Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Laugh Out Loud – 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now #Anthology

Published on by dgkaye

A hilarious romp back to the past where 40 humorists from the Erma Bombeck Author’s Writer Workshop, contribute humorous stories about life comparing – then and now. Many of these stories touch on womanhood, aging, acceptance and grace all taken with a grain of salt and bringing words of wisdom to light – all in good humor.

Blurb:

Remember ironing your hair? Rolling it in soda cans to straighten it? Lacquering it with enough spray that it could ward off bullets? Ever slather on cement-colored lipstick so heavy, you looked like a zombie princess? Remember hot pants and platform heels? The danger of patent-leather shoes? Were you a secretary, nurse, or teacher, but only, as our mothers urged us, until you found “Mr. Right.” In her new book, LAUGH OUT LOUD: 40 WOMEN HUMORISTS CELEBRATE THEN AND NOW…BEFORE WE FORGET, Allia Zobel Nolan and 40 funny ladies from the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop chronicle these blips in time as they look back at life in the past lane. Zobel Nolan and the other dancing queens then fast forward to today and write about what it’s like to blink and wake up to be 50, 60, 70, and beyond—experiences ranging from cremation ceremonies to marrying younger men, from senior online dating to finding yourself a menopausal maniac in Mexico.

My 5 Star Review:

This book is a great romp of nostalgic humor. We all remember stories, incidents, trials, tribulations, and the aftermath where we can look back on the years and laugh at. We wore crazy styles, did stupid things, had wild crushes, crazy habits.

Funny women here sharing their humorous stories of the past, taking us on a nostalgic trip back through our own memory lane and having us shaking our heads in ‘I can’t believe I did or wore that’ or in affirming, yes, I totally remember that. In this anthology of fun you’ll read some funny side up stories about life from bell bottoms to Birkenstocks, from hot pants to hormones, from mood rings to menopause, it’s all here in 40 fun stories that will provide a few hours of many Lols, while keeping tabs on life from youth to aging and everything in between.

A few favs:

When We Were Fashionistas and the hilarious fashion rundown of the 1960s, Saturday Night Ain’t What it Used to Be – those long Saturday nights when other people had a date, but we didn’t, Menopausal Maniacs in Mexico – had me in stitches and nodding my head at the familiarity and the hilarity of aging gracefully – not, Breathless Encounter – takes us on one woman’s struggle to learn about wearing shapewear and the struggle of getting out of it, Losing It – will resonate with everyone who has struggled with diets, Taking my Face out of the Drawer – talks about when the author began wearing makeup and unapologetic for still feeling comfortable in seeing her face in makeup as the face she is still familiar with, and my ultimate favorite story by Sherri Kuhn – Loving the Skin I’m In – a story about aging and acceptance of beauty changes, fashion fails, settling for comfort unapologetically – “I didn’t get this way overnight, you know. Turning into a midlife goddess, completely relaxed in my body takes time and dedication.”

The book ends with a tribute to Erma Bombeck: Laughing Through the Pain by the author Allia Zobel Nolan who collaborated this most entertaining and clever anthology of humorous takes on women and aging who iconizes Bombeck for her wisdom’s on life, often of the mundane sort that become humorous to us women who can relate, despite Bombeck’s own tribulations in her own life. As Nolan writes, “She held up a mirror to her life, burst out laughing, then sat down and chronicled it for millions to enjoy.”

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I don’t have a single bit of talent left and could say, “I used everything you gave.” ~Erma Bombeck

©DGKaye2022

61 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – Laugh Out Loud – 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now #Anthology”

  1. My mom loved Erma Bombeck, so I’ve read some of her stuff, which is quite funny. Even though I’m male, I’d read this book as it sounds like a fun read.

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  3. Hi Debby, What a great review and this sounds perfect for people “of a certain age” lol. It brought back a lot of memories. I loved that quote from Erma B. about using all her talent. Toni x

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    1. Lol Olga, yes, this book was a lovely escape back to memory lane. No doubts you’ll be nodding your head in agreement with some of these stories. Lol ❤

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  7. I am going to find myself a copy of this book, Debby. It sounds great! That quote from Erma Bombeck gave me chills. She was one-of-a-kind. Thanks for the great review!

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  13. This sounds delightful, Debby. Thank you for featuring it and letting us know about this jewel. I’m heading to Amazon.😊

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  14. This review makes me want to check this book out, it sounds very interesting. Thank you for sharing 🙂

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  16. This book does sound hysterical, Debby, and suited to my age as so many of the things you mention are relatable. And it sounds like there are bits of wisdom sprinkled through the laughter too. I love Erma Bombeck and her humor. Thanks for the recommendation and the opportunity to laugh out loud!

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      2. Thanks so much Carol. You aren’t first to say that, so I’ll take it as a sign. And btw, glad you couild comment on this post. Sadly, I haven’t received your comments on your book review I did, the WP monsters are working double time. 😦 ❤

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  18. Sounds like a fun ready Debby, although the names mentioned are unfamiliar to me – from before my time and from a different country and era. Did you come up with this tagline: “from bell bottoms to Birkenstocks, from hot pants to hormones, from mood rings to menopause,…” If so, you could and should be a blurb writer for others! Well done. 🙂

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  21. Erma Bombeck’s books sound a hoot…A great write/up and review, Debs. A bit different to life in the UK way back due to WW2 and being older, but it was still great fun, with lots of music and songs from the US. Hugs xx

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  23. I had not heard of this book, so THANK you for the review. It sounds …hilarious… and a wonderful gift to my women friends. I’m going over to get a copy. xo

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  24. “She held up a mirror to her life, burst out laughing, then sat down and chronicled it for millions to enjoy.”
    I love that. It is what we all should do. We all have tragedy, but there is much good in this living.

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