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Forever, Erma: Best-Loved Writing from America's Favorite Humorist
Forever, Erma gives readers around the world a classic way to hold on to this most gifted writer and her cherished columns.
In the pages of this book readers can delight again in their favorite selections. Here is Erma's first column, "Children Cornering the Coin Market," which ran in January 1965, as well as her last one, "Let's Face It," from April 1996. I88 other columns are also collected here, on her favorite subjects, organized by topic.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
1036 people are currently reading
1210 people want to read
About the author
Erma Bombeck
102 books535 followersErma Louise Bombeck, born Erma Fiste, was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for a newspaper column that depicted suburban home life humorously, in the second half of the 20th century.
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Besides, the majority of her 15 books became instant best sellers.
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Besides, the majority of her 15 books became instant best sellers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 234 reviews
May 28, 2016
Waxing nostalgic usually isn't my thing. If nothing else, when you're as old as I am, the past stretches back so far that details become a little muddled - so why bother? But when I saw this book on sale at Amazon, the memories really did come flooding back and I snapped it up. Besides getting a good deal, I needed a dose of comic relief from the psychological thrillers and grisly murder books that are my standard fare and figured this one would provide it. And I was right.
For those who don't know, humorist Erma Bombeck penned more than 4,000 syndicated "At Wit's End" newspaper columns from 1965 to 1996 - and I'm quite sure I read most of them as well as a couple of her books. Her primary intent was to make women laugh - often at themselves - and she pulled that off in fine fettle. And just for because it's meaningful to me, I'll note that she's a native of "my" state of Ohio, growing up and living for years in a town not far from my parents' small farm.
This book is an anthology of those columns. Are they dated? Absolutely; I doubt they would be nearly as funny to mothers of today. Then again, some things never change; my newfangled digital washing machine withholds socks just like the old one did (they tend to reappear, of course, just after I've given up waiting and throw away the mate I've been saving for months).
For those who might complain about female stereotypes, I hasten to emphasize that I was then, and still am, a staunch feminist. But I also had a husband, two kids and, after both were in school, a career. So no matter how many times I paraded in the street with sign proclaiming "Adam was a Rough Draft," it was into my hand, not my husband's, that my kids spit their chewing gum as we sat in church.
Besides making me laugh, Erma assuaged my "bad mom" twinges when I used TV - and a box of way-too sugary Fruit Loops - as a Saturday morning babysitter so I could have an hour or two of relative peace and quiet. She even made me feel less guilty on the days I threatened to take them both to a winery, stick them in kegs and come back to pull the plugs when they were 21.
So for me, a golden oldie who grew up in the '50s, these columns are a treasure trove. Browsing through this collection, I did exactly what I did back then: I smiled, giggled, chortled and hooted out loud. And yes, I teared up on occasion; her "Mike and the Grass" column in May 1973 tugged at the "Sunrise, Sunset" strings of my heart, and I sniffled my way through the words in her final column, written not long before she left this world. Love you forever, Erma, and I know without doubt that if there is a heaven, you're in it - telling the angels how it really is and making them laugh until they (well, you know).
For those who don't know, humorist Erma Bombeck penned more than 4,000 syndicated "At Wit's End" newspaper columns from 1965 to 1996 - and I'm quite sure I read most of them as well as a couple of her books. Her primary intent was to make women laugh - often at themselves - and she pulled that off in fine fettle. And just for because it's meaningful to me, I'll note that she's a native of "my" state of Ohio, growing up and living for years in a town not far from my parents' small farm.
This book is an anthology of those columns. Are they dated? Absolutely; I doubt they would be nearly as funny to mothers of today. Then again, some things never change; my newfangled digital washing machine withholds socks just like the old one did (they tend to reappear, of course, just after I've given up waiting and throw away the mate I've been saving for months).
For those who might complain about female stereotypes, I hasten to emphasize that I was then, and still am, a staunch feminist. But I also had a husband, two kids and, after both were in school, a career. So no matter how many times I paraded in the street with sign proclaiming "Adam was a Rough Draft," it was into my hand, not my husband's, that my kids spit their chewing gum as we sat in church.
