What do you think?
Rate this book
Rally Round The Flag Boys!
Corporal Dalrymple:
Advice to the men before major social combat.
"Hear me good. Put on your newest, spankin'est uniform, shine shoes and buttons, put a pretty little knot in your necktie. Look sharp That's half the secret. The other haof is to ack mis'able. Ain't nothin' attracks a gal like ackin' mis'able. Tell her you're lonesome for the gal back home, so she knows she ain't scratching' after a prize nobody wants. Then tell her you can't stay sad long around her, and begin gettin' frisky and sparklin'. If that don't get her, she ain't worth havin'. Stay Loose. Remember--Man proposes, God disposes."
And with these words of wisdom--the U. S. Army almost succeeds in moving Putnam's Landing halfway across Long Island Sound.
Advice to the men before major social combat.
"Hear me good. Put on your newest, spankin'est uniform, shine shoes and buttons, put a pretty little knot in your necktie. Look sharp That's half the secret. The other haof is to ack mis'able. Ain't nothin' attracks a gal like ackin' mis'able. Tell her you're lonesome for the gal back home, so she knows she ain't scratching' after a prize nobody wants. Then tell her you can't stay sad long around her, and begin gettin' frisky and sparklin'. If that don't get her, she ain't worth havin'. Stay Loose. Remember--Man proposes, God disposes."
And with these words of wisdom--the U. S. Army almost succeeds in moving Putnam's Landing halfway across Long Island Sound.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1954
62 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
September 8, 2017
Rating: 3.5* of five
This was one of the funniest experiences I ever had reading a book. My mother was a big Max Shulman fan from the moment she fell for his book Barefoot Boy with Cheek. She bought every one of his books from that point on, so we had them around the house. I liked the jackets, they looked wacky and fun. I didn't think much of the books as books because they weren't particularly inviting to a kid...a story about old people (!) being married and having problems and blahblahblah wasn't enough like my own world but too much like my family to call to me.
Then I saw the movie starring Paul Newman. Before home video was available on every streetcorner in Murrika via Blockbuster and every, but EVERY, home had a VCR (snazzy people had Betamaxes), the only way to see foreign/obscure/old movies was to date boys from the local film school. (There might have been other ways but they didn't interest me as much as college boys did so I remained unaware of them.) Offered the proper incentives, the aforementioned boys would sneak a friend into the occasional class viewing of something good. They'd take suggestions for themed film days. And they'd show all these marvies at the readily-accessible-by-city-bus campus of the university!
One of the themes I'd suggested to the film student of the moment was Cold War Comedies. He liked that idea for its spurious veneer of sociological inquiry and its actual purpose of giving us hours of campy hoots at the outfits, hairdos, and coded homoeroticism of Hollyweird in the 1950s and middle 1960s. He included this film in the fest, and there was Paul Newman being Paul Newman and what's not to love about that? I mentioned my mother had the novel, was dispatched forthwith to return with it, and we spent a few lovely afternoons reading it to each other while chuckling. (That particular lad was the reason I spent most of my sophomore year of high school absent...there was sex to be had, laughs to be laughed, drinks to be drunk! It's a wonder I wasn't caught.)
The adventures of Harry Bannerman as he "grows up" to be what his formidable wife Grace desires for him to be (a really, really boring middle-aged Husband) were fun to read:
Pretty Young Thing and I laughed ourselves into hiccups at this, and swore we'd never fall into this trap, or the gay version thereof; I didn't and he, sadly, drank himself to death at 36.
His brush with infidelity with Angela Hoffa made Harry more appealing to me. At least he wasn't completely neutered by the experience of being married to the masterful, nay overbearing, Blondezilla that is Grace. Joanne Woodward was pitch-perfect in this role. Her Grace is the All-American Wife and Mother. It wasn't unclear to me even then that Grace was intended to be an archetype, and Woodward used the material to create a stereotype in a satirical vein. The performance was excellent, I suppose. It cemented my determination to avoid at all costs a life of heterosexual bliss.
