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. ( )

This book showed such promise in the first few chapters that I am extremely disappointed that I cannot give it a good review. The writer's style was very entertaining and she certainly knew how to poke fun at herself and her family but the book just seemed to jump from one place to another so quickly that I became dizzy. The book also never really had an 'ending" and just kind of came to a stop. I do not know if the problem is an editing one or if the writer tried to do too much with this book. The ending chapter, which was kind of a tutorial on the Mennonite religion, really seemed out of place to me and almost thrown in there are the last minute to say "Well, in case you don't know why the rest of the book is funny, read this!" I think with some more editing and a clearer vision of what the author wishes this book to be, she could have a winner. ( )

I received this book from Early Reviewers, and thought that although it sounded okay it probably wasn't a book I would have chosen on my own. It turns out that I really enjoyed this book and it was a super easy and quick read too. Rhoda Janzen is very funny and she had me feeling at some points in the book as if I was right there with her. I could picture sitting next to her crammed into the back seat of her parents car thinking about the chicken sandwich vs the burger and which one has it's advantages. She wrote things about her life that most people wouldn't share and could still find a way to make it humorous even if it was personal. I finished her book quickly in 5 days because it was so easy to read through her quick witted humor. It was a great book. ( )

A delightful surprise, I never would have just picked this book up to read. Rhoda Janzen has written a memoir that is, unlike most, unfailingly upbeat, funny and very honest. This is a book about starting over, getting older and coming to appreciate one's roots. The bonus is that it is sometimes laugh out loud funny! It is a quick read simply because it is so well written and entertaining. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. It's a good book for when you only have a few minutes and want to read something funny or entertaining; it's full of short, loosely connected anecdotes. But in some parts it feels a little frothy--it's fun, but I wouldn't necessarily sit down and read it straight through. The characters were well-written--quirky, but still feeling like "real" people. The anecdotes are interesting, and generally told with wit and full of apt descriptions.

Originally posted on my blog at
http://smallpressures.blogspot.com/20...

If any of the following are true about you:

* You were raised in a prominent Mennonite family
* You are now an English professor
* You have experienced both a surgical error and a debilitating car accident in the past few years
* Your husband recently left you for a guy named Bob that he met on a gay dating website

you have probably considered writing a memoir. If ALL of the above are true, your name is Rhoda Janzen, and your memoir Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is a can't miss.

In general, I'm vaguely annoyed by the memoir genre, specifically the recent (the past decade or so) trend of unknown, often struggling writers, dragging us through the mud of their family histories or personal struggles with adulthood's many temptations. I'm sent a lot of memoirs to review that can't hold me past chapter 3.

But Janzen's book is different. The title hints at the emotional and cognitive dissonance that comes from being raised in a very traditional religious community and then growing as an adult into an educated urbanite who leaves the religion of her childhood behind. And some pretty screwed up things happen in her marriage, even before (as she calls him) "Bob the Guy" shows up. But Rhoda Janzen is not screwed up, at least no more than anyone else I know, and her parents are delightful, if eccentric, companions as she stays with them post-divorce while she completes an academic project and tries to sell her too-expensive-without-two-incomes lakefront house.

Many memoirs smell of desperation, but Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is insistently fresh: quick and light when telling funny family stories, of which there are many; clear and frank when discussing complex situations and disappointments. Writing a memoir was a friend's idea after Janzen sent humorous emails about her stay with her parents; she's trained and published as a poet and this is her first non-fiction book. I hope if there are more, they are as funny and as heartfelt as this one. ( )

As other people have mentioned, this book is really trying to be funny. Janzen is trying really hard, and it shows. I wish I hadn't been able to see the effort so much. Because family always makes an easy target, no matter what your familial background, Janzen's family is the butt of a lot of jokes. And really, "look at how backwards-conservative/crazytalking/weird-food-loving my mennonite family is" is only funny for so long. This felt like the same joke over and over again, which doesn't make a memoir or a very funny read. ( )

I am conflicted on this book. While there are humorous parts in the story that will make you laugh out loud, there are also parts that are extremely boring and uninteresting. Not a book that I would read twice, but it made for a good laugh.

All right, I'll be honest. When I found out I'd gotten this book from Early Reviewers, I responded with a shrug. The description had sounded all right, but I probably wouldn't pick it up on my own. But I thoroughly enjoyed the book from cover to cover. Rhoda Janzen is hilarious. She is able to look back on her own life with honesty and humor, something quite hard for most of us to do. I know I certainly couldn't share intimate life details with such charming nonchalance. And while the memories are funny and humorously described, each one is also touching. Each chapter ends on a note that leaves you not be able to help feeling a little warm and fuzzy. And did I mention it's a fast read? I was incredibly busy and I was able to finish in a week. This is one of those where you pick it up to read a little bit and suddenly you discover thirty pages have passed. My one critique is that, being a professor, she occasionally gets caught up in grandiose words and phrases that I'm willing to bet most of her audience doesn't know the meaning of. You can usually figure it out within its context though. Overall, great book, great stories, and a great read. ( )

