The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club : True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life

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Summary: Mother & Daughter Quality Time
Review: My teenage daughter and I have had a bonding experience reading aloud Laurie Notaro's hilarious book, The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club. I think it must be a "girl thing" because I am certain that my son would not appreciate the antics of Laurie and her friends in quite the same way. It was wonderful to read the embarassing, funny and foolish tales of a fellow "Idiot Girl." We have all had those moments that now we can laugh at but I am not sure we ever want admit out loud that we were ever so stupid or clumsy. And I sure do not want to tell my daughter about MY OWN Idiot Girl incidents. Laurie does an excellent job sharing her stories in a way that can actually be educational for my daughter who is just about to enter her own idiot phase...

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Summary: I wish I had not bought this book
Review: I got a few chuckles, but mostly read quickly through her inibreation memories. I wanted to ready a funny book, not one about how stupid everyone else is, because she wanted to get drunk and not care about herself. I don't understand the reason behind this book. Wish I had bought a funny one instead.

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Summary: Misadventures in Gender-World
Review: I'd say one would have actually be an "idiot girl" to appreciate this work. After several pages of the excerpt not only had I no idea where I as a reader was going, but couldn't tell where I'd been, or why. Ms. Notaro recently gained notoriety as my fellow iUniverse author, the only successful one to make the "big time." One can't imagine how or why, but she does have journalism training and a prestigious job with the Arizona Republic. All of these feats are signs of our times; a trend that anything a woman does these days translates into success, but unfortunately without much merit. This is a book about nothing; rumaging through the trash on a 114 degree day for what, no one but Ms. Notaro knows. I sure didn't. There is no denying the market is real. The country is chock full of hordes of overwieght Rosie O'Donnell types with much less to offer in the way of talent, and a lust for everything they can't obtain because of their own personal shortcomings, but with a simpathetic system that welcomes any effort they make on a different scale from anything a man would face. A voice that revels in this wallowing at the bottom of life's struggle is made to order. Unfortunately this is what passes for scholarship in publishing. Serious work on real subject matter is frequently dismissed in favor of this kind of public inanity. Not only is it not funny, it celebrates stumbling ignorance, and insults deserving women authors like Linda Greenlaw, (The Lobster Chronicles), whose work reflects real accomplishment.

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Summary: Did I know this women?
Review: Her writting is so easy and familiar, you'll feel like she was probably your best friend in high school. A thoroughly enjoyable book. Her writting has a very distinctive rhythm and really grows on you. I hope to read more of her work in the future. This was a very pleasant, funny, happy, feel good book that I highly recommend.

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Summary: just not that great
Review: I really was looking forward to reading this - the premise was good, and many of the incidents described were humorous, but the writing was so bad that it honestly detracted from the stories she was trying to tell. I wouldn't mind reading her column in a mediocre newspaper, but for a nationally published book, the reader deserves better than this author offers.

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Summary: The Best Book of 2002
Review: At the recommendation of my friend I picked up this book and I couldn't put it down. I took it with me to work, to the laundrymat, it stayed in my purse and I laughed the entire time I was reading the book. People were looking at me like I was crazy! I think Laurie hit the nail on the head with this book! It is a clear representation of the "other" side of women! Every story had me thinking, "This is so me!" I felt like Laurie had gone inside my head and wrote about some of my experiences. She's brave and honest and a great writer! Can't wait for the next one!

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Summary: Flat Out Funny
Review: Laurie Notaro is a truly gifted comic writer. Her humor, self-deprecating, and never mean, reads like a stand-up comedian's work. She is not, as some of the reviews imply, a writer for women only, no more than Mark Twain, Robert Benchley and S.J. Perlman are for men only. She paints pictures with her words and shows great comic dexterity with her phrasing and little throwaway lines. This book is recommended for anyone with a sense of humor, and singles in particular. After reading it, I was elated, but a little sad. After all, she is not MY friend, and she lives so far away.

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Summary: the funniest book I have read in a long time
Review: This is a great book, really. Bridget Jones, as everyone compares it too, was also great but this one will have you laughing out loud at least once every page. Many true-to-life references that any young, single, slightly neurotic female can identify with. Highly recommended.

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Summary: very funny book
Review: This was one of the few books that made me laugh throughout (and out loud). Just like the other reviews say, it is silly, sarcastic, witty, outragous, and very entertaining. Five stars.

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Summary: One of the Greatest Books I've Ever Read
Review: Laurie Notaro possesses the amazing ability to write about her dark side and make it funny. This book will make you laugh until your stomach aches. It isn't only about drinking and smoking. There's a message beneath the laughter.