The second book by Erma Bombeck which I read was I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression. By now I knew Bombeck’s writing was very dated. Moms from the 70s and 80s relished her writing, but I did not.
First off, her children are disrespectful and annoying. They take furniture and appliances with them when they go to college. They never return the family car with the right amount of gas. After reading James Dobson and Kevin Leman on parenting, coming to a book by Bombeck makes me want to whisper, “you got it all wrong, Mrs. Bombeck!” But, of course, she could not hear me anyway.
With all due respect to a deceased author, I did not enjoy this book. It was funnier than the first one I read, about motherhood as the second oldest profession, but it still did not help me in any way.
So I chuckled because she is funny in the way she presents things, but her chaotic family life makes me want to travel back in time and space and help her put her life in order. Her overbearing mom does not seem so bad after all – she is just trying to help Erma put her life on a schedule.
Her husband – I don’t understand how he allowed her to describe him in such a negative light. Maybe it was because her books were paying the bills more so than his educator’s salary? It was the beginning of the “bash the white man” movement of the 80s. So yes, her books sold well.
Don’t waste you time on this book is what I say.
