Assessment:
Plot: This well-written, funny memoir is skillfully structured. Each chapter opens and closes smoothly and the book flows well.
Prose: The book's solid prose, humor, and entertaining voice make for a fun read.
Originality: This is an original memoir about unique characters. Overall, the tone is somewhat reminiscent of Erma Bombeck or Nora Ephron.
Character Development: Characters are well introduced and well rendered. The narrator/mother and the youngest daughter are the most vivid; also memorable are the in-laws with their love of fun and sometimes noisy lovemaking.
Blurb: This book is sure to elicit laughs from anyone living in this crazy, irreverent time in the U.S.
Date Submitted: March 03, 2017
The third book in the Tales of Imperfection series from Turner (This Little Piggy Went to the Liquor Store, Mommy Had a Little Flask), a mother of two from Idaho, provides another hilarious account of parenthood. A self-admitted neat freak, the author details the important distinctions between paper towels and dishcloths, and wishes she could "conduct a class highlighting these differences and then create a test with various scenarios." Also a lover of travel, she signs up for HomeExchange.com—a house-swapping service—in hopes of a family holiday to an exotic locale, while pondering the headline "Idaho: Just Like New York, Only Different." With her characteristic good-spirited, self-deprecating humor, Turner describes taking her kids to a children's art camp on the Jersey Shore and surviving a back-to-school night "ice cream unsocial." Well paced, entertaining, and full of endearing stories on parenting, this new addition to Turner's popular series will leave readers looking forward to the next installment.
In September of 2014, Hair of the Corn Dog made the New York Times Best Seller list (Category: Family).