Besides making me laugh, Erma assuaged my "bad mom" twinges when I used TV - and a box of way-too sugary Fruit Loops - as a Saturday morning babysitter so I could have an hour or two of relative peace and quiet. She even made me feel less guilty on the days I threatened to take them both to a winery, stick them in kegs and come back to pull the plugs when they were 21.
So for me, a golden oldie who grew up in the '50s, these columns are a treasure trove. Browsing through this collection, I did exactly what I did back then: I smiled, giggled, chortled and hooted out loud. And yes, I teared up on occasion; her "Mike and the Grass" column in May 1973 tugged at the "Sunrise, Sunset" strings of my heart, and I sniffled my way through the words in her final column, written not long before she left this world. Love you forever, Erma, and I know without doubt that if there is a heaven, you're in it - telling the angels how it really is and making them laugh until they (well, you know).
January 8, 2012
One of my favorite humorists of all time, Erma Bombeck ruled the newspaper pages, inspiring and amusing readers with her entertaining observations about the nature of motherhood. "Forever, Erma" was a labor of love: a posthumous collection featuring the most loved Bombeck columns, as well as a smattering of lesser known pieces and a chapter of tributes from colleagues, friends and family. For those unfamiliar with Bombeck's work, it's a good introduction. For those, like myself, who have loved her work for years, the book is both a delight and a revelation.
Bombeck's columns elevate the trivial moments of motherhood: mining them for both humor and for meaning. While, on the surface, she may simply be sharing a story about a difficult child, she is also making a then-revolutionary statement: "I'm not a perfect mother or wife, and that's OK." She wrote such columns years before comedian Roseanne Barr introduced the idea of a sublimely flawed family; and her columns predated by decades the first by humorist Dave Barry, who explores similar territory from a father's point of view. Indeed, Bombeck was one of the first to discount such unrealistic role models as TV's Donna Reed and to air her dirty laundry (both figurative and literal) in print.
Such insights won her legions of fans -- mothers and children, wives and husbands -- and this book does a good job of illustrating why.
Bombeck's columns elevate the trivial moments of motherhood: mining them for both humor and for meaning. While, on the surface, she may simply be sharing a story about a difficult child, she is also making a then-revolutionary statement: "I'm not a perfect mother or wife, and that's OK." She wrote such columns years before comedian Roseanne Barr introduced the idea of a sublimely flawed family; and her columns predated by decades the first by humorist Dave Barry, who explores similar territory from a father's point of view. Indeed, Bombeck was one of the first to discount such unrealistic role models as TV's Donna Reed and to air her dirty laundry (both figurative and literal) in print.
Such insights won her legions of fans -- mothers and children, wives and husbands -- and this book does a good job of illustrating why.
September 9, 2016
Erma Bombeck died in 1996, when I was in London, and I cried when I heard the clipped radio voice announce it. I was 11 or 12 when I somehow came across If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What am I Doing in the Pits? and The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, and I adored them. I read and reread them, lying on the floor of my bedroom with my feet wedged over the register, wrapped in a blanket that ballooned out as the forced air heat blasted me and turned made my hair stick up from static, and I laughed. A lot.
I'm not sure why a middle-aged suburban housewife was so hilarious to a pre-teen girl in a small town, but I couldn't get enough of her laments about stockings with holes in them and family members who were incapable of operating a toilet paper spindle.
I don't think I'd read Erma since then, so I was excited when I saw the Kindle book on sale, and started tearing through it right away. I recognized the humor and I chuckled, but I was saddened to find that I didn't love it as much as I'd expected to. Her heart was big and good, but a lot of the writing hasn't aged especially well. Also, and I hate to say it, there's a lot of treacly preaching. I probably really liked that when I was a kid, because I was unhappy a lot and wanted to live in Erma's world, where last-minute costumes for school plays were a cause of hilarious angst, mothers were full of gentle love behind their exhaustion, and fathers were mysterious, but full of gentle love behind their sternness.
I'm past that now, and even though I may not seek out Erma again, I'll always love her anyway.
I'm not sure why a middle-aged suburban housewife was so hilarious to a pre-teen girl in a small town, but I couldn't get enough of her laments about stockings with holes in them and family members who were incapable of operating a toilet paper spindle.
