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Betty MacDonald Memoirs #3
Anybody Can Do Anything
“The best thing about the Depression was the way it reunited our family and gave my sister Mary a real opportunity to prove that anybody can do anything, especially Betty.”
After surviving both the failed chicken farm - and marriage - immortalized in The Egg and I, Betty MacDonald returns to live with her mother and desperately searches to find a job to support her two young daughters. With the help of her older sister Mary, Anybody Can Do Anything recounts her failed, and often hilarious, attempts to find work during the Great Depression.
After surviving both the failed chicken farm - and marriage - immortalized in The Egg and I, Betty MacDonald returns to live with her mother and desperately searches to find a job to support her two young daughters. With the help of her older sister Mary, Anybody Can Do Anything recounts her failed, and often hilarious, attempts to find work during the Great Depression.
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1945
105 people are currently reading
1222 people want to read
About the author
Betty MacDonald
60 books321 followersMacDonald was born Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard in Boulder, Colorado. Her official birth date is given as March 26, 1908, although federal census returns seem to indicate 1907.
Her family moved to the north slope of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1918, moving to the Laurelhurst neighborhood a year later and finally settling in the Roosevelt neighborhood in 1922, where she graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1924.
MacDonald married Robert Eugene Heskett (1895–1951) at age 20 in July 1927; they lived on a chicken farm in the Olympic Peninsula's Chimacum Valley, near Center and a few miles south of Port Townsend. She left Heskett in 1931 and returned to Seattle, where she worked at a variety of jobs to support their daughters Anne and Joan; after the divorce the ex-spouses had virtually no contact.
She spent nine months at Firland Sanatorium near Seattle in 1937–1938 for treatment of tuberculosis. On April 24, 1942 she married Donald C. MacDonald (1910–1975) and moved to Vashon Island, where she wrote most of her books. The MacDonalds moved to California's Carmel Valley in 1956.
MacDonald rose to fame when her first book, The Egg and I, was published in 1945. It was a bestseller and was translated into 20 languages. Based on her life on the Chimacum Valley chicken farm, the books introduced the characters Ma and Pa Kettle, who also were featured in the movie version of The Egg and I. The characters become so popular a series of nine more films were made featuring them. In the film of The Egg and I, made in 1947, MacDonald was played by Claudette Colbert. Her husband (simply called "Bob" in the book) was called "Bob MacDonald" in the film, as studio executives were keen not to raise the matter of MacDonald's divorce in the public consciousness. He was played by Fred MacMurray.
Although the book was a critical and popular success at publication, in the 1970s it was criticized for its stereotypical treatment of Native Americans. It had also been claimed that it "spawned a perception of Washington as a land of eccentric country bumpkins like Ma and Pa Kettle."
MacDonald's defenders point out that in the context of the 1940s such stereotyping was far more acceptable. MacDonald faced two lawsuits: by members of a family who claimed she had based the Kettles on them, and by a man who claimed he was the model for the Indian character Crowbar. One lawsuit was settled out of court, while the second went to trial in February 1951. The plaintiffs did not prevail, although the judge indicated he felt they had shown that some of the claims of defamation had merit.
MacDonald also published three other semi-autobiographical books: Anybody Can Do Anything, recounting her life in the Depression trying to find work; The Plague and I, describing her nine-month stay at the Firlands tuberculosis sanitarium; and Onions in the Stew, about her life on Vashon Island with her second husband and daughters during the war years. She also wrote the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series of children's books and another children's book, entitled Nancy and Plum. A posthumous collection of her writings, entitled Who Me?, was later released.[citation needed]
MacDonald died in Seattle of uterine cancer on February 7, 1958
Her family moved to the north slope of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1918, moving to the Laurelhurst neighborhood a year later and finally settling in the Roosevelt neighborhood in 1922, where she graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1924.
MacDonald married Robert Eugene Heskett (1895–1951) at age 20 in July 1927; they lived on a chicken farm in the Olympic Peninsula's Chimacum Valley, near Center and a few miles south of Port Townsend. She left Heskett in 1931 and returned to Seattle, where she worked at a variety of jobs to support their daughters Anne and Joan; after the divorce the ex-spouses had virtually no contact.
