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It's All Relative: Two Families, Three Dogs, 34 Holidays, and 50 Boxes of Wine (A Memoir)

by Wade Rouse

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations
966282,369 (4)None
Biography & Autobiography. Family & Relationships. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:How come the only thing my family tree ever grows is nuts?
Wade Rouse attempts to answer that question in his blisteringly funny new memoir by looking at the yearly celebrations that unite us all and bring out the very best and worst in our nearest and dearest.
Family is truly the only gift that keeps on giving??namely, the gifts of dysfunction and eccentricity??and Wade Rouse??s family has been especially charitable: His chatty yet loving mother dresses her son as a Ubangi tribesman, in blackface, for Halloween in the rural Ozarks; his unconventional engineer of a father buries his children??s Easter eggs; his marvelously Martha Stewart??esque partner believes Barbie is his baby; his garage-sale obsessed set of in-laws are convinced they can earn more than Warren Buffett by selling their broken lamps and Nehru jackets; his mutt Marge speaks her own language; and his oddball collection of relatives includes a tipsy Santa Claus with an affinity for showing off his jingle balls. In the end, though, the Rouse House gifted Wade with love, laughter, understanding, superb comic timing, and a humbling appreciation for humiliation. 
Whether Wade dates a mime on his birthday to overcome his phobia of clowns or outruns a chubchasing boss on Secretary??s Day, he captures our holidays with his trademark self-deprecating humor and acerbic wit. He paints a funny, sad, poignant, and outlandish portrait of an an all-too-typical family that will have you appreciating??or bemoaning??your own and shrieking in laughter.
Praise for It??s All Relative
??[Filled with] sparkling humor . . . Listen to Wade Rouse??which you most assuredly should, especially if you value laughter and wisdom.???Chicago Tribune
??[Wade Rouse??s] stories are not only laugh-inducing, but also truly revealing of what it means to be a family through all stages of life, and show that no matter how kooky his family might be, love is what brings them together and defines them.???St. Louis Magazine
??Filled with uproarious one-liners and enough soul to truly satisfy, readers are going to clamor for a seat at Rouse??s holiday table! I can??t tell you how much I loved this book.???Jen Lancaster, … (more)
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Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
A wry and entertaining look at family and relationships through the lens of the author's life as an unusual child and gay man. ( )
  wareagle78 | Jan 5, 2015 |
This book made me laugh and cry! Wonderful stories. Thank you Wade!! ( )
  ownedbycats | Sep 1, 2013 |
I enjoyed these essays very much. Some more than others, of course. Several of them made me cry, a few of them made me roll my eyes. I like Rouse's writing a lot, and I'm happy to see that there are still a few of his books yet to read.

His tone is just right, I think- he's not exactly arch and not exactly sentimental but somehow touches both of these extremes and is blessedly, hilariously human. Recommended. ( )
  satyridae | Apr 5, 2013 |
I didn't quite make it through this memoir. Rouse is quite funny, though also a bit lewd and vulgar and relies heavily on shock-value with sexually explicit references on multiple occasions. Mostly, though, it was an easy read and entertaining. Probably not an author I will read again. ( )
  matlock.sarah | Jan 21, 2012 |
What? I can't believe there aren't more people who've rated/ read this book! Wade Rouse is hilarious. He reminds me of Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris. I picked up this book because Jen Lancaster (another hilarious author) recommended it, and I'm very glad I did. This book basically chronicles Wade's experience with his family and holidays, in the present day and when he was a kid. He is witty and descriptive, and I absolutely recommend reading this and his other books! ( )
  TBRetc | Jul 29, 2011 |
Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
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Biography & Autobiography. Family & Relationships. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:How come the only thing my family tree ever grows is nuts?
Wade Rouse attempts to answer that question in his blisteringly funny new memoir by looking at the yearly celebrations that unite us all and bring out the very best and worst in our nearest and dearest.
Family is truly the only gift that keeps on giving??namely, the gifts of dysfunction and eccentricity??and Wade Rouse??s family has been especially charitable: His chatty yet loving mother dresses her son as a Ubangi tribesman, in blackface, for Halloween in the rural Ozarks; his unconventional engineer of a father buries his children??s Easter eggs; his marvelously Martha Stewart??esque partner believes Barbie is his baby; his garage-sale obsessed set of in-laws are convinced they can earn more than Warren Buffett by selling their broken lamps and Nehru jackets; his mutt Marge speaks her own language; and his oddball collection of relatives includes a tipsy Santa Claus with an affinity for showing off his jingle balls. In the end, though, the Rouse House gifted Wade with love, laughter, understanding, superb comic timing, and a humbling appreciation for humiliation. 
Whether Wade dates a mime on his birthday to overcome his phobia of clowns or outruns a chubchasing boss on Secretary??s Day, he captures our holidays with his trademark self-deprecating humor and acerbic wit. He paints a funny, sad, poignant, and outlandish portrait of an an all-too-typical family that will have you appreciating??or bemoaning??your own and shrieking in laughter.
Praise for It??s All Relative
??[Filled with] sparkling humor . . . Listen to Wade Rouse??which you most assuredly should, especially if you value laughter and wisdom.???Chicago Tribune
??[Wade Rouse??s] stories are not only laugh-inducing, but also truly revealing of what it means to be a family through all stages of life, and show that no matter how kooky his family might be, love is what brings them together and defines them.???St. Louis Magazine
??Filled with uproarious one-liners and enough soul to truly satisfy, readers are going to clamor for a seat at Rouse??s holiday table! I can??t tell you how much I loved this book.???Jen Lancaster,

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