I don't think I'd read Erma since then, so I was excited when I saw the Kindle book on sale, and started tearing through it right away. I recognized the humor and I chuckled, but I was saddened to find that I didn't love it as much as I'd expected to. Her heart was big and good, but a lot of the writing hasn't aged especially well. Also, and I hate to say it, there's a lot of treacly preaching. I probably really liked that when I was a kid, because I was unhappy a lot and wanted to live in Erma's world, where last-minute costumes for school plays were a cause of hilarious angst, mothers were full of gentle love behind their exhaustion, and fathers were mysterious, but full of gentle love behind their sternness.
I'm past that now, and even though I may not seek out Erma again, I'll always love her anyway.
July 4, 2013
Not quite my thing but that's okay because I don't particularly think I'm the intended audience for this. It's more of a tribute for fans which I'm really not. I only picked it up because I vaguely remembered reading one of her books back in the 1980s and I thought I'd liked it.
February 6, 2025
Wonderful
April 9, 2009
I laughed my head off while reading this book, but I also found myself in tears. Erma Bombeck was one of my mom's favorite columnists, and I loved reading the Erma column in Good Housekeeping when my mother was done with it. Even though I didn't totally understand it then, I still thought she was pretty funny. Now, as a mother, I truly appreciate the things she wrote about--all from the perspective of a mother and housewife, something you usually only find in blogs today.
The book is filled with some of Erma's most popular columns, beginning in 1965, and was published after she passed away in 1996. Her editors specifically chose the columns in the book to stand as a lasting, if small, tribute to her. They included her very first column, and her very last column. The book also includes memories from friends, family, and even a few letters from devoted fans, telling how her work touched their lives.
Even though Erma was a very funny lady, some of her very best columns were the touching ones. I wept through the columns about caregivers, parents of disabled children, and children growing up quickly, among others. Erma really had a gift for putting into words the things most of us can only think. And according to her friends, she was just as genuine in person as she was in her columns, and always thought of others. May we all live so that we can say these last words, published in Erma's very last column: "My deeds will be measured not by my youthful appearance, but by the concern lines on my forehead, the laugh lines around my mouth, and the chins from seeing what can be done for those smaller than me or who have fallen."
The book is filled with some of Erma's most popular columns, beginning in 1965, and was published after she passed away in 1996. Her editors specifically chose the columns in the book to stand as a lasting, if small, tribute to her. They included her very first column, and her very last column. The book also includes memories from friends, family, and even a few letters from devoted fans, telling how her work touched their lives.
Even though Erma was a very funny lady, some of her very best columns were the touching ones. I wept through the columns about caregivers, parents of disabled children, and children growing up quickly, among others. Erma really had a gift for putting into words the things most of us can only think. And according to her friends, she was just as genuine in person as she was in her columns, and always thought of others. May we all live so that we can say these last words, published in Erma's very last column: "My deeds will be measured not by my youthful appearance, but by the concern lines on my forehead, the laugh lines around my mouth, and the chins from seeing what can be done for those smaller than me or who have fallen."
May 16, 2015
Growing up, my mother was a devout Erma fan. She religiously read the columns and had all her books. I thought of it as, 'mom stuff' and never ventured a glance. Later, I would see Erma on talk shows and found her very amusing and realized my mother might have had a sense of humor, and this 'mom stuff' might have actually funny. Of course it was, and it was lost on me until I became a mother myself.
My mom has been gone 20 years now (way too young, both of us) and I'm always searching for ways to 'find' her. As Mother's Day approached, I came across this compilation of Erma Bombeck's works and quickly downloaded the columns my mother adored. I really enjoyed the book from my own perspecitve and as I tried to imagine my own mother reading them fresh in the 60s and 70s.
Some of the stories might seem outdated, but the messages are timeless.
A great read.
My mom has been gone 20 years now (way too young, both of us) and I'm always searching for ways to 'find' her. As Mother's Day approached, I came across this compilation of Erma Bombeck's works and quickly downloaded the columns my mother adored. I really enjoyed the book from my own perspecitve and as I tried to imagine my own mother reading them fresh in the 60s and 70s.
