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500 Acres and No Place to Hide: More Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl
The hilarious follow-up to the memoir, Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl .
It's been four years since Susan's husband dragged her kicking and screaming from their comfortable, big city East Coast life to a farm in Virginia cattle country. Susan's adjusting as best she can, which isn't easy considering she's been known to wear Manolos in manure. She'll never be a real farm girl, but as readers will see from her side- splitting confessions, she's faking it just fine.
It's been four years since Susan's husband dragged her kicking and screaming from their comfortable, big city East Coast life to a farm in Virginia cattle country. Susan's adjusting as best she can, which isn't easy considering she's been known to wear Manolos in manure. She'll never be a real farm girl, but as readers will see from her side- splitting confessions, she's faking it just fine.
351 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 2011
17 people are currently reading
444 people want to read
About the author
Susan McCorkindale
5 books45 followersSusan McCorkindale is a former cancer caregiver, forever Autism mom, and proud Jersey girl. She’s also the author of four books, two of which are Amazon bestselling memoirs, and a popular keynote speaker who specializes in resilience, grief, and the role of humor in helping people bounce back and stay back. You can find her celebrated TED talk on SusanMcCorkindale.com. Her new book, BOUNCE: A Memoir of Resilience, is available now on Amazon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
February 22, 2021
This memoir is like bread.
Some people love bread in all its forms.
But bread doesn't agree with me.
500 Acres and No Place to Hide just didn't agree with me.
Normally, I love memoirs. They are true stories of harrowing circumstances or extraordinary grit. Sometimes, I tire of the tales of abuse, drug addition and betrayal, so a funny memoir is a nice change of pace. And 500 Acres and No Place to Hide: More Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale is billed as "hilarious," "laugh-out-loud funny" and "rollicking."
But I didn't laugh out loud once. I didn't even smile. And then this supposedly light memoir with an amusing cover takes a tragic turn. Some readers obviously find McCorkindale funny, and they will appreciate the pathos. I just wanted to get through it.
The follow-up to Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl (which I didn't read) has no plot. Every chapter reads like a stand-alone essay that milks every last drop of humor from every predicament, description, sentence. It's not that McCorkindale is not a good writer. But she tries too hard. It feels like she was only fulfilling a commitment for a two-book contract, and when you get to Page 206, you understand why.
McCorkindale serves up heaping helpings of misbehaving farm animals, small-town parables and self-deprecation so she's a likeable protagonist. But she clearly worships at the altar of Big Pharma (fully three of the chapters are about wonders of prescription drugs) and, uff-da, the footnotes. Word to the wise: work the asides into the main text. They're not so funny that they need to ruin the flow.
Here's what makes me sad as a fellow memoirist. McCorkindale has a story to tell, but she bungles it. Or maybe her book deadline forced her to find a narrative arc before she was really ready.
Spoilers ahead.
On Page 206, we learn McCordindale's farm-loving husband who "dragged her kicking and screaming from the suburbs" has pancreatic cancer.
Oh, boy. Talk about a buzz kill. Very little about cancer, and certainly less about pancreatic cancer, is funny. And it arrives without any warning whatsoever at the two-thirds point in the book!
At this point, McCorkindale's writing takes on a more authentic quality (though she's still gamely trying to milk nearly every situation for a laugh). If you're a caregiver for a loved one with pancreatic cancer, you will appreciate this part immensely. The biggest takeaway for me from the book came in the advice she shares "the instant the C-word is spoken...":
"Go home and have sex. I know, you've just got the worst news of your life and I'm telling you to go home and get it on. Crazy as that sounds, I wish someone had told us. Things go from bad to worse fast, and they did in [my husband's] case."
This is actionable advice from someone who has been there. That's why I read memoir.
Her husband doesn't die in the narrative of the book (though he does, tragically, die) so there's not even any real closure for me as a reader about it (to be honest, there probably wasn't any for her either). But I wish McCorkindale would have written a less hilarious, more introspective memoir about her husband and his illness instead of rehashing all the designer-heels-in-the-mud stuff.
McCorkindale's bread-and-butter (humorous essays, strung together masterfully) just isn't for me.
Some people love bread in all its forms.
But bread doesn't agree with me.
