Rating: 
Summary: It's so funny, witty and wise
Review: Betty MacDonald's books are all funny, witty and wise.But Onions in the Stew is the favorite book of the Betty Fans worldwide. Why? She described family life on Vashon Island with husband Don and daughters Anne and Joan in an unique way. You can read it over and over again and you'll enjoy the everyday life of this wonderful family. There are several snakes in Betty's paradise, snowstorms, adolescence, a beautiful neighbor, who is very interested in Betty's husband and many, many guests and so much more but it's such a delight to read these stories and you can laugh out loud. No wonder that there is a Betty MacDonald Society and a Fan Club with so many fans world wide. Her books are classics - never dated at all.
Rating:
Summary: It's so funny, witty and wise
Review: Betty MacDonald's books are all funny, witty and wise. But Onions in the Stew is the favorite book of the Betty Fans worldwide. Why? She described family life on Vashon Island with husband Don and daughters Anne and Joan in an unique way. You can read it over and over again and you'll enjoy the everyday life of this wonderful family. There are several snakes in Betty's paradise, snowstorms, adolescence, a beautiful neighbor, who is very interested in Betty's husband and many, many guests and so much more but it's such a delight to read these stories and you can laugh out loud. No wonder that there is a Betty MacDonald Society and a Fan Club with so many fans world wide. Her books are classics - never dated at all.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: Betty's greatest talent was for describing situations that are quite banal, even rather troublesome, in a totally hilarious fashion. The situations are all the funnier for the reader's realisation that, in other hands, they could have been described as a tale of woe - where, in Betty's hands, they are delightful. Financial crunches, months of futile searching for a residence, the adjustment of Betty and her children to a life with a new husband and stepfather (whose attitudes are quite different from those of a carefree Bard), living on an island where there are too many visitors and far too little accessibility for daily work and school, a beautiful neighbour's having her eyes on one's husband - these could have been the stuff of whining or dreary "self-help" attitudes. Betty is far from sentimental, totally honest, yet approaches all from a highly positive attitude that nearly makes one envious. This book is also a fine reminder to today's concerned parents that having adolescent children was no joy ride, even 60 years ago. My only criticism of Betty's writing is that, in her descriptions, she did not know when to stop. For example, her description of Vashon Island is engaging for the first two paragraphs, but rather excessive when it runs to several pages. This is easily one of the funniest, and most honest, books I have ever read - and read I do, again and again, always finding it a refreshing treat.
Rating: 
Summary: What a pleasant surprise!
Review: Having finished my previous book and waiting for Amazon's free shipping promo to buy more, I picked up this book collecting dust in my book closet. I was pleasantly surprised. It is smart and funny and so down-to-earth that you have to instantly like Betty as your best friend. Althouhg I am not a big fan of women titles (those seems to dominate the New York Times bestsellers list these days), I laughed out loud on a plane from Washington DC to Houston on a business trip. Who knew that everyday domestic issues can be so light and funny? Anyway, just try it. You will find it more enjoyable than you want to admit.
Rating:
Summary: Betty's a trooper
Review: I just happened to look this book up for the heck of it, as it was the first non-fiction book I remember reading years ago as a child. Imagine my surprise to see it was being re-issued! "Onions In The Stew" is just a delightful book about a great family living on Puget Sound during the war. I read it over and over and over until my copy just fell apart. I have often wondered over the years just what the island those people lived on looks like today, it sounded like a beach-y heaven to me. Today I suppose it's paradise paved over with million dollar condos, pricey strip malls, and Starbucks. I recommend this book, it is a warm and witty slice of life that is no more. (Also read the author's other books, they are all good!)
Rating:
Summary: This book is an old friend!
Review: I just happened to look this book up for the heck of it, as it was the first non-fiction book I remember reading years ago as a child. Imagine my surprise to see it was being re-issued! "Onions In The Stew" is just a delightful book about a great family living on Puget Sound during the war. I read it over and over and over until my copy just fell apart. I have often wondered over the years just what the island those people lived on looks like today, it sounded like a beach-y heaven to me. Today I suppose it's paradise paved over with million dollar condos, pricey strip malls, and Starbucks. I recommend this book, it is a warm and witty slice of life that is no more. (Also read the author's other books, they are all good!)
Rating:
Summary: Betty's a trooper
Review: I suppose it's the era--1940's--but there's definitely a Dorothy Parker feel to Betty MacDonald's snappy prose. The imagery and characterizations are laugh-inducing. I still smile when I picture the family's wayward washing machine adrift on a rowboat in the middle of Puget Sound. What I especially enjoy about this work is the descriptions of the mundane, of the frustration of getting an old house in shape and finally the way she embraces the absurdity of the struggle. If you are in the throes of home renovation this book (and probably her more famous The Egg and I) is a wonderful antidote. Also most enjoyable is the very genuine relationships among the family members, particularly between the two adolescent daughters.
Rating:
Summary: Onions in the Stew
Review: I'm so glad this book is back in print, because I give a copy to every set of parents I know who have children entering adolescence. Like Betty, they go home "looking years and years younger."
Rating:
Summary: Onions in the Stew
Review: I'm so glad this book is back in print, because I give a copy to every set of parents I know who have children entering adolescence. Like Betty, they go home "looking years and years younger."
Rating:
Summary: Onions in the Stew
Review: I'm so glad this book is back in print, because I give a copy to every set of parents I know who have children entering adolescence. Like Betty, they go home "looking years and years younger."
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