Some of the stories might seem outdated, but the messages are timeless.
A great read.
April 16, 2017
I had never heard of Erma Brombeck or her syndicated column "At Wit's End". I purchased this e-book cheap as it was the deal of the day on one of the e-book sites I frequent. I'm glad I got to read this book, a collection of her "humour" columns from the 1960s to 1996. While I had trouble relating to some of them (she wrote a lot about her life as a suburban housewife and raising kids, two experiences I don't have to endure), some of her writings had me howling with laughter. Reading the last section, which was mostly different obituaries and letters about her, gave me a more full-rounded view of just who Erma Brombeck was, and I'm glad I got to learn all about her and read some of her more memorable columns.
August 21, 2025
Y'all.
If you're a woman and have ever written anything funny, chances are someone has said to you, "You should be the next Erma Bombeck!"
I'm here to tell you that it's simply not possible. There was only one Erma Bombeck. This book has been a treasure and a gift. I have laughed out loud on more than one occasion, often it's laundry related so I feel a special kinship with La Bombeck.
If you're a woman and have ever written anything funny, chances are someone has said to you, "You should be the next Erma Bombeck!"
I'm here to tell you that it's simply not possible. There was only one Erma Bombeck. This book has been a treasure and a gift. I have laughed out loud on more than one occasion, often it's laundry related so I feel a special kinship with La Bombeck.
April 15, 2014
like sitting down with an old friend and remembering or laughing about the realities of daily life. I can read this over and over.
October 2, 2017
Erma Bombeck needs no introduction to people of a certain age. Her sense of humor brightened the days of millions of housewives and other people as well. This book reprints some of her best columns.
At the back of the book there are many quotations from celebrities and others telling how great she was, so I won't attempt to top them. Erma died of kidney disease and much is made of the fact that she didn't try to jump the line to get a kidney transplant. This is admirable, but if the antiquated method for dealing with organ donations was different it would have been unnecessary. The donors (or their heirs) should be compensated, just as doctors, hospitals and the person receiving the organ are.
At the back of the book there are many quotations from celebrities and others telling how great she was, so I won't attempt to top them. Erma died of kidney disease and much is made of the fact that she didn't try to jump the line to get a kidney transplant. This is admirable, but if the antiquated method for dealing with organ donations was different it would have been unnecessary. The donors (or their heirs) should be compensated, just as doctors, hospitals and the person receiving the organ are.
July 27, 2021
Such fun, wit and wisdom! Such fond memories!
I used to read my mother's collection of Emma Bombeck's books when I was a child. I think it explained so much of my mother's behavior raising four kids. The books made my mother laugh out loud and feel Somewhat normal compared to Roma's antics with her kids. This book brought back so many memories of my mom's child rearing and also my own experiences. Many smiles and chuckles are found the pages of this book, but, I really love the sweet sentimental moments shared by this author the best.
I used to read my mother's collection of Emma Bombeck's books when I was a child. I think it explained so much of my mother's behavior raising four kids. The books made my mother laugh out loud and feel Somewhat normal compared to Roma's antics with her kids. This book brought back so many memories of my mom's child rearing and also my own experiences. Many smiles and chuckles are found the pages of this book, but, I really love the sweet sentimental moments shared by this author the best.
May 1, 2023
I have loved Erma Bombeck since I found The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank in my grandmother's house when I was 12. Even at that young age I knew how special she was. I made it my mission to get all of her books and read them, but I never managed to read her column itself. So this book was a gem! I especially loved the tributes to her at the end of the book. I also didn't know about how she passed and it broke my heart to hear how she was gone way too soon waiting for a kidney. Erma was so funny but also so relatable and that made me love her even more.
March 30, 2024
A sentimental 5 stars. Because I never got to meet my grandma. But apparently she loved erma bombecks newspaper columns. I laughed out loud several times and had to think of my grandma. I think I know where my sense of humor comes from.
November 22, 2022
As a lifelong fan, I was thrilled to discover this collection in a Little Free Library and to spend more time with my old friend Erma.
September 11, 2020
I LOVED Erma Bombeck!!! She was amazing. I had totally forgotten I had read a bunch of her books until they came up on a List Challenge. Such good reading!!!