500 Acres and No Place to Hide just didn't agree with me.
Normally, I love memoirs. They are true stories of harrowing circumstances or extraordinary grit. Sometimes, I tire of the tales of abuse, drug addition and betrayal, so a funny memoir is a nice change of pace. And 500 Acres and No Place to Hide: More Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale is billed as "hilarious," "laugh-out-loud funny" and "rollicking."
But I didn't laugh out loud once. I didn't even smile. And then this supposedly light memoir with an amusing cover takes a tragic turn. Some readers obviously find McCorkindale funny, and they will appreciate the pathos. I just wanted to get through it.
The follow-up to Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl (which I didn't read) has no plot. Every chapter reads like a stand-alone essay that milks every last drop of humor from every predicament, description, sentence. It's not that McCorkindale is not a good writer. But she tries too hard. It feels like she was only fulfilling a commitment for a two-book contract, and when you get to Page 206, you understand why.
McCorkindale serves up heaping helpings of misbehaving farm animals, small-town parables and self-deprecation so she's a likeable protagonist. But she clearly worships at the altar of Big Pharma (fully three of the chapters are about wonders of prescription drugs) and, uff-da, the footnotes. Word to the wise: work the asides into the main text. They're not so funny that they need to ruin the flow.
Here's what makes me sad as a fellow memoirist. McCorkindale has a story to tell, but she bungles it. Or maybe her book deadline forced her to find a narrative arc before she was really ready.
Spoilers ahead.
On Page 206, we learn McCordindale's farm-loving husband who "dragged her kicking and screaming from the suburbs" has pancreatic cancer.
Oh, boy. Talk about a buzz kill. Very little about cancer, and certainly less about pancreatic cancer, is funny. And it arrives without any warning whatsoever at the two-thirds point in the book!
At this point, McCorkindale's writing takes on a more authentic quality (though she's still gamely trying to milk nearly every situation for a laugh). If you're a caregiver for a loved one with pancreatic cancer, you will appreciate this part immensely. The biggest takeaway for me from the book came in the advice she shares "the instant the C-word is spoken...":
"Go home and have sex. I know, you've just got the worst news of your life and I'm telling you to go home and get it on. Crazy as that sounds, I wish someone had told us. Things go from bad to worse fast, and they did in [my husband's] case."
This is actionable advice from someone who has been there. That's why I read memoir.
Her husband doesn't die in the narrative of the book (though he does, tragically, die) so there's not even any real closure for me as a reader about it (to be honest, there probably wasn't any for her either). But I wish McCorkindale would have written a less hilarious, more introspective memoir about her husband and his illness instead of rehashing all the designer-heels-in-the-mud stuff.
McCorkindale's bread-and-butter (humorous essays, strung together masterfully) just isn't for me.
February 23, 2021
I have mixed feelings about this city girl in the country memoir. It was funny, and had I read these tales as blog entries or newspaper columns (she did write a column in her local paper) that I saw only occasionally, I probably would have enjoyed them. I should have put the book down, moved on to something else, and just dipped into this now and then. I got tired of the style and really, really tired of the footnotes. I also think it’s strange that all of the blurbs only talk about how funny it is without even hinting what’s going to happen. I know the author wanted to keep as much laughter in their lives as possible, but it makes me wonder - did any of those folks who wrote about the book actually read the book?
April 13, 2012
First of all, the footnotes ruin the whole story!!! The writing is way too descriptive, especially in the cow poop department!! I could also do without the four letter curse words, it isn't needed and doesn't add to the story. The only redeeming part of the book was where she discussed her husband's illness. I sympathized with her dealing with his illness and how it affected their children. As far as the rest of the book, I can't recommend it! If she could write in a different style, it would improve the reading! If all her books are written this way, I won't waste time reading any more and I won't recommend that you do either!
April 28, 2016
Tried her first book and tried this one, can't do it. Immature style, a bunch of cynical and negative ramblings. No real story line. Too much self talk from a self acclaimed princess who is used to Prada and take out all the time!
October 11, 2012
I hate to harsh on a memoir in which the author's husband dies of cancer, so instead of saying that I didn't like this book, I'll instead quote what I've taught my kids to say at the dinner table and claim that this book "is not amenable to my palate."
