review newspaper click here. Here's another review written by a Mennonite. (Link to 2nd Review) This second review is written by Shirley Hershey Showalter, past-president of Goshen College. Her review is quite long and toward the end she raises the issue of the author's responsibility for the feelings of the people about whom they write in their memoir.

I can understand the discomfort of some Mennonites--and I speak as one myself--who feel that the generalizations contained in the book can be misleading. But Janzen is writing about her experiences from her perspective with just enough embellishment to be entertaining. She doesn't pretend to be writing an objective unbiased news report. I congratulate her on being able to create an entertaining tale from the story of her life. I just hope other members of her family, her mother in particular, have a sense of humor. She makes numerous humorous remarks about them, and they may be surprised to see their foibles published so publicly.

My advice to parents--don't raise your child to be a writer. Otherwise you may see every disagreement you've had with your child published in their memoir. After reading this book I've decided to be careful what I say and do around writers who may be potential memoir writers. You never know. ( )

Rhoda Janzen's memoir is a humorous, self-deprecating account of her life growing up in a Mennonite home, purposely separating herself from the culture, and then finding comfort in her old Mennonite neighborhood when her life hits a wall. Rhoda suffers a serious car accident and then her husband of 15 years leaves her for a guy he met on Gay.com. Rhoda connects anecdotes from her childhood to the woman she grew to be. The Mennonites are portrayed as both a kind, loving people and an exacting, rule-oriented people. Though it's doubtful Rhoda would ever return to the lifestyle, returning to the world of her childhood proves to be healing. Insightful and sharply funny. ( )

A 40-something woman returns to her parents' home and community after some serious health problems and the end of a disastrous marriage. She had entered "the mainstream," as Janzen likes to call it, as an adult and her return to her culture helps her to heal.

This book is known to be "laugh out loud" hilarious, but some reviewers say that her humour wears thin after a while. However, I found the humour to be a more subtle kind of amusing, and rather than wearing thin, her memoir got more serious and reflective as she revealed the details of her past. Lots there about pain and growth for the reader who isn't particularly interested in her ethnicity.

As for the Mennonite details, however, I think she did a good job. My upbringing was a lot more liberal and we just didn't do the whole dorky thing that she suffered through, although I did know some dorky Mennonites too, so I could understand what she was saying. And dorky childhood stories are so much more entertaining than non-dorky. Also, I only shared about 40% of her food experiences, which is odd because food is such a huge component of any culture.

Rating: 3 3/4 out of 5

Recommended for: people who like memoirs of survivors of horrific marriages inserted with a good dose of humour; readers who want to learn a bit about Mennonite culture. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. I don't typically read memoirs, but I found Rhoda Janzen's story about returning to her Mennonite roots very interesting. She has a very dry, funny sense of humor which had me laughing out loud at times. The background on Mennonite culture and history was an added bonus. ( )

Rhoda Janzen looks back on her life after suffering several difficulties find her at once. She has major surgery (with big complications), is in a significant car accident, and her husband leaves her for a guy he met on gay.com. With all these trials coming so close together, Rhoda returns to her family and her roots. The book alternates between telling stories of her Mennonite youth (bug bombs set off in mini vans) to tales of her family once she returns to the fold as an adult (as she is now single, Rhoda's mother encourages Rhoda to consider Wally, Rhoda's first cousin, as an excellent marriage prospect).

It is refreshing to read such a hilarious, entertaining memoir. I find that many memoirs of very religious childhoods are either condescending and snide or overly adulating. This book (like another recent memoir, "I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing") avoided those two pitfalls. While some other reviewers have found her uncharitable toward her parents, I disagree. Sure, she is at times exasperated (as I would guess most of us are with our parents at some point), but I never found it to be without a strong undercurrent of love. Her parents are painted as extremely frugal (reusing toothpicks! Saving fifty cents by purchasing a sandwich you dislike over a sandwich you like!), but also very kind. They are equally accepting of their daughters, who have ventured out greatly into the world, as of their sons, who have largely stayed within the Mennonite world. Her mother tells Rhoda that faith is less about rules followed than relationships nurtured.

My only complaint about this book is that at the beginning and then the end it has a couple of these annoying short questions with blanks like fake questionnaire's in a magazine. These just interrupt the flow of the story and add nothing. If they were part of the shtick and used throughout the book, that would at least be consistency, but as is they're just random and strange because there's only a couple. However, these are ditched fairly quickly (a good choice!) and you can just concentrate on a good story.

