Description:
In this, the third and final (?) installment of the Martha Stuart parody trilogy, authors Tom Connor and Jim Downey unleash their preppy doppelganger on weddings. The results are predictably hysterical, with the Stepford caterer dominating every aspect of a Connecticut nuptial. This from the "Wedding Planner" (subtitled "Things I Insist You Remember"): Five Years Before: set season and weekend; Indenture Third World seamstresses; finish hybriding rose named after yourself... One Year Before: Draft pre-nuptials; book me as caterer; if you have favorite foods or family recipes that you might want to incorporate, forget about them... Six Months Before: Learn fiancé's name; try one last time for Beatles reunion; stop calling me... As you can see from this passage, Connor and Downey have perfected the voice of their monstrous Martha. Every page yields good fun at the expense of the Octopus of Style, while pointing to the insane, expensive, neurotic process of getting married in this day and age. Even better are Barry O'Rourke's photos, which reproduce Martha's sumptuous books exactly. Put the writing and the photos together, and you have a well-executed parody. If the jokes aren't new by the third time around, that won't matter to the harried bride or the hopeless husband-to-be; if you've ever planned a wedding or are in the middle of nuptial hell right now, this book is perfect. "Today, there are a multitude of alternate throwables. Rock candy is particularly painful. Fava beans have a very unpredictable flight path. And kidney beans can be easily confused with a swarm of stinging bees..." --Michael Gerber
| 