I normally like fish-out-of-water stories and memoirs AND stories about farming, but a grating authorial voice can ruin all three for me. The author's humor fell completely flat for me, perhaps because much of it was about fashion and make-up (a little unexpected in a farming memoir, but it IS also a fish-out-of-water story, I suppose...), and since there were about as many jokes crammed on each page as each page could hold, aided by the many footnotes in smaller print (oh, the ways in which I despise the over-use of footnotes!), reading this book was very closely akin, I imagine, to sitting politely through a very bad stand-up comedy act.
Mind you, I could see where the book COULD be funny, and I can clearly see how others would like it. Fashion-oriented city girl, persuaded by her husband to move to the country, her former lifestyle clashing and juxtaposing in funny ways with her new lifestyle--sound familiar? So if you know all about fancy shoes and you don't already daily wear the type of boots that the author makes a big fuss about donning, I totally get the book's appeal, but for me it was like engaging in small talk with another mom with whom I have nothing in common but the kids' softball practice that we both happen to be attending.
And then, of course, the author's husband gets cancer. It didn't make the book a ton better, but it did make it somewhat better, in that for the rest of the book I could finally read from a position of commonality--don't we all fear losing our loved ones? Aren't all of our lives sometimes legitimately hard, not just "oh dear, I can't wear this pricey outfit on my farm!" hard? I'm not ashamed to admit that I found MUCH more to identify with in McCorkindale's humorous stories of trying, without success, to find some place on her property to weep her heart out without her children discovering her than I found in any of her funny writing about take-out dinners and online shopping and name-brand clothes.
So no, I have no interest in reading McCorkindale's earlier memoir, which sounds like more of the same city girl meets farm antics, but her next memoir, when she hopefully shares how she works through her grief for her husband, humor intact, THAT I'll read.
I normally like fish-out-of-water stories and memoirs AND stories about farming, but a grating authorial voice can ruin all three for me. The author's humor fell completely flat for me, perhaps because much of it was about fashion and make-up (a little unexpected in a farming memoir, but it IS also a fish-out-of-water story, I suppose...), and since there were about as many jokes crammed on each page as each page could hold, aided by the many footnotes in smaller print (oh, the ways in which I despise the over-use of footnotes!), reading this book was very closely akin, I imagine, to sitting politely through a very bad stand-up comedy act.
Mind you, I could see where the book COULD be funny, and I can clearly see how others would like it. Fashion-oriented city girl, persuaded by her husband to move to the country, her former lifestyle clashing and juxtaposing in funny ways with her new lifestyle--sound familiar? So if you know all about fancy shoes and you don't already daily wear the type of boots that the author makes a big fuss about donning, I totally get the book's appeal, but for me it was like engaging in small talk with another mom with whom I have nothing in common but the kids' softball practice that we both happen to be attending.
And then, of course, the author's husband gets cancer. It didn't make the book a ton better, but it did make it somewhat better, in that for the rest of the book I could finally read from a position of commonality--don't we all fear losing our loved ones? Aren't all of our lives sometimes legitimately hard, not just "oh dear, I can't wear this pricey outfit on my farm!" hard? I'm not ashamed to admit that I found MUCH more to identify with in McCorkindale's humorous stories of trying, without success, to find some place on her property to weep her heart out without her children discovering her than I found in any of her funny writing about take-out dinners and online shopping and name-brand clothes.
So no, I have no interest in reading McCorkindale's earlier memoir, which sounds like more of the same city girl meets farm antics, but her next memoir, when she hopefully shares how she works through her grief for her husband, humor intact, THAT I'll read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2011
My mom married the love of her life and, just after I was born, we left our nice new home in the suburbs and moved to a farm so my dad could engage in his passion. My mom and Susan have this in common.
Susan has a gift for applying her unique world-view to her new environment and the result is, often, side-splittingly funny. The footnotes make this a hilarious read. Although her life takes an unexpected turn, she somehow manages to tackle the challenge of a lifetime with grace and humor. Where others would wallow, Susan puts on her big girl panties and faces adversity head-on. And in this part of the story, she and my mom would also be kindred spirits, as my mom dealt with a very similar challenge with two young kids at home.
I think the best thing, though, is that Susan has managed to make herself at home "in the sticks" (as she refers to it). she's made some dear friends and, while it's clear she misses her old life, she really seems to have embraced her new one. Her positive outlook should be an inspiration to anyone similarly situated.