Most of this book was laugh-out-loud funny. It is written in a way that sounds exactly like dishing about the "nitty gritty" of life with your best girlfriend. I thought the true heroine of the book, the unwitting scene stealer, was none other than Janzen's mom! She was punchy and funny and so glaringly optimistic, one must burst into smiles and song under the brilliance of her joie de vivre! This memoir has none of the heavy, take-home, cathartic moments of clarity where the writer realized exactly what she needed to do to restore her personal happiness. If you're looking to a memoir for a major, life-altering, bumper-sticker slogan, you probably won't find it here. (Unless it is "Borscht does a body good!") The Mennonite history lesson at the end put me off a bit, and I would've preferred a bit more information about the "unforgettable nail-guy" or how the story played out with Soren. However, this was thoroughly enjoyable and definitely recommendable. ( )

As another reviewer noted, the first several segments of the book read like a forced joke. "But, oh my god! I'm FUNNY! Laugh! Isn't that FUNNY??? I'm so FUNNY!"
After Janzen gets out of the pattern of simply trying to hard, the book actually IS funny. However, I felt very much as if I was reading two separate books. The first two-thirds were a string of very loosely connected anecdotes. She attempted to make a thematic link, but it became very awkward because she did not, actually, create that link. That isn't always necessary, but when one's style is as light as hers, the genre requires it.
However, the last third of the book was exactly what I wanted it to be. Janzen's reflections here weren't as snort-worthy, but they were just a lovely synthesis of the experiences (mainly, but not completely, based on her Mennonite roots) that had shaped her character.
I think I'm going to recommend this to a small handful of women, but to be honest, I'm not sure which ones will really enjoy it. ( )

Poor Rhoda!
Her husband Nick left her for Bob from Gay.com, and then she proceeded to crash her car in a tree not one week later!
After all this turmoil, Rhoda decides to "go home" (ah, but can we ever?) to live with her Mennonite folks in CA to recuperate.
And then she writes about it. Cute premise, could have been edited way back. ( )

I love a good punch line. Unfortunately after a few pages into this memoir I realized the author was simply slap happy and the flow very forced and awkward. Not everything can be a joke. The reader needs a respite and something a tad meatier to sink their teeth into. At least this reader does. Plus I don't appreciate mean spirited humor and there's an underlying sense of that in the author's prose that constantly kept me in a state of discomfort. I couldn't finish the book. I simply didn't care about the outcome because I didn't find anything endearing about the principal player. It's unfortunate because I think the premise and the supporting cast (the author's family and friends) had a lot of potential. ( )

This was a fun look into the life of a female mennonite whom looked back on her life as she had live inside and outside the religion. I happen to live amid a mennonite community so this was of special interset to me but I think anyone would find enjoyment, a few chuckles and some serious insights into Rhodas life journey. ( )

I received this as an ARC from LibraryThing, and I was very excited. The first chapter had me howling with laughter with extraordinary wit, and it was edited with a tight hand keeping the dialogue controled and entertaining.

Then I think her editor went on vacation.

Starting with the second chapter, the writing was far less cohesive, dialog points were contradictory, and the attempts at humor far more desperate. Tangents developed upon tangents to the point that by the time we return to the original topic we had forgotten it or stopped caring. I have always been wary of memoirs - the idea that anyone can recall an accurate conversation which took place in Junior High School is questionable in my mind at best - but the past recollections and contemporary reminiscences didn't jive. By the end of the book I wasn't sure if she was happy being a Mennonite or if she would continue her path as the "vainglorious one".

With all of that said, it was still an enjoyable book. I learned a lot about the Mennonite community (although I wonder how much would hold up in a conversation with another Mennonite), but as the book seemed to start as a journey of recovery from her divorce, the path of the recovery seemed too disjointed to make it the focus of the memoir. ( )

Rhoda Janzen grew up in a conservative Mennonite family in a conservative Mennonite town--and couldn't get out of there fast enough. She got her PhD and became an academic grammarian, teaching undergraduate English and Creative Writing. She married a bi-polar artist, who also happened to be an atheist. At the age of 43 she had a radical hysterectomy and her husband took care of her in a remarkably capable and seemingly loving way. He got a good job (unusual for him) and they bought an expensive lakeside house. Then he left her for a guy he met on Gay.com.

A mere week later, she was hit by a drunk driver, leaving her with many broken bones and other serious injuries. For a few months she toughed it out on her own. But then she took a sabbatical and went home to the Mennonites to heal and rethink her life.