Janzen has a knack for storytelling and she does so with humour and intelligence but she fails to bring this book together cohesively. There are some very funny and touching anecdotes throughout the book which are a delight to read but it seems to jump around and lacks focus. There are times when the story was uninteresting and the vocabulary above average; this book does not have an ending, it just stops leaving the reader with “A Mennonite History Primer” for a finish. Janzen’s Mennonite in a Little Black Dress will not find a permanent place on the bookshelf. ( )

I have rarely read a funnier book which is remarkable when you consider it is about growing up Mennonite. While not raised Mennonite, I grew up in an area heavily populated by Mennonites and was raised in a very conservative denomination similar to that experienced by Rhoda Janzen. She perfectly captures the insular world of a close-knit community where nearly everyone is separated by no more than two degrees. I occasionally found Janzen’s language employed for its shocking effect rather than from literary necessity; it was as though she had to prove just how enlightened she has become. This display of language is unfortunate because Janzen is a natural storyteller who is clearly a master of language and she need not revert to such tricks. Other than that small caveat I highly recommend this memoir. I wrote several friends while reading this book to say that they had to read this NOW! With just a few minor changes this is my story too. ( )

Rhoda Janzen is 40ish English professor. She is married to Nick, successful and happy. Well, at least she thought she was...

"Which is all to say that given the surprising events of the Year of the Pee Bag, I assumed I was safe from ill heath and trauma for decades. But no." "Two months after the move to the expensive lakefront property, Nick left me for a guy he'd met on Gay.com. (Yep - it's real)

So, with the Gay.com thing and some health issues, Janzen moves back to her parent's home to gather herself together. Janzen was brought up in the Mennonite church, but chose to not actively pursue the Mennonite life and faith as an adult. Her parents are very active in the church.

When she goes home,we are treated (and I say treated because this is one of the best memoirs I've read) to an intimate look at her family, friends, community and her childhood memories.

Janzen's voice is fresh and funny, witty, wry and warm. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much reading a book. Janzen puts it all out there - she is brutally honest in revealing the shortcomings in her marriage and her part in it. No subject is sacrosanct. Body functions, sex, friendships, family, community, religion, food - you name it. I enjoyed 'meeting' her family - especially her mother, who has a perpetual sunny outlook on life, no matter what. The descriptions of Mennonite life were fascinating.

Janzen's exploration of her life and her future, by calling on her past make for a riveting read. I absolutely loved it. A memoir you must read and then pass on to every one of your friends.

Want a sneak peak? Read the first chapter of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. The publisher, Henry Holt, has lots of extras - photos, reading guide, audio and video as well. Oh and some Mennonite recipes too.

(Canadian connection - Janzen's mother is from the Ontario area, which boasts a large Mennonite community) ( )

Such and insightful and witty memoir. I loved reading about all the author's quirky characters and real life misadventures. Rhoda Janzen tells it like it is and I admire her bravado to put her personal life out there for the rest of the world to read. This book had not only many laugh out loud incidents but its fair share of thought provoking "a-ha!" moments. I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a good literary read. ( )

I really liked this book. Though the circumstances of Rhoda's life are quite different than mine, I still related to her story. There are always conflicted emotions concerning "home" and family. Rhoda demonstrates this without being neither hostile or sappy.

There are anecdotes in this book that will have you laughing out loud. And as a bonus, you'll learn about a culture you probably knew nothing about. ( )

I just finished one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. In the vast sea of that genre, forget “Eat, Pray, Love“, the book group favorite memoir du jour. Instead, check out Rhoda Janzen’s “Mennonite In a Little Black Dress” and you’ll never look at a horse drawn buggy the same.

Not that Rhoda Janzen’s Mennonite family rode around in a buggy – they would be driven off the road in her native California. Nor does she now, living right here in the Great Lakes state and teaching at Hope College. However, it was a serious automobile accident that sent her packing to see her parents. That, and the fact that her psycho husband left her for another man who he found on Gay.com.

Janzen describes her Mennonite childhood with humor, if not fondness. Her hair “braided with neurotic precision, like Heidi on crack”, her homemade clothes (complete with strips of fabric to lengthen her pants) and the Shame-Based Lunches that smelled of the vinegar-based ingredients that all Germans love.

Speaking of Mennonite food, who wouldn’t want a cute little Cotletten and Ketchup sandwich, with the little saltine cracker meatballs so endearing to Mennonites all over the world? Or, how about a nice pungent bowl of Borscht? For a hearty appetite, nothing but a plate of Warmer Kartoffelsalata (translation – hot potato salad) will do. (Incidentally, while reading this particular chapter, I kind of felt like I was at a Lutheran potluck in the church’s basement with the Schroeder, Schwartz and Krueger families. However, the thought that any associations that I have could relate to Mennonitism startled me, so I quickly put it out of my mind).