Susan has a gift for applying her unique world-view to her new environment and the result is, often, side-splittingly funny. The footnotes make this a hilarious read. Although her life takes an unexpected turn, she somehow manages to tackle the challenge of a lifetime with grace and humor. Where others would wallow, Susan puts on her big girl panties and faces adversity head-on. And in this part of the story, she and my mom would also be kindred spirits, as my mom dealt with a very similar challenge with two young kids at home.
I think the best thing, though, is that Susan has managed to make herself at home "in the sticks" (as she refers to it). she's made some dear friends and, while it's clear she misses her old life, she really seems to have embraced her new one. Her positive outlook should be an inspiration to anyone similarly situated.
August 9, 2011
High heels and tractor wheels makes a Fashionable Farm Girl
Hang on to your hats! Susan is in the driver's seat again. She stomps the gas with her louboutin's and sets course through the Virginia countryside in a whirlwind of fun. She uses her talent to unravel the inner workings of her relationship with her husband and tosses in some black comedy to soften the brunt of their inevitable loss. She is an expert at pulling you along with her through this memoir that dashes through the mud, and the bugs and the deer (not to mention the chickens, the dogs and the cows) found on the farm. Laughter in the face of tears is good medicine. Susan writes with a clear voice filled with love and affection and you can't help but want to go along for ride of her lifetime.
Hang on to your hats! Susan is in the driver's seat again. She stomps the gas with her louboutin's and sets course through the Virginia countryside in a whirlwind of fun. She uses her talent to unravel the inner workings of her relationship with her husband and tosses in some black comedy to soften the brunt of their inevitable loss. She is an expert at pulling you along with her through this memoir that dashes through the mud, and the bugs and the deer (not to mention the chickens, the dogs and the cows) found on the farm. Laughter in the face of tears is good medicine. Susan writes with a clear voice filled with love and affection and you can't help but want to go along for ride of her lifetime.
August 15, 2013
In 500 Acres and No Place to Hide, Susan McCorkindale recounts what life has been like for a displaced city girl trying to make the best of life on a farm. Writing in a humorously brash tone, she shares her stories in chapters that stand alone as episodic adventures, or misadventures to be more accurate. She pokes fun of every aspect of country living and kvetches over the stylish accoutrements she must now do without. But her tone is never malevolent, more whimsical and satirical with bon mots sprinkled here and there, and the butt of her jokes is more often than not herself, turning her rants into the suspenseful beginnings of endearing stories you know will end in calamity. The result is a fun and fast-paced memoir that is chock full of one-liners and a few tear-jerking moments.
August 9, 2011
As a former city dweller myself (Warsaw, IN is FOR sure no Brooklyn, NY or even Indianapolis, IN) I really enjoy Susan McCorkindale's books. While I stear clear of heels in my current environment, I can totally relate to weird animal mishaps, longing for the days of readily available designer shopping, and ruined flower beds.
I highly recommend this to all of my friends. It's a fun, lighthearted read, which will make you laugh, cry, and thank God for Neiman Marcus. :)
P.S. If you're coming to the GlamourGals Hot Pink Party, an autographed copy of Susan's first book, Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl is one of the raffle prizes! http://bit.ly/qGRAHv
I highly recommend this to all of my friends. It's a fun, lighthearted read, which will make you laugh, cry, and thank God for Neiman Marcus. :)
P.S. If you're coming to the GlamourGals Hot Pink Party, an autographed copy of Susan's first book, Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl is one of the raffle prizes! http://bit.ly/qGRAHv
December 8, 2012
I have to admit... I read half of this book before I finally had to let it go. I really wanted to like this, especially since I can relate to McCorkindale's life -- I'm a concert violist/former journalist married to a slightly less conservative version of Ted Nugent, who insists we remain on our 40 acres in Wisconsin and live off the land as much as possible. But I just couldn't get past McCorkindale's writing style, which seems to suggest that she is way better than the farm life she's living. The book just stopped being funny after the first few chapters and I just couldn't force myself to finish it.
June 20, 2017
I finished my reading for Saturday night giggling. On Sunday, I finished the book in tears.