On the page, however, Angela was more vibrant and alive than on the screen. She was a desperate woman in search of love and connection, things her husband would never understand still less offer. The way her radar brought her to Harry, nebbishy but still able to dream and therefore feel, was sexism at its most unrepentant. Women exist only through men and Angela needs a man so she takes someone else's just to score more points on the Woman Scale. Gross. But also relatable, more so than Grace's iron-jawed determination to manipulate and mold Harry into A Man. Angela's motivation for stealing Harry from Grace has layers. Grace isn't given layers. She isn't given to thinking about layers, either.
So why think about this experience so many years later? Sophomore year was 42 years ago. Pretty Young Thing's been dead since 1986. I ran across Melki's review again today is why, and got a hankerin' to rewatch the film. It, and the book, are strictly for us older folks. They are of their time, their assumptions and worldview eerily similar to today's funhouse mirror of the USA I thought I lived in, but in the ways that no one really wants to look at any too closely.
This was one of the funniest experiences I ever had reading a book. My mother was a big Max Shulman fan from the moment she fell for his book Barefoot Boy with Cheek. She bought every one of his books from that point on, so we had them around the house. I liked the jackets, they looked wacky and fun. I didn't think much of the books as books because they weren't particularly inviting to a kid...a story about old people (!) being married and having problems and blahblahblah wasn't enough like my own world but too much like my family to call to me.
Then I saw the movie starring Paul Newman. Before home video was available on every streetcorner in Murrika via Blockbuster and every, but EVERY, home had a VCR (snazzy people had Betamaxes), the only way to see foreign/obscure/old movies was to date boys from the local film school. (There might have been other ways but they didn't interest me as much as college boys did so I remained unaware of them.) Offered the proper incentives, the aforementioned boys would sneak a friend into the occasional class viewing of something good. They'd take suggestions for themed film days. And they'd show all these marvies at the readily-accessible-by-city-bus campus of the university!
One of the themes I'd suggested to the film student of the moment was Cold War Comedies. He liked that idea for its spurious veneer of sociological inquiry and its actual purpose of giving us hours of campy hoots at the outfits, hairdos, and coded homoeroticism of Hollyweird in the 1950s and middle 1960s. He included this film in the fest, and there was Paul Newman being Paul Newman and what's not to love about that? I mentioned my mother had the novel, was dispatched forthwith to return with it, and we spent a few lovely afternoons reading it to each other while chuckling. (That particular lad was the reason I spent most of my sophomore year of high school absent...there was sex to be had, laughs to be laughed, drinks to be drunk! It's a wonder I wasn't caught.)
The adventures of Harry Bannerman as he "grows up" to be what his formidable wife Grace desires for him to be (a really, really boring middle-aged Husband) were fun to read:
If it wasn’t a meeting, a caucus, a rally, or a lecture, then it was a quiet evening at home licking envelopes. Or else it was a party where you ate cubes of cheese on toothpicks and talked about plywood, mortgages, mulches, and children. Or it was amateur theatricals. Or ringing doorbells for worthy causes. Or umpiring Little League games. Or setting tulip bulbs. Or sticking decals on cribs. Or trimming hedges. Or reading Dr. Spock. Or barbecuing hamburgers. Or increasing your life insurance. Or doing anything in the whole wide world except sitting on a pouf with a soft and loving girl and listening to Rodgers and Hart.
Pretty Young Thing and I laughed ourselves into hiccups at this, and swore we'd never fall into this trap, or the gay version thereof; I didn't and he, sadly, drank himself to death at 36.
His brush with infidelity with Angela Hoffa made Harry more appealing to me. At least he wasn't completely neutered by the experience of being married to the masterful, nay overbearing, Blondezilla that is Grace. Joanne Woodward was pitch-perfect in this role. Her Grace is the All-American Wife and Mother. It wasn't unclear to me even then that Grace was intended to be an archetype, and Woodward used the material to create a stereotype in a satirical vein. The performance was excellent, I suppose. It cemented my determination to avoid at all costs a life of heterosexual bliss.
