What do you think?
Rate this book
Thoughts of a Grasshopper: Essays and Oddities Hardcover - February, 1992
In Aesop's fable, the artistic and carefree grasshopper fiddles through the summer and starves in the winter. But unlike Aesop, author Louise Plummer exalts the ants may save grasshoppers from physical starvation, but grasshoppers may save ants from spiritual starvation. In this collections of essays, Louise Plummer does just that as she gives both ants and grasshoppers a feast for the heart, a panacea for boredom, and a balm for the spirit.
Unknown Binding
124 people want to read
About the author
Louise Plummer
13 books34 followersLouise Plummer is a noted author young-adult fiction and a retired associate professor of English for Brigham Young University. She lives in New York, New York with her writer/professor husband Tom. Together they have four sons.
The Plummers moved from Boston to Minnesota in 1971 when Tom took a position at the University of Minnesota. While there, Louise earned a master’s degree in English. They both took positions at BYU in 1985, the same year her first novel, The Romantic Obsessions and Humiliations of Annie Sehlmeier, received the the Delacorte Press First Young Adult Novel Contest, leading to its publication. The book later became a children's choice book with both the New York Public Library and the International Reading Association.
Awards received by subsequent books include Her second novel, ALA Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, Utah Arts Council Best Young Adult Novel, Association for Mormon Letters Best Young Adult Novel, and another New York Public Library Children's Choice Book for her second novel, My Name is Sus5an Smith. The 5 is Silent. The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman was also an ALA Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an Association for Mormon Letters Best Young Adult Novel. Her A Dance For Three was also an ALA Best Book.
She has also written nonfiction books specifically for the Mormon audience and is a popular LDS lecturer.
--Bio courtesy of Wikipedia
The Plummers moved from Boston to Minnesota in 1971 when Tom took a position at the University of Minnesota. While there, Louise earned a master’s degree in English. They both took positions at BYU in 1985, the same year her first novel, The Romantic Obsessions and Humiliations of Annie Sehlmeier, received the the Delacorte Press First Young Adult Novel Contest, leading to its publication. The book later became a children's choice book with both the New York Public Library and the International Reading Association.
Awards received by subsequent books include Her second novel, ALA Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, Utah Arts Council Best Young Adult Novel, Association for Mormon Letters Best Young Adult Novel, and another New York Public Library Children's Choice Book for her second novel, My Name is Sus5an Smith. The 5 is Silent. The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman was also an ALA Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an Association for Mormon Letters Best Young Adult Novel. Her A Dance For Three was also an ALA Best Book.
She has also written nonfiction books specifically for the Mormon audience and is a popular LDS lecturer.
--Bio courtesy of Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
June 10, 2010
At a picnic the other day, I mentioned a lecture Louise Plummer gave at BYU that changed the way I write in my journal. ("Never, ever try to play catch up, or you'll never start writing," and "Just set the timer for five minutes and write as fast as you can," etc.) I've used that lecture as the basis of countless Relief Society and Young Women lessons. Lo and behold, the lecture in its entirety was on page 85 of this book. I've been looking for it for 10 years. Thanks Sarah!
The rest of the book was fun to read as well, especially since I know what a vivacious and captivating woman the author is. I will own a copy in 5-9 business days, according to Amazon, if anyone wants to borrow it.
The rest of the book was fun to read as well, especially since I know what a vivacious and captivating woman the author is. I will own a copy in 5-9 business days, according to Amazon, if anyone wants to borrow it.
April 16, 2015
Unforgettable. Lots of unladylike guffawing on my part. Lots of crying. Lots of setting the book on my lap and staring at the wall just thinking about what was said. I'm a hopeless fan of Louise Plummer. Like an annoying little lap dog with bad breath who won't stop jumping up on your legs and licking you. She's so real. Planning a dinner with my friend and forcing all of my friends to read this so we can have a discussion:)
March 12, 2009
A good friend recommended this book when I was going through a hard time. Hard Books don't offer much comfort, but the warmth of the words insie still reside in my heart.