My favorite part of this author was her way to convey how much she loved her husband and kids. I had a bit of a warning since I read somewhere online that Susan was a recent widow. Still broke my heart to read about her heartbreak for her husband, her self, and her kids.
Good book though. Big fan of Suz, Hem, and the McMen.
My favorite part of this author was her way to convey how much she loved her husband and kids. I had a bit of a warning since I read somewhere online that Susan was a recent widow. Still broke my heart to read about her heartbreak for her husband, her self, and her kids.
Good book though. Big fan of Suz, Hem, and the McMen.
November 18, 2012
This followup to Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl is better than the 1st installment. Why? Sad to say it's because McCorkindale's husband is diagnosed with cancer and we finally get some emotional connection to her as she deals with his terminal illness. I would've liked to have seen much much more about this rough time in her life. Less joking because by this point, the funny seems forced and hollow, especially since her husband does indeed succumb to the disease.
July 15, 2013
So what happens when big city folks move to a more rural setting? It's not all sunny days and no woes. And it's hard not to mourn the life left behind. I could relate to this memoir but felt the author really only got real in the second half of the book. It's supposed to be humorous but I found it forced. Maybe it was my mood...nevertheless there are things to be learned here. Curious use of footnotes I never really got used to.
February 25, 2016
I thought I picked up a light-hearted book. I was wrong. It started out that way. I laughed at the antics of a city girl in the country, chasing cows in high heels. I kept thinking how much she must've loved him to make the move to the farm. And then tragedy strikes. And I see how much she really loves him. I hope I find someone who will love me like that.
October 3, 2011
I didn't get very far. Like other reviews have said, the foot notes are super annoying and her tone is so negative/cynical. I didn't really like it, but others might.
December 8, 2015
Wonderful story. A true Green Acres with laughs on every page.
October 9, 2019
Couldn’t finish. So self indulgent and annoying!
July 10, 2017
Well that took an unexpected turn about half way through and leaves you feeling sad and heartbroken.
The author was too self-deprecating for me to really enjoy the book. And then the twist that isn't acknowledged anywhere on the cover or dust jacket or back write up. I would not have picked up this book to read if I had known what the overall premise was going to be. It is not a fun, light-hearted or "droll" (as booklist claims on the back cover) story about a city slicker trying to make it on a ranch (it starts out like that) but then turns into a memoir of surviving her husband's cancer diagnosis, treatment attempts and eventual death while parenting her two grade-school/middle school sons.
The author was too self-deprecating for me to really enjoy the book. And then the twist that isn't acknowledged anywhere on the cover or dust jacket or back write up. I would not have picked up this book to read if I had known what the overall premise was going to be. It is not a fun, light-hearted or "droll" (as booklist claims on the back cover) story about a city slicker trying to make it on a ranch (it starts out like that) but then turns into a memoir of surviving her husband's cancer diagnosis, treatment attempts and eventual death while parenting her two grade-school/middle school sons.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2024
Equally as awful as the first one. Although, I am very sorry for your loss. I just find her writing TERRIBLE! The constant footnotes are the worst and I found myself skipping them just to finish the book faster. She tries too hard to be funny and for people that embrace a country lifestyle and actually enjoy animals, her crude humor is unbearable. So yourself a favor and skip both the Confessions of a Counterfit Farm Girl and 500 Acres.
May 2, 2019
So I hated her first book, but for some reason I picked up the second book. It was actually an improvement. It was an improvement because about a quarter of the way through she stopped being superficial and got real. When she writes about her husband's illness and the impact on her family, her voice resonates. It's moving, touching, sometimes cynical, and sometimes funny.
May 8, 2017
A very funny lady!
November 10, 2020
I really liked this book, and wish I had read the first in the 2-book series first. Starts out in Illinois and ends up in Virginia. Funny! A good read.
January 24, 2022
The last third of this book was the most riveting and soul-touching part of the book. I'm glad I made it there.
April 15, 2024
So boring, I tried to read the whole book. Could not do it.
October 18, 2011
Picture a modern day woman fashionista, born and raised in Ridgewood, NJ, who has a prestigious job in New York City. She loves shopping (let’s just saw she bows down to Nordstorm ad Neiman Marcus) for clothes, designer handbags, and shoes (can we say Manolos?), and has to get her weekly blow dry. Can you imagine this woman surviving in the sticks on a farm in Fauquier County, Virginia? I sure can’t. But Susan McCorkindale proves us wrong.
After Susan’s husband convinces her to leave her comfortable and familiar lifestyle, Susan has some trouble adapting to living on a farm. But after a few years she comes to the epiphany, as I quote from the back of the book “YOU CAN TAKE THE WOMAN OUT OF NEW JERSEY, BUT YOU CAN’T TAKE THE NEW JERSEY OUT OF THE WOMAN.” She makes it work for her. She wanders in the mud, attending to the farm and the animals wearing her fashionable shoes. With humor, wit, and a little craziness, she deals with the farm animals wandering into her house, taking a short leave of absence from the farm, a frog on her bathroom window, and with the pleasures of having to handle snakes. The readers are right along with her as she becomes the “manager” of the farm due to her husband’s diagnosis of cancer.
It’s been a very long time since I have read a book where I have laughed out loud as much as I have with this one. I shared with my husband some of the things Susan wrote because they are SO hilarious. I can totally see Susan being a guest on the Chelsea Handler show and the two women hitting it off. The underlying theme and message throughout her journeys, is to always look for humor in situations that life throws you, and not take life too seriously. We see this in her dealings with cows, crazy chickens, goats, and raising two boys, one of whom is autistic. And on the more serious side, getting her family, her husband, and her herself through the tragedy of her husband’s struggles with cancer.
I recommend this book to just about anyone. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what roles you play, life always throws us challenges. If we try to remember that laughter is the best medicine, we might cope with these challenges more successfully.
After Susan’s husband convinces her to leave her comfortable and familiar lifestyle, Susan has some trouble adapting to living on a farm. But after a few years she comes to the epiphany, as I quote from the back of the book “YOU CAN TAKE THE WOMAN OUT OF NEW JERSEY, BUT YOU CAN’T TAKE THE NEW JERSEY OUT OF THE WOMAN.” She makes it work for her. She wanders in the mud, attending to the farm and the animals wearing her fashionable shoes. With humor, wit, and a little craziness, she deals with the farm animals wandering into her house, taking a short leave of absence from the farm, a frog on her bathroom window, and with the pleasures of having to handle snakes. The readers are right along with her as she becomes the “manager” of the farm due to her husband’s diagnosis of cancer.
It’s been a very long time since I have read a book where I have laughed out loud as much as I have with this one. I shared with my husband some of the things Susan wrote because they are SO hilarious. I can totally see Susan being a guest on the Chelsea Handler show and the two women hitting it off. The underlying theme and message throughout her journeys, is to always look for humor in situations that life throws you, and not take life too seriously. We see this in her dealings with cows, crazy chickens, goats, and raising two boys, one of whom is autistic. And on the more serious side, getting her family, her husband, and her herself through the tragedy of her husband’s struggles with cancer.
I recommend this book to just about anyone. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what roles you play, life always throws us challenges. If we try to remember that laughter is the best medicine, we might cope with these challenges more successfully.
November 1, 2011
Review by Lori: When I agreed to read this book, I responed to it because it sounded funny and it called to my sense of humor. I then realized after I agreed to read it that it was a continuation of her previous book Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl. I was immediately filled with trepidation that I wouldn't be able to follow this book, that I would be reading the words, but I would not comprehend what I was reading because I hadn't read the previous book. I have to tell you, no worries about being lost while reading this book. Things are explained, there are no "huh?" moments where you're totally confused.
This book was really entertaining. I mean REALLY entertaining. I have to admit that this would be a book that I would pass over in the bookstore because, really, who wants to read about someone complaining about being someplace they don't want to be? I was in for a pleasent suprise that Susan's comentary about her life on a farm are not whiney, moaney annoying complaints. She was sharp and snarky without sounding like a total bitch and complained without it sounding like some rich snob. I really liked Susan because as you read more and more of her story, you see that she's a wife and a mom who's helping to keep her family on track. She reveals family struggles that need to be dealt with and some very sad news that was brought to light. Without having read the first book, it sounds like Susan has adjusted to living life on the farm and is doing quite nicely!!