On the page, however, Angela was more vibrant and alive than on the screen. She was a desperate woman in search of love and connection, things her husband would never understand still less offer. The way her radar brought her to Harry, nebbishy but still able to dream and therefore feel, was sexism at its most unrepentant. Women exist only through men and Angela needs a man so she takes someone else's just to score more points on the Woman Scale. Gross. But also relatable, more so than Grace's iron-jawed determination to manipulate and mold Harry into A Man. Angela's motivation for stealing Harry from Grace has layers. Grace isn't given layers. She isn't given to thinking about layers, either.
So why think about this experience so many years later? Sophomore year was 42 years ago. Pretty Young Thing's been dead since 1986. I ran across Melki's review again today is why, and got a hankerin' to rewatch the film. It, and the book, are strictly for us older folks. They are of their time, their assumptions and worldview eerily similar to today's funhouse mirror of the USA I thought I lived in, but in the ways that no one really wants to look at any too closely.
July 4, 2022
Happy Fourth of July!
January 16, 2013
Poor Harry Bannerman...
He commutes every weekday to the big city from Putnam's Landing, a quaint Connecticut suburb, and returns every evening to his wife and three sons. He leads an incredibly overscheduled life, and he'd like nothing more than some time alone with his wife Grace. She is a civic-minded community activist who is far too mired in meetings and blood drives to have much time for Harry.
Enter Angela, a bored and lonely housewife. She's just waiting for a morsel like Harry to blunder into her web.
As if all this domestic drama weren't enough, here comes the Army with a plan to build a Nike guided missile base on some prime real estate in Putnam's Landing. Of course, this plan goes over like a lead balloon with the townsfolk, and it's up to the hapless Guido di Maggio to change public opinion while at the same time, trying to win back his estranged sweetheart.
This book is loads of fun and an enjoyable bit of silliness, and though it never quite reaches the heights of "town-gone-entirely-NUTSO!" that I was hoping for, there is some delightful mayhem at the Independence Day celebration that will not soon be forgotten.
An epilogue ties up all the storylines nicely. Everyone gets what they deserve, except for maybe poor Harry Bannerman.
I'm almost tempted to tack on an extra star just for the fact that there is a character named Comfort Goodpasture. You gotta love that!
He commutes every weekday to the big city from Putnam's Landing, a quaint Connecticut suburb, and returns every evening to his wife and three sons. He leads an incredibly overscheduled life, and he'd like nothing more than some time alone with his wife Grace. She is a civic-minded community activist who is far too mired in meetings and blood drives to have much time for Harry.
Enter Angela, a bored and lonely housewife. She's just waiting for a morsel like Harry to blunder into her web.
As if all this domestic drama weren't enough, here comes the Army with a plan to build a Nike guided missile base on some prime real estate in Putnam's Landing. Of course, this plan goes over like a lead balloon with the townsfolk, and it's up to the hapless Guido di Maggio to change public opinion while at the same time, trying to win back his estranged sweetheart.
This book is loads of fun and an enjoyable bit of silliness, and though it never quite reaches the heights of "town-gone-entirely-NUTSO!" that I was hoping for, there is some delightful mayhem at the Independence Day celebration that will not soon be forgotten.
An epilogue ties up all the storylines nicely. Everyone gets what they deserve, except for maybe poor Harry Bannerman.
I'm almost tempted to tack on an extra star just for the fact that there is a character named Comfort Goodpasture. You gotta love that!
September 4, 2013
No one reads Max Shulman books anymore. The loss is theirs. This is one of his best and still cracks me up.
August 5, 2010
The #4 bestseller of 1957 is a piece of fluff about life in the suburbs circa the mid 50s. This is a common theme in books from that decade and is usually handled with wit when it is not a psychological study of dysfunction. Shulman's is heavy on the humor.