This is a hugely entertaining memoir of a woman who is trying to come to grips with her widely spread life and a comic and very human take on the idea of soul searching among true believers. She finds humor in just about any situation, though she's dealing with some very serious issues and choices. She has a particular talent for what can only be called 'snark'. She's a very smart woman with a million dollar vocabulary and the ability to write like she's sharing her story with you over a cup of coffee at your kitchen table. There's even a bonus Mennonite History Primer at the end of the book, told with the same sort of humor and reverent irreverence. All in all, this is a very delightful read. ( )

I recieved this book as an ARC from Library Thing and upon recieving it I thought to myself I will just read it sometime in the future.I flipped to the first page as a I sometimes do to see if the book would catch my interest and boy did it ever.I began reading after the first few words and had read half the book by bedtime and finished it the next day.
Rhoda Janzen is a wonderful writer who writes with the wit/truth of Anne Lamott about the everday life we all experience and about the spirtual doubts and triumphs that we all face going through life.
I didn't grow up Mennonite but who knew that growing up in the South as a Conservative Baptist would be very much like the Mennonite way.I identifed with her as she went to school and ate out of her Shame Based Lunchpail and how her mother was the Queen of Frugality.I also could clearly identify with the use of food as a tonic in time of death or hardship as this is the Southern Way too.
This book will is laugh out loud funny, tender and truthful. I would like Rhoda to be my new best friend because she shares my view on life.
In a nutshell this book is a that we can all identify with and will make us smile.I know while it may be true you can never go home again I also know that in small towns and religious communties they will always accept you back with open arms and love. ( )

I couldn't wait to read this book! It sat by my chair for three days, beckoning to me to read....
What would you do if your husband of 16 years left you for a man named Bob, he met him on gay.com? If that isn't enough to give you pause, he had a vasectomy a week after he married you!! How do you deal with this surreal experience? The answer.....go home, in this case, it is straight into the arms of the Mennonite community, a little out of kilter????? Strap on you seat belt for a real ride that is a hilarious journey for the soul, as well as the spirit!!!!
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is a true feast for the soul, it has everything, a true experience, a wake up call for us all!!! ( )

Grammarian I am not – so—should Janzen read this I hope she pardons me. I loved this book. Many times today I could be sighted on the subway spontaneously laughing. This book is for anyone who prefers his or her humor dry with a zing. Or anyone who has had a relationship fail at a most inopportune time. Or lovers of memoirs with that deal with the intricacies and oddities of families. And just general lovers of memoirs. As a young professional coming from a conventional culture-restricted religion filled childhood I feel a great amount of allegiance with this book. There are certain absurdities of mainstream culture you only pick up on if you’re raised slightly to the left or right of it.

Observation and wit aside – as a “book” examined as whole “work” – I feel that there are more than two books here. There is the story of her relationship, the story of her accident and the story of how she came to be the professional with a Mennonite background. However, as all these events are located in her life – the book unites as a whole. As another reviewer pointed out, it is not always easy while reading the book to orient oneself in a time frame. But, I feel that lack of time-orientation is a common trait of memoirs and memory. All events of this book contribute to who Janzen is even if read linearly it can seem choppy with it’s checkboxes and steps that make the work seem more self help book than memoir. I feel that the organization of the book is a minor point though. The book remains a story many professional women can identify with, especially down to that one bad relationship that occupies a huge chunk of your life even though you’re way too smart for it.

For lack of better words, it is a “great” read. ( )

The author does a good job of describing the Mennonite ways of life according to her experience. She writes about being left by her gay husband and being in a terrible automobile accident - both happening on the same day. These circumstances lead her back to visit her Mennonite family in California. I did find myself laughing as she explains certain rituals, but this author also shows you a lot of herself and her own reactions to situations - not always funny but though-provoking. She might not have married Mennonite or lived Mennonite through her 20s & 30s, but she will always be Mennonite. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. It felt a lot like I was reading email anecdotes from an intelligent and funny friend. I found myself laughing out loud quite often as Rhoda described her experiences with her family and friends.

Every once in a while I was confused about the timeline and sometimes I had to run to a dictionary to look up a word, but the book is very well-written and easy to read. ( )

Rhoda Janzen's memoir is a funny take on the life of a woman who grew up as a Mennonite, somewhat turned her back on it for school and love, and when she gets her heart broken she returns to the folds of her family.
The author's relationship with her mother is hilarious. Her mother obviously has a great sense of humor, which is where the Janzen got it I'm sure. Her little trips back in time are funny, sad and in a lot of cases highly entertaining if not a little hard to believe....
I enjoyed Mennonite in a little black dress and I would recommend it if you enjoy memoirs as it's a relatively fast read, except for the author's repeated use of big words that in some cases I couldn't even find the definition of when I looked them up.
I realize she's has a PhD in English but it was almost like she was rubbing our noses (or maybe the people she grew up with) in the fact that she is now very highly educated. At first it was kind of fun, looking up and learning a new word, but when you have to do it a few times each page it gets to be a bit much, and was kind of a pain. Nine times out of ten there was a word that could have easily been used instead. I'm all for learning new things, and literature and writing are some of my favorite subjects, but it got to be a bit ridiculous after awhile. I think she may alienate some readers.
With that said, it was still a good read and I did enjoy it. I haven't read that much for memoirs except for Jen Lancaster who is hilarious and Janzen book comes close to being just as funny. ( )