May 1, 2022
A collection of Erma Bombeck's newspaper columns from over the course of her career.
Some haven't aged well but others still hit
their mark.
Some haven't aged well but others still hit
their mark.
November 5, 2023
Called Forever, Erma because it feels that long to finish the book
February 6, 2017
I love Erma and this was a book full of her newspaper articles. Some of my very favorites were in there. One of my favorite things about her was that she was never mean in her humor. If you want something to pick up and read just a little and get a great big smile on your face this is it.
August 5, 2025
Erma had a lovely way of bringing humor to life. Always good for a giggle. Thank you Erma
July 8, 2013
Erma Bombeck was an American humorist, popular for her newspaper column At Wit's End, which depicted suburban home and family life humorously, from 1965 until a few weeks before her death in 1996.
This is a collection of her most popular and best loved columns. She was great at finding humor in the ordinary; and she was never mean or hurtful. She showed women that you don't have to perfect to be a great mother.
I was a child in the 70's; I grew up reading her columns, and even though most were about motherhood and being a housewife, you didn't have to be either of these things to enjoy and appreciate her writing and her wit. I never married and never had children, but I still enjoyed rereading these columns, and there were a lot that I either never read before, or forgot that I had read.
There are also tributes written by friends, family members, famous columnists, and others who knew Erma, at the end of the book. The one written by her husband had me in tears at the end, but it was one of most beautiful tributes written by a husband about his wife that I have ever read.
I think that those people my age or older will appreciate this book the most; the era in which she did her writing was different than it is now, before the age of the internet and personal computers. I'm not saying that life was better or worse back then, it was just different. But the advice and the lessons learned through her columns can still apply to most of us today.
This is a collection of her most popular and best loved columns. She was great at finding humor in the ordinary; and she was never mean or hurtful. She showed women that you don't have to perfect to be a great mother.
I was a child in the 70's; I grew up reading her columns, and even though most were about motherhood and being a housewife, you didn't have to be either of these things to enjoy and appreciate her writing and her wit. I never married and never had children, but I still enjoyed rereading these columns, and there were a lot that I either never read before, or forgot that I had read.
There are also tributes written by friends, family members, famous columnists, and others who knew Erma, at the end of the book. The one written by her husband had me in tears at the end, but it was one of most beautiful tributes written by a husband about his wife that I have ever read.
I think that those people my age or older will appreciate this book the most; the era in which she did her writing was different than it is now, before the age of the internet and personal computers. I'm not saying that life was better or worse back then, it was just different. But the advice and the lessons learned through her columns can still apply to most of us today.
August 30, 2012
Maybe it's a generational thing. If as I did, you grew up reading Erma Bombeck's columns in the newspaper and laughed until your sides hurt, this volume, which has the strangely combined feature of being a memorial edition and humor also, will need a place of pride on your shelves.
Like a few other really wonderful writers, Bombeck's letters were successful not only because they resonated with many people--not only mothers, but children, fathers, and not only members of the middle class (never looked at it from a lens of diversity evaluation, so I can't say whether she only appeals to white folk)--she also strikes a strong chord because she is (okay, sniff, was) such a really fine person.
The advice columnist who wrote "Dear Abby" knew her personally. When Bombeck's kidneys began to fail, she was placed on a wait list with a bunch of other people, and "Abby" offered to pull strings and get Bombeck's name moved to the top.
She wouldn't do it. She would not permit her name to be jumped to the top of the save-my-life list, and she died. This is the ultimate measure of integrity!
That doesn't mean the book is good, of course...but it is. She had so many of them, but I feel that if I have space on my shelves for just one by Erma Bombeck, this should be it, and so it stays.
Like a few other really wonderful writers, Bombeck's letters were successful not only because they resonated with many people--not only mothers, but children, fathers, and not only members of the middle class (never looked at it from a lens of diversity evaluation, so I can't say whether she only appeals to white folk)--she also strikes a strong chord because she is (okay, sniff, was) such a really fine person.
The advice columnist who wrote "Dear Abby" knew her personally. When Bombeck's kidneys began to fail, she was placed on a wait list with a bunch of other people, and "Abby" offered to pull strings and get Bombeck's name moved to the top.
She wouldn't do it. She would not permit her name to be jumped to the top of the save-my-life list, and she died. This is the ultimate measure of integrity!
That doesn't mean the book is good, of course...but it is. She had so many of them, but I feel that if I have space on my shelves for just one by Erma Bombeck, this should be it, and so it stays.
April 28, 2011
Being a trailing spouse and a stay-at-home mom, I so love Erma. I wish she were alive and I wish she were my neighbor. She makes the mundane hilarious. She was a kind heart with a very quick wit. I get very caught up in my life and think that "NO ONE has ever gone through what I am going through." but her articles from the late 60's completely encompass what I am feeling in 2011...my kids are weird, my husband IS the Prince of Darkness, and I'm NOT going insane, I'm just in the middle of life.
September 26, 2016
Many of you may be too young to remember Erma Bombeck. However, I found most of her parenting observations to hold just as humorously true today as they did 50 years ago. (I mean anyone who has taught a teenager to drive can appreciate the "imaginary brake".) The essay on mothers of handicapped children (The Special Mother) is worth the price of this book alone.
January 8, 2010
Finished this book en route to Wichita Falls, TX, Target on New Year's Eve with my mom and sister. The end section with tributes to Erma was touching. I think all bloggers should read Erma, because she was doing it right before the format was even invented!
April 5, 2018
How do you celebrate a legend? In this collection of columns put together after the untimely death of Erma Bombeck, following a long illness, you get a real feel for the public persona of this larger than life woman. In the final chapter, which is a collection of memorial pieces from the people who knew the real Erma, you will begin to know the down-to-earth woman who sounds like just the sort of woman who can make us laugh at ourselves and the everyday situations we face. The book itself is divided by subject, and her columns all carry their original dates to help the reader with context. After all, it makes more sense to read "The Mother Who Drives" when you know it was written 1972, a decade during which my sisters and I didn't think it was odd that neither of our grandmothers drove.
Erma Bombeck was a staple at my grandma's house, and I gained my appreciation for her at a young age. Her sense of humor mirrored my grandmother's sense of humor, and often I could hear one voice interlaced with the other as I read her columns. I enjoy her humor because it is not obnoxious, or hateful, or spiteful, or vulgar. It is simply honest, and she has the ability to incorporate situations that you can relate to regardless of when you were born or what path you chose in life, or even what your gender is. She simply makes you feel better because she can show you that we've all been there, even on a day when you've run over 6 sprinkler heads, forgotten to close the windows before a rainstorm, and realized that your shirt was on backwards after that meeting with your manager.
Erma Bombeck was a staple at my grandma's house, and I gained my appreciation for her at a young age. Her sense of humor mirrored my grandmother's sense of humor, and often I could hear one voice interlaced with the other as I read her columns. I enjoy her humor because it is not obnoxious, or hateful, or spiteful, or vulgar. It is simply honest, and she has the ability to incorporate situations that you can relate to regardless of when you were born or what path you chose in life, or even what your gender is. She simply makes you feel better because she can show you that we've all been there, even on a day when you've run over 6 sprinkler heads, forgotten to close the windows before a rainstorm, and realized that your shirt was on backwards after that meeting with your manager.
March 23, 2023
When I was way too young, I had a battered copy of The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank that I cherished. The references were so outdated as to perplex me completely, but Bill Keane's cartoons and Bombeck's words were mostly timeless and comprehensible to me even as a Millennial child instead of a Greatest Generation mother.
This is a collection of columns, which are mostly much shorter than I remember her book essays being. I'd say on the whole, I prefer the book essay format. The newspaper columns collected here are very punchy and funny, but I think when she got into more depth in her books, she was actually funnier and more insightful.
Surprisingly, I found myself feeling most positive towards the non-funny columns in this book, and actually tearing up at the ones that, for instance, describe God and His angels molding the platonic ideal of a father or mother. Yes, they're sentimental; I don't hate sentimentality.