Harry Bannerman works in New York City but lives in a small Connecticut community with his wife, three children, two mortgages and his feeling that romance and excitement are behind him. He loves his wife passionately but she is community-minded and thinks he should grow up.
In a totally 50s moment, the U S Army installs a Nike missile base on the edge of town. Then the disgruntled wife of a TV exec makes a play for Harry. In addition, there is the young public school teacher who brings psychological analysis to her students.
Shulman is a fairly good writer and keeps the pace moving. The "slice of life" genre has been around since those early French novelists and I am sure will go on. Humor is the icing.
December 8, 2015
This book is part of my personal challenge to read the top ten bestselling books from 1957. This was the fourth bestselling book for that year. This book is smoothly written and easy to read. I found it to be an engaging and humorous read.
January 27, 2018
Siamo negli Stati uniti d'America negli anni 50/60. La vicenda si svolge a Putman's landing, una cittadina non lontana da New York con tutte le tipicità e gli stereotipi dell'immaginario collettivo sull'americano medio. Villettine con mogliettine e due o tre figlioletti che si occupano di ogni possibile attività civica nella cittadina, mariti che fanno la spola tra New York dove lavorano e la loro casettina (soprannominati appunto gli "spolini"), in un treno che ha anche il tipico vagone bar dove i mariti si ubriacano (o quasi) prima di arrivare in città. Ma arriva un fulmine a ciel sereno: l'esercito degli stati uniti ha deciso che lì, proprio lì, verrà impiantata una grandissima base missilistica. E da qui parte un simpatico romanzo che ci racconta umoristicamente la vita nei sobborghi di una grande città. Di come un mondo apparentemente perfetto nasconda mille piccole cattiverie e insidie per chiunque ci abiti; ne sa qualcosa Harry Bannerman che viene "circuito", povero uomo, dalla femme fatale del quartieri. Un insieme di sorrisi con questo libro, leggerissimo e simpatico. Da questo film è stato tratto il film omonimo con degli interpreti eccellenti (che ho visto una vita fa, ma che ho immaginato benissimo rileggendo il libro): Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward e Joan Collins.
June 12, 2025
I’m always going to give a Max Shulman book five stars because he always gives you what you expect. Whether it is this book of a Connecticut town thrown for a loop when the army decides it has to put a missile site smack dang in the middle of it or it’s the love adventures of Dobie Gillis, you’re going to get a Max Shulman book.
Some of the reviews from readers I’m reading on this app go on and on about what the book is not. Like Shulman was writing for people in the 21st century. If you like television shows like Andy Griffith, Petticoat Junction, Dick Van Dyke, et. al, you are going to like this book and if not laugh outright, you will read this book and smile and reminisce of the old times.
Some of the reviews from readers I’m reading on this app go on and on about what the book is not. Like Shulman was writing for people in the 21st century. If you like television shows like Andy Griffith, Petticoat Junction, Dick Van Dyke, et. al, you are going to like this book and if not laugh outright, you will read this book and smile and reminisce of the old times.
August 24, 2017
Dated, but very well written and incredibly entertaining.
August 9, 2017
uno dei pilastri dell'umorismo nella mia famiglia. divertentissimo.
May 31, 2015
A lighthearted alternative to Mad Men (though equally sexist), this book looks mostly at what life in a Connecticut bedroom community might have looked like in the 1950s. And then the army wants in. The most important thing I can say in relation to this book is that I'm so happy I have life options beyond ensnaring (and trying to keep) a man. But it was fun to read and to wonder if that time was really as simplified as the book.
January 9, 2013
Although dated, I loved this book. I also used it as inspiration because Max comes from my town of Westport. I set my book in his fictional town of Putnam's Landing because we both used Westport as the setting. The movie starred Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
March 3, 2016
This is a very entertaining satire of emerging suburban life in the 1950's. While its set in Connecticut, I have no doubt the author could have found similar dynamics in suburbs around Los Angeles, or Chicago.