May 6, 2019
My friend K handed me this book. I was pretty sure I'd already read it, but it wasn't listed here, so I figured I should read it again. It's a short book of personal essays, talks, and sketches. Friends and family of the author would enjoy it most. I'm not surprised I'd forgotten this book because there isn't a lot there for me. I'm glad I read it for a few helpful ideas and one powerful essay I needed to read.
So I could remember enough to tell K how I liked it, I took notes by chapter. I will write them here so I can easily refer to them as I talk with my friend. These could be considered spoilers.
1) This one has a humorous tone. I like how she mentions that the purpose of inserting fiction into a story (she wasn't there when the breeder told her husband the dog had an underbite) and nonfiction into fiction is because her job is to "tell a compelling story" using "divine details" which means sometimes it's effective to alter the "truth" of a story. That's helpful advice.
2) She is a "grasshopper," her mother is an "ant." She wants to be useful for her ideas. She identifies more with her grandmother, but also her mother, and knows she a child of God.
3) The author's thoughts about death and dying. She chooses to listen to Jesus Christ.
4) The author's written audition to join a chorus. It's a creative solution and a little funny.
5) Grandmother is senile and embarrassing in front of a boy she likes. "I still love you Oma." Probably meant to be funny and touching, but is a little disturbing to me.
6) Son's mission farewell. Heavenly Father gives good gifts. The atonement of Jesus Christ fills the gaps.
7) This one makes the whole book worth reading. Here are some things I found interesting: "Sometimes living in a family means suffering. The 'perfect' family is an ideal. 68 percent of people who have had children wouldn't have them if they could choose again. Sometimes the perfect model doesn't work. Pretending problems don't exist isolates us from each other. We need to share without fear of judgment or condescension. Sharing gives us the strength to move on." The author wants what God has promised and realizes 1/3 of her spirit children won't share her values but will "follow their own dark, solitary paths." She shares about a time when her son abused her and she wanted to run away. 12 years later and he's a respectable parent. People change. Teenage boys grow up. I needed to read this.
8) A not at all worth reading teenage kissing chapter.
9) America vs. her family heritage of Holland. She wonders why they immigrated. America "feels different" with "optimism, dreams, miracles, and happy endings, diversity, and uninhibited spirit."
10) Teenage dance story. Ends up dancing with dad and feels loved. Meant to be sweet, but...
11) Not letting fear stop you from creativity and other forms of self expression. The story of Icarus flying too close to the sun-- at least he saw the sun weeeee.
12) Personal, pointless letter about her first world problems.
13) The benefit of journal writing, of all writing. Some good, true thoughts here, but nothing new to me.
14) A first person Christmas romance that feels more like a pointless beginning. It's a sketch.
15) Story of a sad, short person, blind-date experience and later how she met and first connected with her future husband Tom. The importance of humor to the author.
So I could remember enough to tell K how I liked it, I took notes by chapter. I will write them here so I can easily refer to them as I talk with my friend. These could be considered spoilers.
1) This one has a humorous tone. I like how she mentions that the purpose of inserting fiction into a story (she wasn't there when the breeder told her husband the dog had an underbite) and nonfiction into fiction is because her job is to "tell a compelling story" using "divine details" which means sometimes it's effective to alter the "truth" of a story. That's helpful advice.
2) She is a "grasshopper," her mother is an "ant." She wants to be useful for her ideas. She identifies more with her grandmother, but also her mother, and knows she a child of God.
3) The author's thoughts about death and dying. She chooses to listen to Jesus Christ.
4) The author's written audition to join a chorus. It's a creative solution and a little funny.
5) Grandmother is senile and embarrassing in front of a boy she likes. "I still love you Oma." Probably meant to be funny and touching, but is a little disturbing to me.
6) Son's mission farewell. Heavenly Father gives good gifts. The atonement of Jesus Christ fills the gaps.