The whole back chunk of the book is composed of postmortem tributes to Bombeck, who died too young of kidney disease. There are certainly a lot of folks who lined up to pay their respects (e.g. Phil Donohue?!) and I learned a lot about Bombeck, such as the fact that she spent her final years campaigning for the ERA all over America. Bless her. You don't see Carolyn Hax out there stumping for universal healthcare.
This is a collection of columns, which are mostly much shorter than I remember her book essays being. I'd say on the whole, I prefer the book essay format. The newspaper columns collected here are very punchy and funny, but I think when she got into more depth in her books, she was actually funnier and more insightful.
Surprisingly, I found myself feeling most positive towards the non-funny columns in this book, and actually tearing up at the ones that, for instance, describe God and His angels molding the platonic ideal of a father or mother. Yes, they're sentimental; I don't hate sentimentality.
The whole back chunk of the book is composed of postmortem tributes to Bombeck, who died too young of kidney disease. There are certainly a lot of folks who lined up to pay their respects (e.g. Phil Donohue?!) and I learned a lot about Bombeck, such as the fact that she spent her final years campaigning for the ERA all over America. Bless her. You don't see Carolyn Hax out there stumping for universal healthcare.
June 26, 2019
Still relevent
I wonder if my mother read her book’s. I was a teenager in the 1960s when Ms Bombeck was writing her columns and becoming the headliner on American refrigerators. I became a mother in the 1980s when she was writing her books. I read them all. My husband and I were taking care of our daughter and struggling through the economy of the times. We both had jobs outside the home. Humour was a big part of getting us through those times and Ms Bombeck was a contributor to that humour. More than that, she helped me realize that I was not alone. I laughed many times through the reading of this book, remembering how I related to her writing. Her books are still funny today; she was a good writer and comic. Two people taught me how to laugh when things got hard and how to believe that everything will be alright. One was my husband and the other was Erma Bombeck. I miss them both.
I wonder if my mother read her book’s. I was a teenager in the 1960s when Ms Bombeck was writing her columns and becoming the headliner on American refrigerators. I became a mother in the 1980s when she was writing her books. I read them all. My husband and I were taking care of our daughter and struggling through the economy of the times. We both had jobs outside the home. Humour was a big part of getting us through those times and Ms Bombeck was a contributor to that humour. More than that, she helped me realize that I was not alone. I laughed many times through the reading of this book, remembering how I related to her writing. Her books are still funny today; she was a good writer and comic. Two people taught me how to laugh when things got hard and how to believe that everything will be alright. One was my husband and the other was Erma Bombeck. I miss them both.
May 25, 2024
I'm too young to have read Erma Bombeck's column when she was alive, but I do remember when she died as my mom was a fan and had several of her books. My mom was only a few years younger than Erma, and by reading a book of Erma's best column's....I feel like I get a glimpse of my mom's life. Erma told tales of the suburban wife and mother. Jokes about missing socks, nosy neighbors, husbands in general, and all the things that kids of the 60's and 70's were doing.....I can picture my mom in these scenarios.
I wish I could ask her which ones she related to the most, but then again, we did find a few columns stashed away when it was time to clean our my mom's possessions.
If Erma was alive today, she'd no doubt have a popular mom/parenting blog. No side to the mommy wars, no self help or ways to tell people how to parent. Just good ole fashion humor. And most of it ages well.....nearly 30 years after Erma's last column.
I wish I could ask her which ones she related to the most, but then again, we did find a few columns stashed away when it was time to clean our my mom's possessions.
If Erma was alive today, she'd no doubt have a popular mom/parenting blog. No side to the mommy wars, no self help or ways to tell people how to parent. Just good ole fashion humor. And most of it ages well.....nearly 30 years after Erma's last column.
March 3, 2022
A select collection of the many articles from her column wit's end. They are both dated and timeless. It's always so telling to read older works because they reveal the mindset of the time, the accepted behavior of society, and how we've either grown or failed socially moving forward. It's even more interesting when something is so insightful that it transcends all time and will continue to do so even as society moves further and further away from the event that inspired it. The organization was grouped by larger categories, which meant dates jumped backwards each new section, not sure if I did or didn't like that, but I guess it has to have some kind of organizing. I think I would have preferred to stay in chronological order, it could have been broken down by year or decade as easily.
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