Read
October 25, 2010I liked Shulman's comic style. He made interesting a sort of people who are inherently boring.
April 3, 2016
I don't know how long ago I first read this , but it held up nicely. Simply put, it's a fun silly book about suburbia and the US Army
July 18, 2016
This was fun for one who remembers something of those days, or in my case, at least close. (I was 2 then.)
January 10, 2017
The perfect book to end the year on. Shulman never fails to make me smile. From Dobie Gillis to this, he's always spot on.
June 29, 2023
The unexpected complications of life in Smalltown, USA.
As Gaul was divided into three parts, Putnam's Landing, Connecticut is divided into three social classes. First are the Yankees - descendants of original settlers and still (in their own minds) the shield bearers of decency and tradition. Isaac Goodpasture (editor of the local newspaper) is serenely confident in his ability to control rebellions from the lower classes. He's less confident in his ability to control his voluptuous daughter, who's ready to ditch Elvis and chew her way through a couple of REAL boys.
The Italians came as laborers and stayed to start small businesses and sire huge families. Handsome Guido di Maggio has made HIS family proud by graduating from college. Now he's an Army officer, in love with a headstrong young school teacher, and trying desperately NOT to get shipped out to Alaska.
Finally, the NYC commuters have invaded, looking for fresh air and cheaper housing. Harry Bannerman returns daily to his pretty wife Grace and his well-behaved children. Although in love with his wife and fond of his kids, he finds his life unsatisfactory. If only Grace would skip a couple of committee meetings in favor a night or two of marital passion.
The Yankees' God-given responsibility is to make sure public money isn't frittered away on better schools, smooth roads, or an adequate sewage system. The commuters unreasonably demand a say in the local government they support and warfare is constant and bloody. The Italians are thrifty immigrants and generally side with the Yankees, although they enjoy the lively in-fighting much more than any Yankee will admit to enjoying anything.
Then the U.S. Army makes an announcement that temporarily unites the three enemy camps. The Cold War is at its iciest and Putnam's Landing is the site of a base for Nike guided missiles and the men who know how to fire them. Everyone agrees that's bringing the defense of the Free World WAY too close for comfort, but how to explain that without sounding unpatriotic?
Vigorous protests are launched, but the Army comes, sees, and conquers. The only happy Putnam's Lander is Guido, who's serving as PR director for the post, near his family and his beloved girlfriend. Everyone else is uneasy, except for the base C.O., who's mad as hell about having to deal with a bunch of civilians. Why him, God?
Comfort Goodpasture has a couple of local teens on the string, but those Army boys look mighty sharp in their uniforms. Meanwhile, Harry has fallen into the clutches of a grass widow named Angela Hoffman, who's ditched her last husband and needs a new one. Grace is busy with community activism and Harry is low-hanging fruit. Love and lots of hostility is in the air.
I bought this book out of curiosity. Shulman was a popular humor writer in the years before and after WWII. This one was a best-seller when it appeared in 1958 with its shrewd, irreverant look at that great American institution, life in the suburbs. It was made into a successful movie starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, with Joan Collins playing the vampy Angela. If America was white-bread and boring in the 1950's, at least she was willing to laugh at herself.
It starts so slowly that I was regretting my purchase, but it's worth sticking it out. Gradually, I was drawn into the story of a group of people who have nothing in common except an address. Some are there voluntarily and some because the Army shipped them there. All are caught up in a situation that none of them can completely comprehend. Watching them act out their small parts, while the inevitable disaster develops is entertaining.
The climax is hilarious. It's dated, but there are worse ways to learn about social history than reading a book with some sly humor in it, culminating in a fine, old brawl where everyone gets a few licks in. Not tempted to read more by this author, but I'm glad it read this one.