7) This one makes the whole book worth reading. Here are some things I found interesting: "Sometimes living in a family means suffering. The 'perfect' family is an ideal. 68 percent of people who have had children wouldn't have them if they could choose again. Sometimes the perfect model doesn't work. Pretending problems don't exist isolates us from each other. We need to share without fear of judgment or condescension. Sharing gives us the strength to move on." The author wants what God has promised and realizes 1/3 of her spirit children won't share her values but will "follow their own dark, solitary paths." She shares about a time when her son abused her and she wanted to run away. 12 years later and he's a respectable parent. People change. Teenage boys grow up. I needed to read this.
8) A not at all worth reading teenage kissing chapter.
9) America vs. her family heritage of Holland. She wonders why they immigrated. America "feels different" with "optimism, dreams, miracles, and happy endings, diversity, and uninhibited spirit."
10) Teenage dance story. Ends up dancing with dad and feels loved. Meant to be sweet, but...
11) Not letting fear stop you from creativity and other forms of self expression. The story of Icarus flying too close to the sun-- at least he saw the sun weeeee.
12) Personal, pointless letter about her first world problems.
13) The benefit of journal writing, of all writing. Some good, true thoughts here, but nothing new to me.
14) A first person Christmas romance that feels more like a pointless beginning. It's a sketch.
15) Story of a sad, short person, blind-date experience and later how she met and first connected with her future husband Tom. The importance of humor to the author.
January 14, 2024
She has a funny writing voice
May 27, 2008
I have always known that I was a kinship to the grasshopper, laughing and playing enjoying people , loving life. This is a cute little book for those of us who strike up conversations in the elevator and hum while you are driving.
August 19, 2023
I especially liked the chapter on Journal writing. I took photos of the pages and sent them to my writing friends. She talks about her two Dutch grandmas and how she has no recorded words from their own mouths. She writes:
"I wish they had written about themselves. I wish I could hear those two unique voices in their own writings, but I can't. Many of us do not write about ourselves either, because we think our lives are boring. We don't appreciate the fabric of our own life, the details of it, the repetition of it. We don't understand that our experience as ordinary human beings is valuable. We don't understand that just be being alive we are unique. I wish my grandmothers had kept a journal. It is through the journal that we record our uniqueness."
She lists some things she wishes she knew about her grandmothers:
1. What their daily routine was like. What time did they get up and when did they go to bed? Neither woman had a car. Did they shop daily? Did it take all day to do the laundry? How often did they change the sheets on their beds?
2. I would like to know what they ate. Just one week of menus would satisfy me on this score. Did they oliebollen and appelflappen? Did they eat poffertjes? Certainly not granola bars or Frankenberries. And I can cay with certainty that they never called out for pizza.
3. What did they dream? What did they dream when asleep? When awake?
4. What were their wedding days like? Did they love their husbands? Did they stop loving their husbands?
5. What did they think about their own lives, their children, their homes? Were they satisfied with their furniture? With themselves?
I suspect that each grandmother thought her life ordinary, commonplace, and routine. And yet the fabric of their "ordinary" lives was completely different from my own life. . . .
This chapter was the highlight of the book for me. It reminded me a lot of Arthur Henry King's counsel on journal writing. They were probably contemporaries teaching at BYU.
"I wish they had written about themselves. I wish I could hear those two unique voices in their own writings, but I can't. Many of us do not write about ourselves either, because we think our lives are boring. We don't appreciate the fabric of our own life, the details of it, the repetition of it. We don't understand that our experience as ordinary human beings is valuable. We don't understand that just be being alive we are unique. I wish my grandmothers had kept a journal. It is through the journal that we record our uniqueness."
She lists some things she wishes she knew about her grandmothers:
1. What their daily routine was like. What time did they get up and when did they go to bed? Neither woman had a car. Did they shop daily? Did it take all day to do the laundry? How often did they change the sheets on their beds?
2. I would like to know what they ate. Just one week of menus would satisfy me on this score. Did they oliebollen and appelflappen? Did they eat poffertjes? Certainly not granola bars or Frankenberries. And I can cay with certainty that they never called out for pizza.
3. What did they dream? What did they dream when asleep? When awake?
4. What were their wedding days like? Did they love their husbands? Did they stop loving their husbands?
5. What did they think about their own lives, their children, their homes? Were they satisfied with their furniture? With themselves?
I suspect that each grandmother thought her life ordinary, commonplace, and routine. And yet the fabric of their "ordinary" lives was completely different from my own life. . . .
This chapter was the highlight of the book for me. It reminded me a lot of Arthur Henry King's counsel on journal writing. They were probably contemporaries teaching at BYU.
January 10, 2024
Just charmed and smiley as always when I finish this little gem. I love Louise Plummer. I’ve wanted to be like her for over 20 years now. I think I’ll read her Kate Bjorkman book again after this, thanks to that little sneak peek chapter she included.
Louise, if you see this— I was your student back in 2001 and you were a favorite. ❤️
Louise, if you see this— I was your student back in 2001 and you were a favorite. ❤️
September 7, 2022
This book is delightful. The author reminds me of so many of my best friends. Her perspective is fresh.
November 24, 2024
In the mid-1980s, midway through college, I realized that my studies had become soul-crushing. So, to my parents’ chagrin, I changed my major from business/IT to English. The first class I took, in the oldest building on campus, was Intro to Lit—251H, taught by one Louise Plummer. 40 years later, I can still remember Louise’s sparkling personality and impeccable dress. I remember reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time and discovering, to my delight, that I was the same age and had the same first name as its witty protagonist Miss Elizabeth Bennet. And I remember Louise’s excitement when she learned that a story she’d written, The Romantic Obsessions and Humiliations of Annie Sehlmeier, would be published by Dell/Delacorte. Most of all, I remember the overwhelming joy at finding my tribe in her classroom. I went on to take other English courses, transcribe oral histories, tutor in the college writing center, receive an English degree, work briefly in publishing, raise a family, reread P&P many times, and eventually sympathize with “poor” MRS. Bennet as well as her daughter. Until recently, I didn’t know that I was probably in one of Louise’s very first classes or that she was then on the cusp of a successful writing and teaching career. And I was unaware of this funny, encouraging book she published in the 1990s when I was knee-deep in babies. Just like English 251H, it showcases Louise’s wisdom and charm and reminds me that who I was at my core 40 years ago, I still am and will always be: a grasshopper. Hop hop. Thank you, Louise, for making me laugh and validating my thoughts, feelings, and worth.
January 16, 2012
I am a grasshopper more than an ant. Most of my family are ants and that is why they don't understand the decisions I make. This sentence makes sense when read in the context of Aesop's fables of the grasshopper and the ant.
I just finished this book and am conflicted about how to rate it. I really liked the first chapter and the chapter on journal writing. I like her advice to not try and play catch-up on writing, but just to write for five minutes a day or less and just write ideas.
I did think it was great that she finished her degree at 37 and then went to grad school.
However, I found the rest of the chapters pretty trivial and not as interesting. When I finished reading, I thought to myself that she must have left off the important stories. It almost seemed incomplete.
A friend just reminded me that this is a collection of talks that she gave. Perhaps the audiobook version would be better than just reading the different talks.
I just finished this book and am conflicted about how to rate it. I really liked the first chapter and the chapter on journal writing. I like her advice to not try and play catch-up on writing, but just to write for five minutes a day or less and just write ideas.
I did think it was great that she finished her degree at 37 and then went to grad school.
However, I found the rest of the chapters pretty trivial and not as interesting. When I finished reading, I thought to myself that she must have left off the important stories. It almost seemed incomplete.
A friend just reminded me that this is a collection of talks that she gave. Perhaps the audiobook version would be better than just reading the different talks.
May 6, 2009
This is a bunch of essays and short pieces of fiction--I think I've read it before, but I was very young and I wanted to read it again, since some of the non fiction is more for adults. I did really like some of the pieces and then I skipped over the pieces that are for young adults which I read when I was young. There's one about being a grasshopper in a church full of ants and one about dealing with real problems in the church and learning to talk about them and not pretend our lives are perfect (which I have always thought too) that I really enjoyed. Those were my two favorites.
April 1, 2010
I was a little confused because in some of the essays she seemed to refer to herself with different names. Or was she writing them as if she was a different person. All the essays were pretty good and I enjoyed them. But I LOVED the essay about how to write in your journal. LOVED IT. It is an essay that I have been trying to compose in my head for years. So, now I give up because she did it perfectly. If you have ever doubted that you should write in a journal or that you have nothing to write...read this essay. Read it I say! Now!
April 21, 2008
I recently went looking for this book again after reading it a number of years ago. It's out of print but can be readily found on Amazon, etc.
I enjoyed the author's offbeat style that I actually identified with very well. It's kind of like reading a blog of today but with more worthwhile, fable-like lessons. Some of us really are the grasshoppers, and though we don't work as hard as the ants, we have value!!
I enjoyed the author's offbeat style that I actually identified with very well. It's kind of like reading a blog of today but with more worthwhile, fable-like lessons. Some of us really are the grasshoppers, and though we don't work as hard as the ants, we have value!!
March 18, 2008
Kate had me read this--we had listened to part of it as we traveled across country--I am proud to say that I am a grasshopper. I used this when I began a Pursuit of Excellence program with the women of my church--everyone needs to be or know a grasshopper in their lives just to enjoy living to the fullest. A MUST READ
February 21, 2011
Delightful collection of Louise Plummer's thoughts and essays. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorite was her written choral audition. I recommend to anyone looking for a lighter look at different aspects of life. You can read it in short increments and feel like you've accomplished something every time you pick it up.
June 17, 2008
Wonderful collection of the authors essays, articles, book excerpts, maybe even talks she has given. Every chapter is so different--some funny, some inspiring, some jolting. I enjoy Louise Plummer's wit and voice. Anyone could find something to like in this book.
June 24, 2008
Louise Plummer is one of my mentors and former writing teachers. I admire her as a woman and a writer. This is a collection of her personal essays. You will laugh. You will think. And you will laugh some more.
July 3, 2008
I read this book in college, as she was my creative writing professor. She is very funny. This is a quick read and a book that you can easily break up while reading because each chapter is a short memoir of its own.
December 5, 2011
I love Louise Plummer. Her sense of humor is splendid, and I enjoyed her more serious essays as well. This book makes me feel like I could write a book: it's simple and wonderful and full of what makes Louise herself.
April 10, 2012
I didn't like the last two essays, so I think that's why I originally rated the book so low. Because those were the most fresh on my mind. But as time has passed since I finished the book, I find myself thinking about the other essays a lot and smiling.
September 21, 2007
Great intimate glimpse into a "real" person, who I think I'd get along quite well with if we were to meet.
September 19, 2007
It's been a long time since I read this, but I remember liking it~
October 13, 2007
I love this book! A great way to remind me to find the humor in my everyday chaos of 5 kids. Very relatable!
January 22, 2008
Louise Plummer was my professor at BYU. This is her best book, in my opinion.
January 26, 2008
I loved this book! Considered it was written a while ago- her insights were well beyond her time. They still give one to take pause today.
February 27, 2008
A fun book to read that made me smile and feel more at home in my own skin. I liked that she celebrated living life to its fullest, even if it isn't how everyone else is doing it.
April 5, 2008
I loved this book. It is filled with stories about life. The author is funny and down to earth. She teaches life lessons with humor and sweetness. At times I was laughing, and then crying!
April 7, 2008
This is an easy read book, but it has a lot of great insights. Louise's style is light hearted and many things made me laugh out loud!
September 18, 2011
One of my very favorite books. Hilarious, quick witted with wonderful insights.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews