Binge Reading

Jump to Comments

Backstory: Sometimes I read books because they look interesting.  Sometimes I read them because I think I should, because every well-read person has.  Sometimes I read books for sheer entertainment, the way other people watch reality TV.  And sometimes I read them for comfort.

When I was little, I used to read anything I could get my hands on.  My mom had to pry her copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover out of my hands at age nine.  (I still haven’t read that, by the way.)  My grandmother kept less mature fare lying around, and on one visit, I tore through her entire collection of Erma Bombeck.  My grandmother passed away recently, and I’ve been doing little things to remember her.  Drinking the cinnamon tea she always made for me in a mug with her favorite sports team’s mascot on it.  Cooking her zucchini pie and molasses cookies.  And re-reading Erma Bombeck.

One-Sentence Plot Summary: A collection of the best newspaper columns from humorist Erma Bombeck’s career, which spanned from 1965 to 1996.

Review: Picking up a book by Erma Bombeck gives me the same feeling as watching an old black-and-white sitcom like Donna Reed or I Love Lucy.  I can’t relate to everything in it, but it’s sweet, funny, and makes me a little nostalgic.  Bombeck wrote humorously about the things that happened in her day-to-day life.  Forever, Erma focuses primarily on her experiences as a stay-at-home mom, with her columns divided into sections such as “Hello, Young Mothers,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Of Missing Socks, Promiscuous Hangers and Other Unexplained Phenomena.”

Most of her columns are hysterical, taking the minor irritants in life that we all experience, such as mysteriously disappearing socks and fights over the thermostat, and speaking about them lightly and irreverantly.  But others are incredibly touching, focusing on difficult themes such as stepparents, mothers who have lost a child, and the passage of time.  With the way the columns are organized, you could find yourself laughing and crying in the span of five pages. 

Some of Bombeck’s subjects feel a little outdated in 2009 (a whole column on shoulderpads–thank god that’s no longer applicable).  Also, she can be a bit repetitve, re-using a few themes, descriptions, and turns of phrase.  This only mildly detracts from the enjoyment, however.  and it’s surprising how relevant most topics still are.  One column in particular, “Working Wife/Maid Communication,” was written in 1982, but it could easily find a home on Passive-Aggressive Notes.com.  And I doubt that a column on the uncomfortableness of women’s shoes will be out of date anytime soon. 

Generally, I prefer Bombeck’s novels, which have a slightly more focused theme.  When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It’s Time to Go Home is my personal favorite, though that could be because I read it first.  But Forever, Erma is an excellent introduction to Bombeck and a fitting tribute to her life and work.

Conclusion: I went to my grandmother’s house yesterday to go through her things.  Under my mother’s direction, I took my share of glassware, pottery, and such.  But the things I cherish more than anything else are the glass mug from which I drank my cinnamon tea, the afghan I snuggled under that still smells like Grandma, and her worn, paperback copy of the first Erma Bombeck book I read at her house years ago.   

Though I doubt many of you will have the same personal connection to Bombeck, I urge you to pick up one of her books anyway.  Her stories are warm, funny, kind, and uplifting, qualities that seem increasingly more difficult to find.

Available at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s.