As Gaul was divided into three parts, Putnam's Landing, Connecticut is divided into three social classes. First are the Yankees - descendants of original settlers and still (in their own minds) the shield bearers of decency and tradition. Isaac Goodpasture (editor of the local newspaper) is serenely confident in his ability to control rebellions from the lower classes. He's less confident in his ability to control his voluptuous daughter, who's ready to ditch Elvis and chew her way through a couple of REAL boys.
The Italians came as laborers and stayed to start small businesses and sire huge families. Handsome Guido di Maggio has made HIS family proud by graduating from college. Now he's an Army officer, in love with a headstrong young school teacher, and trying desperately NOT to get shipped out to Alaska.
Finally, the NYC commuters have invaded, looking for fresh air and cheaper housing. Harry Bannerman returns daily to his pretty wife Grace and his well-behaved children. Although in love with his wife and fond of his kids, he finds his life unsatisfactory. If only Grace would skip a couple of committee meetings in favor a night or two of marital passion.
The Yankees' God-given responsibility is to make sure public money isn't frittered away on better schools, smooth roads, or an adequate sewage system. The commuters unreasonably demand a say in the local government they support and warfare is constant and bloody. The Italians are thrifty immigrants and generally side with the Yankees, although they enjoy the lively in-fighting much more than any Yankee will admit to enjoying anything.
Then the U.S. Army makes an announcement that temporarily unites the three enemy camps. The Cold War is at its iciest and Putnam's Landing is the site of a base for Nike guided missiles and the men who know how to fire them. Everyone agrees that's bringing the defense of the Free World WAY too close for comfort, but how to explain that without sounding unpatriotic?
Vigorous protests are launched, but the Army comes, sees, and conquers. The only happy Putnam's Lander is Guido, who's serving as PR director for the post, near his family and his beloved girlfriend. Everyone else is uneasy, except for the base C.O., who's mad as hell about having to deal with a bunch of civilians. Why him, God?
Comfort Goodpasture has a couple of local teens on the string, but those Army boys look mighty sharp in their uniforms. Meanwhile, Harry has fallen into the clutches of a grass widow named Angela Hoffman, who's ditched her last husband and needs a new one. Grace is busy with community activism and Harry is low-hanging fruit. Love and lots of hostility is in the air.
I bought this book out of curiosity. Shulman was a popular humor writer in the years before and after WWII. This one was a best-seller when it appeared in 1958 with its shrewd, irreverant look at that great American institution, life in the suburbs. It was made into a successful movie starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, with Joan Collins playing the vampy Angela. If America was white-bread and boring in the 1950's, at least she was willing to laugh at herself.
It starts so slowly that I was regretting my purchase, but it's worth sticking it out. Gradually, I was drawn into the story of a group of people who have nothing in common except an address. Some are there voluntarily and some because the Army shipped them there. All are caught up in a situation that none of them can completely comprehend. Watching them act out their small parts, while the inevitable disaster develops is entertaining.
The climax is hilarious. It's dated, but there are worse ways to learn about social history than reading a book with some sly humor in it, culminating in a fine, old brawl where everyone gets a few licks in. Not tempted to read more by this author, but I'm glad it read this one.
August 4, 2024
A somewhat lower-rent version of "Reuben, Reuben," if you can say that about a book that preceded Peter De Vries' Great American Novel by almost 10 years. They're both comedies set in Fairfield County, Conn., post-World War 2, as towns inhabited for three centuries by swamp Yankees, having absorbed a wave of working-class Italians in the early 20th century, were transformed yet again by an exotic new group, which arrived via commuter train from NYC. I think the youth of today would call them gentrifiers, and possibly settler colonialists.
De Vries' slapstick is mixed with brilliant writing and subtle insights into how the three groups got along, or didn't. Shulman, on the other hand, is out for laffs. His farce was based on a true story -- the creation of small anti-aircraft missile bases ringing major cities around the country, and specifically one in Westport, designed to protect the arms factories down the road in Bridgeport from Soviet bombers. This brings a fourth group into the mix, the military, along with the old Puritan ruling class, tradesmen, and commuters (tired, heavy-drinking husbands, and wives who, needing acceptable outlets for their energy, lose themselves in a storm of civic improvement committees and artistic endeavors).
