Rating: 
Summary: Perfectly delightful
Review: Betty's greatest gift was for presenting situations that, in themselves, are far from funny, in a totally hilarious style. I've probably read this book annually for the past 35 years, and it never fails to delight.Since my parents were of the Depression era, I had heard many a sad story from them and their friends, and Betty's knack for presenting her story with wry, often irreverent humour shows a genius of perspective. She manages to keep the reader laughing throughout descriptions of such "un-funny" matters as being unemployed, dealing with cruel bill collectors, temporary jobs in unfriendly offices, and having one's shoes disintegrate during a winter storm. The Bards were clearly a very original, free-spirited family, and it appears that they'd gone from reasonably well off to poor. The cast of characters is delightful - from Mary's "unofficial employment agency," to Dede's singing commercials, to Mother's jack of all trades accomplishments and unflapping ability to deal with bill collectors. The chapter on blind dates is as true as it is hilarious, and many of the descriptions of Betty's jobs (my favourite being when she tinted photographs) make one nearly believe that it must have been great fun to be chronically unemployed. This is a fun and by no means "self-help" book, yet I can honestly say that, for all of these years, I've called Betty's positive attitude, where one may laugh at circumstances that could have been miserable, to mind many times when I faced difficulties of my own. (Though I, as well, often regretted winters when I charged five green party dresses!)
Rating:
Summary: Betty's Best Book
Review: i am not american, so they dont want my opinion. but elizabeth, i love and miss you. please write on, after ur final in 58 your `mother baked a cake for the kids' is like `do you know this gentleman?'. thank u very much >Betty< I will see you soon, for your eyes only
Rating:
Summary: But Nobody Is Funnier Than Betty
Review: I discovered Betty MacDonald when I was about twelve years old, after checking The Egg and I out of the Carmichael Branch library here in Sacramento, about 22 years after it was first published. My parents had mentioned that the egg ranch Betty lived on with her first husband in the 1920s, which she writes about in The Egg and I, was located some miles from the place where we lived in Washington state, in the late 1950s. Furthermore, they had actually taken a day trip with friends to look at the old place, sometime after the book and the movie of the same name came out in the 1940s. This familial connection, however faint, to an old, famous book and the movies it inspired, piqued my childish mind, and I eagerly started reading about life on a chicken ranch on the Olympic Penninsula. I fell in love with Betty's easy, friendly, hysterically funny, down-to-earth yet somehow elegant prose, and immediately checked out her other autobiographical books: The Plague and I, Anybody Can Do Anything, and Onions In The Stew. In all of her autobiographical books save Onions In The Stew, Betty uses the first chapter to presage her theme by describing her experiences as a child in a large, boisterous family, in loving and extremely funny detail. In Anybody Can Do Anything, Betty describes life with her family and her two young daughters, Anne and Joan, in Seattle after she has left her husband and the egg ranch behind. The Depression is on, and Betty, now a single mother, struggles with her large and interesting clan to make ends meet, somehow finding a lot of laughs and funny adventures, often with her exuberant sister Mary, the inspiration for the book, along the way. Anyone who is interested in what life was like in Seattle in the 1930s, in witty character descriptions, and in a personal glimpse of how families coped with the "Great Depression", will find this book fascinating, not to mention frequently hilarious. Betty, I miss you and the way you used to make me laugh out loud--I was sad when I finished reading Onions In The Stew for the first time and then realized it was the last autobiographical book you wrote: the tuberculosis finally caught up with you in 1958, when I was only four years old, still living in Washington, not far from your home on Vashon Island. I re-read your books many times as I grew up, even visited Vashon Island, and often wished I could have met you and your family. It's silly, but I've always felt a sense of loss at never having known you, because I am sure you must have been a marvelous friend. Your sense of humor had a profound effect on me, and inspired me in my earliest writing attempts. It's been many years since I've read your books, but I've never forgotten your irrepressible, bona-fide funniness. Wherever you are, thank you!
Rating:
Summary: Note to Amazon Staff (Not a Review)
Review: I have read and re-read each and every one of Betty MacDonald's Books. Simply cannot think of a writer that matches her brilliance in humour! If any of you other devotees know of any similar authors, I would be most grateful for the information. You may also want to check out the following: Ann Combs "Smith College Never Taught me to Salute" If you like Betty MacDonald, you'll like this one too!!!
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best Writer of our Times
Review: I have read and re-read each and every one of Betty MacDonald's Books. Simply cannot think of a writer that matches her brilliance in humour! If any of you other devotees know of any similar authors, I would be most grateful for the information. You may also want to check out the following: Ann Combs "Smith College Never Taught me to Salute" If you like Betty MacDonald, you'll like this one too!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: It's just so heartening to know that others love Betty MacDonald's books as much as I do. I've been giving Anybody Can Do Anything as my female gift book of this year.
Rating:
Summary: Great gift for women
Review: It's just so heartening to know that others love Betty MacDonald's books as much as I do. I've been giving Anybody Can Do Anything as my female gift book of this year.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: My husband is one of Betty's nephews.All of the sisters had an incredible wit about them - probably because of their mother Sidney Bard. She did a wonderful job raising her children with out her beloved husband Darcy. It's too bad the children and grandchildren didn't learn lessons from Betty's books. She would be sad to see the way the family turned out.
Rating:
Summary: Treasure Worth Digging For
Review: This book is hard to find, so if you get the chance, snap it up!
This is a hilarious account of the author's life post-"Egg & I."
Betty moves from the chicken ranch back to her family's home in Seattle.
Sister Mary, undaunted by the fact that Betty has no experience, eagerly launches Betty's business career and social life.
The mishaps that ensue are absolutely hilarious.
Skillfully written, this book makes the Depression a laugh riot.
BUY IT!
I only wish that Betty had written more books.
Rating:
Summary: Treasure Worth Digging For
Review: This book is hard to find, so if you get the chance, snap it up!
This is a hilarious account of the author's life post-"Egg & I."
Betty moves from the chicken ranch back to her family's home in Seattle.
Sister Mary, undaunted by the fact that Betty has no experience, eagerly launches Betty's business career and social life.
The mishaps that ensue are absolutely hilarious.
Skillfully written, this book makes the Depression a laugh riot.
BUY IT!
I only wish that Betty had written more books.
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