Janzen, in her poetic and deadpan funny way, reminisces about her peculiar Mennonite childhood and the realization that she didn’t want to be part of that group anymore when she grew up. She describes her hilarious family in detail including her serious father, endearing non-religious sister and pious brothers (who did not leave the Mennonite faith). Her most detailed descriptions are saved for her quirky mother, whose quiet acceptance of all of her children, Mennonite or not, is heart-warming.

However, it was her description of her husband that made me both angry and sad. Angry at him for being such a complete jerk and sad for her for taking it for so long. Despite the fact that she describes him as “brilliant but tortured”, I can’t help but think of him as “narcissistic but cruel”.

That said, this is a minor quibble since Janzen has worked for so long to overcome her sadness and move on. The last guy she was dating before the book ended was a 27-year-old motorcycle-riding Mennonite. She’s my age, so the age difference kind of weirded me out. Then I figured that there were worse fates, so I moved on myself.

In the meantime, I absolutely loved Janzen’s memoir, Shamed-Based Food and all. She’s the kind of person with whom I would like to sit and eat lunch, chit-chatting amiably about her Menno and worldly lives. She might even Google her name and find this blog saying, “Mein Gott! One of my biggest fans is on the other side of the state!” Just as long as she doesn’t study my grammar too carefully, we could be friends. I’m sure of it.

Pass the saurkraut, please. Danke. ( )

This took me a REALLY long time to read and I really wanted to LOVE this book. Rhonda's husband leaves her for a guy named Bob and after some bad luck so goes home to her Mennonite family. Sounded promising. I did love however how the author found humor in certain situations and there were quite a few times i did laugh out loud but found some chapters dragged on. Won't put it on my own shelf of "must read agains" but it was good enough that i would recommend it to a friend or 2. ( )

I really wanted to like this book. I liked the premise and the summary sent to me as a Library Thing Early Reviewer grabbed my attention right off. The book, however, did not. Despite the anecdotes that had me actually laughing out loud, I felt like I was forcing myself to finish the book every time I picked it up. Rhoda Janzen has a good feel for telling stories that grab your attention, but unfortunately her ability to weave those stories together in a compelling and driving manner is rough and even non-existent at times. I enjoyed many of her anecdotes, but longed for her to pull the often-meandering story together into a solitary drive for a strong finish; I finished the book disappointed. Indeed, I felt as though I'd wandered around for hours through a sometimes hilarious, sometimes boring sideshow, and by the end, I realized I could have spend my time much better doing something else. ( )

After being involved in a horrible accident, and the end of her marriage, Rhoda Janzen returns home to her Mennonite family. She tells numerous anecdotes about herself and her family and her relationship with her husband, most of which are humorous. The book is very well written, but I didn't feel driven to read it. ( )

A string of bad luck sends Janzen home to her Mennonite parents to recuperate. Janzen writes humerously about her husband's mental illness and abuse during thier marriage and his leaving her for a man he met on gay.com. She did not come across as overly bitter or whiney. She uses her time at home to heal physically and to take a relaistic look at her life. Along the way she shares about her Mennonite heritage. Even though she chooses to live outside of the Mennonite circle she does not disrespect how she was raised. This is a well written book about a woman who is finding herself. ( )

A Memoir of Going Home, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen is both painful and hysterical to read! I thoroughly enjoyed her intellectual and honest approach in sharing what would definitely be a painful journey that most would want to simply forget, much less, put into print. Janzen shares the nitty-gritty details of a challenging marriage, painful divorce, and an insightful journey back into her Mennonite parent’s home.

This book is filled with laugh out loud moments accompanied by the harsh realities of mental illness and loss. At times you want to reach out and hug/slap Janzen for failing to find her own self worth during a complicated marriage wrought with agonizing tests of endurance but ultimately, this is a story of smart, sassy, woman who is learning, like the rest of us, to value herself and pay more attention to her own needs and desires.

I could easily relate to some of her self-conflict issues, as a born & raised Southern Baptist myself, living under the pressure of “goodness and Christian righteousness” isn’t always easy. This book is destined to be a favorite that you will want to share with all your friends, a real page turner, which keeps your interest while fully engaging your heart-strings. Janzen writes with authority and her expansive vocabulary only enhances this absorbing story. Don’t wait, run right out and get yourself a copy of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, you won’t be disappointed. ( )