A lot more plot here than in Shulman's "The Zebra Derby," and less pure silliness, but he hasn't lost his touch entirely. I was quite taken by the conversation in which a man who's never heard the word before is informed that his wife will be staffing the local Bloodmobile; a list of '50s-style folk tunes including "Daughter's Gone to Dallas, a Car-Hop for to Be"; and a foul-tempered TV network boss forced to have a meeting with six ad agency executives, all of them apparently named Dub Hotchkiss.
De Vries' slapstick is mixed with brilliant writing and subtle insights into how the three groups got along, or didn't. Shulman, on the other hand, is out for laffs. His farce was based on a true story -- the creation of small anti-aircraft missile bases ringing major cities around the country, and specifically one in Westport, designed to protect the arms factories down the road in Bridgeport from Soviet bombers. This brings a fourth group into the mix, the military, along with the old Puritan ruling class, tradesmen, and commuters (tired, heavy-drinking husbands, and wives who, needing acceptable outlets for their energy, lose themselves in a storm of civic improvement committees and artistic endeavors).
A lot more plot here than in Shulman's "The Zebra Derby," and less pure silliness, but he hasn't lost his touch entirely. I was quite taken by the conversation in which a man who's never heard the word before is informed that his wife will be staffing the local Bloodmobile; a list of '50s-style folk tunes including "Daughter's Gone to Dallas, a Car-Hop for to Be"; and a foul-tempered TV network boss forced to have a meeting with six ad agency executives, all of them apparently named Dub Hotchkiss.
October 16, 2024
A classic (from 1950's) comedy novel. Probably a little risqué for its time, but tame by modern standards. Full of cliches and stereotypes, but nothing vicious. It has a lot of good comedic/humorous tidbits, making it an enjoyable read. If you are looking for a light, quick, fun read, this will hit the spot.
I listened to the audio version of this book. The narration was not by a typical narrator (at least that I am familiar with), but it fit this book perfectly! Extremely easy to listen to.
I listened to the audio version of this book. The narration was not by a typical narrator (at least that I am familiar with), but it fit this book perfectly! Extremely easy to listen to.
August 3, 2022
I’m guessing you would have to be about 70 to really appreciate this book for what it is—a spot-on satire of East Coast suburban life in the 50s. If it reads like a screenplay, probably that’s because Max Shulman was…a screenwriter, and indeed, a movie was made of this book starting Paul Newman and JoAnne Woodward. If it were written today, it would of course be a much different book, but it’s an excellent representative of the era it comes from.
November 1, 2025
70 years old and just as relevant today, evidence by a few plot points:
NIMBY attitudes toward Military bases
Overeducated AWFLs trying to give 2nd graders sex ed
Bored housewives devoting themselves to social committees while ignoring their own family
Shadowy machinations to control local government
Read and see how times have (NOT) changed
NIMBY attitudes toward Military bases
Overeducated AWFLs trying to give 2nd graders sex ed
Bored housewives devoting themselves to social committees while ignoring their own family
Shadowy machinations to control local government
Read and see how times have (NOT) changed
April 6, 2019
This is a fun 1950's Cold War novel about small town New England. It reads like a 1950's comedy movie. The characters are fun. The language is quintessential 1950's, and I just enjoyed this book a whole lot. If you are looking for a quick, fun, stress-free read, I recommend.
March 18, 2018
I read this about 50 years ago.
June 15, 2018
This was just too much fun. Brought back a lot of fun memories.
February 27, 2019
Good fun
January 27, 2023
Retro Mad men
Old book with great plot dated but current in its own way! Very fun well written tale. You'll love it.
Old book with great plot dated but current in its own way! Very fun well written tale. You'll love it.
March 28, 2025
Take Cheever's Connecticut of the 1950s and make it funny. Challenge accomplished.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews