Rating:  Summary: Unjustly forgotten-hysterically funny! Review: Most readers remember Betty MacDonald for her most famous title, "The Egg and I", or her charming children's series, the Mrs. Piggle-wiggle books. I had never heard of her when I read "Onions In the Stew" 25 years ago, and now that's it's coming back into print, it deserves re-discovery. I defy anyone to get through the first chapter without laughing out loud. I'm loathe to describe Mac Donald as "in the Erma Bombeck mold"-as Betty is MUCH wittier-and also warmer. "Onions In the Stew" is thirty-something Betty's account of life during WW2 with one husband, two adolescent daughters, and many, many assorted pets, neighbors, unwanted guests,et al on an island in Washington's Puget Sound. No sentimentality, loads of wry observation, and some touching, quite beautiful descriptions of what was then wild island life. You'll finish the book wanting to visit Vashon Island, and feeling like Betty's the best friend you've never met.
Rating:  Summary: Unjustly forgotten-hysterically funny! Review: Most readers remember Betty MacDonald for her most famous title, "The Egg and I", or her charming children's series, the Mrs. Piggle-wiggle books. I had never heard of her when I read "Onions In the Stew" 25 years ago, and now that's it's coming back into print, it deserves re-discovery. I defy anyone to get through the first chapter without laughing out loud. I'm loathe to describe Mac Donald as "in the Erma Bombeck mold"-as Betty is MUCH wittier-and also warmer. "Onions In the Stew" is thirty-something Betty's account of life during WW2 with one husband, two adolescent daughters, and many, many assorted pets, neighbors, unwanted guests,et al on an island in Washington's Puget Sound. No sentimentality, loads of wry observation, and some touching, quite beautiful descriptions of what was then wild island life. You'll finish the book wanting to visit Vashon Island, and feeling like Betty's the best friend you've never met.
|