The Egg and I

Life in the wilds of washington state, not the first frontier, but the next generation. I found it very interesting and am grateful to live as I do now. ( )

One of those fun books--if you've seen only the movie, you miss out on a lot of the edge that this book has. ( )

The book I read was a lovingly worn, hardcover library copy which was published in 1945. The pages were yellowed and it had the musty, nostalgic smell of a book that had survived the shelves for 75 years. This humorous collection of Betty MacDonald's experiences on a rustic chicken ranch in the Pacific Northwest which she owned with her husband in the early 1940's, was written in a witty and sarcastic style that was entertaining yet dated. By today's standards she was racist, smoked a million cigarettes, and was sharply critical. But if you can put today's standards in perspective you will find much to laugh about as she amusingly describes the weather, her work on the farm, the animals, her neighbors, traveling salesmen, and moonshiners. While this was entertaining, it just got to be too much of a good thing. These experiences would have been more enjoyable to read intermittently as articles in the New Yorker instead of an entire book. Her writing style exaggerated her experiences and although her descriptions were cleverly funny, a little went a long way. David Sedaris and Roz Chast are both successful and entertaining modern day humorists who carry on MacDonald's legacy of understated sarcasm. If you are lucky enough to happen across The Egg and I, I recommend you read at least a few chapters because even though I've been critical, you will definitely be entertained. ( )

Betty has a strong voice and her life as the educated wife of a chicken farmer has lots of interesting interludes - but the tone of the book didn't resonate with me... it felt too much like sarcastic complaining? Whatever it was, the tone got in the way of being able to enjoy the peek into such a different way of life. ( )

I love local memoir, but I'm not so keen on unchecked hatred of Native peoples.
( )