I think most women could relate to this story, wheather you're a wife or mother or not. After all we all have a story to tell!!! The one complaint that I have is that she has footnotes throughout her story. While the footnotes are helpful little gems, I found them to be distracting. I would read the footnote and then I forgot what I read and had to reread what I read. I felt like I was back in college again!! I'm curious about what happens next and I hope another book will be written. I think I might get the previous book just to find out how this all started!!! I give this book 4 roses!!!!!
This book was really entertaining. I mean REALLY entertaining. I have to admit that this would be a book that I would pass over in the bookstore because, really, who wants to read about someone complaining about being someplace they don't want to be? I was in for a pleasent suprise that Susan's comentary about her life on a farm are not whiney, moaney annoying complaints. She was sharp and snarky without sounding like a total bitch and complained without it sounding like some rich snob. I really liked Susan because as you read more and more of her story, you see that she's a wife and a mom who's helping to keep her family on track. She reveals family struggles that need to be dealt with and some very sad news that was brought to light. Without having read the first book, it sounds like Susan has adjusted to living life on the farm and is doing quite nicely!!
I think most women could relate to this story, wheather you're a wife or mother or not. After all we all have a story to tell!!! The one complaint that I have is that she has footnotes throughout her story. While the footnotes are helpful little gems, I found them to be distracting. I would read the footnote and then I forgot what I read and had to reread what I read. I felt like I was back in college again!! I'm curious about what happens next and I hope another book will be written. I think I might get the previous book just to find out how this all started!!! I give this book 4 roses!!!!!
January 18, 2016
In her essays, emails, and humorous collection of footnotes that could fill several chapters on their own, McCorkindale continues her saga of city-girl-turned-country in her second memoir. This chick is funny, no doubt about it, and having zero experience with farm life myself, I had a blast imagining her descriptions of this crazy world, feeling her pain as a transplant to the world of living on a farm. From chickens in the flowerbox to goats moseying on into her kitchen, there are adventures at every turn. But about halfway through her memoir, family life takes a turn for the worse when her husband is diagnosed with cancer, serious stage four pancreatic cancer. Even though I knew this was coming, I still found myself wiping away the tears as she tells their story. Somehow she manages to convey the full array of emotions involved in this process without ever losing her signature humor, so that the melancholy surrounding her sick husband's fight fits right next to the hilarity involved in now trying to run the farm on her own. Some chapters felt vaguely familiar, and after I looked it up, I found that some bits originally ran as posts on the (now-defunct) DC Metro Moms- a site that McCorkindale contributed to, that for some reason also ran posts by yours truly.
February 10, 2017
This was a pretty fun book to read, even with the sad news that her husband got cancer halfway through the story.
Semi-annoying is the fact that the author uses footnotes throughout the book. Personally, I would have preferred she use parentheses instead since most of the footnotes are funny and go along with the story. Glancing up and down on the page got old quick.
Semi-annoying is the fact that the author uses footnotes throughout the book. Personally, I would have preferred she use parentheses instead since most of the footnotes are funny and go along with the story. Glancing up and down on the page got old quick.
January 13, 2012
The first half of this book left me cold. The author seemed shallow and the book seemed pointless. I like a good fashionista reference as well as most women my age, but this lady seemed not to have anything else to talk about. I started reading this sometime last fall and picked it up again on December 31, hoping I could finish before midnight and count it toward my 2011 total.
Didn't make it on the deadline, but I did get caught up in her story somewhere between her war with the chickens (okay, funny) and her husband's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
A better read than I expected, overall.
Didn't make it on the deadline, but I did get caught up in her story somewhere between her war with the chickens (okay, funny) and her husband's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
A better read than I expected, overall.
April 1, 2016
The first half of the book or so I found annoying because it was very light on farm life stories. Instead, it was a lot of stream of thought nattering which didn't do anything for me.
But then a family crisis arises and it takes a whole different tone and ... Well there's no good way to describe it other than I was glad I stuck with the book.
Nutshell: don't expect there to be much farm funnies, it's much more of a window into the mind of Susan and how she processes things and copes with life.
But then a family crisis arises and it takes a whole different tone and ... Well there's no good way to describe it other than I was glad I stuck with the book.
Nutshell: don't expect there to be much farm funnies, it's much more of a window into the mind of Susan and how she processes things and copes with life.
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