She spent nine months at Firland Sanatorium near Seattle in 1937–1938 for treatment of tuberculosis. On April 24, 1942 she married Donald C. MacDonald (1910–1975) and moved to Vashon Island, where she wrote most of her books. The MacDonalds moved to California's Carmel Valley in 1956.
MacDonald rose to fame when her first book, The Egg and I, was published in 1945. It was a bestseller and was translated into 20 languages. Based on her life on the Chimacum Valley chicken farm, the books introduced the characters Ma and Pa Kettle, who also were featured in the movie version of The Egg and I. The characters become so popular a series of nine more films were made featuring them. In the film of The Egg and I, made in 1947, MacDonald was played by Claudette Colbert. Her husband (simply called "Bob" in the book) was called "Bob MacDonald" in the film, as studio executives were keen not to raise the matter of MacDonald's divorce in the public consciousness. He was played by Fred MacMurray.
Although the book was a critical and popular success at publication, in the 1970s it was criticized for its stereotypical treatment of Native Americans. It had also been claimed that it "spawned a perception of Washington as a land of eccentric country bumpkins like Ma and Pa Kettle."
MacDonald's defenders point out that in the context of the 1940s such stereotyping was far more acceptable. MacDonald faced two lawsuits: by members of a family who claimed she had based the Kettles on them, and by a man who claimed he was the model for the Indian character Crowbar. One lawsuit was settled out of court, while the second went to trial in February 1951. The plaintiffs did not prevail, although the judge indicated he felt they had shown that some of the claims of defamation had merit.
MacDonald also published three other semi-autobiographical books: Anybody Can Do Anything, recounting her life in the Depression trying to find work; The Plague and I, describing her nine-month stay at the Firlands tuberculosis sanitarium; and Onions in the Stew, about her life on Vashon Island with her second husband and daughters during the war years. She also wrote the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series of children's books and another children's book, entitled Nancy and Plum. A posthumous collection of her writings, entitled Who Me?, was later released.[citation needed]
MacDonald died in Seattle of uterine cancer on February 7, 1958
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
September 16, 2020
This was a fun, light-hearted memoir by the author of The Egg and I about moving home to Seattle after her marriage to the chicken farmer ended. She and her two young daughters went to live with her mother and 4 siblings, and we are treated to a humorous account of trying to find work in the middle of the depression. I could especially relate to her joy in opening charge accounts, then her horror when she couldn't pay her bills. And of course, the "loan company" who helped her out, resorting to tough tactics that were even more horrifying. I was once in my 20's with the same experience, even though it was the 70's, not the depression. I enjoyed reading this at bedtime and relaxing with a few chuckles.
January 9, 2011
Not only do I love this book, but I love my copy of this book. It was published by The Book Club at 121 Charing Cross Road, London W.C2 in 1951 and was the property of the Garrowhill Post Office Library in Scotland. (Thank you paperbackswap!)
This covers the period in Betty MacDonald’s life that falls between The Egg and I and The Plague and I, and takes place during the 1930s. It’s funny like all of MacDonald’s books, and also very cozy. Leaving behind her husband and her lonely life on an isolated dreary chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula, Betty is thrilled to be bringing her two daughters home to Seattle where she will move back in with her mother, three sisters and a brother. Theirs is a somewhat quirky, warm, and supportive family headed by Mother, who “with one folding chair and a plumber’s candle, could make the North Pole homey.”
Most of the book chronicles Betty's succession of clerical jobs, none of which she is qualified for and all found by her older sister Mary whose slogan downtown is “Just show me the job and I’ll produce a sister to do it.” Mary dismisses the fact that none of her sisters know typing or shorthand, since what employers are really looking for are secretaries who “act like executives.” Mary manages to get the family through the depression (she even decides that their mother is the perfect person to write a daily radio show) and was largely instrumental in getting Betty to write The Egg and I.
This was warm, funny and charming. Now I want to track down the books written by Mary.
This covers the period in Betty MacDonald’s life that falls between The Egg and I and The Plague and I, and takes place during the 1930s. It’s funny like all of MacDonald’s books, and also very cozy. Leaving behind her husband and her lonely life on an isolated dreary chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula, Betty is thrilled to be bringing her two daughters home to Seattle where she will move back in with her mother, three sisters and a brother. Theirs is a somewhat quirky, warm, and supportive family headed by Mother, who “with one folding chair and a plumber’s candle, could make the North Pole homey.”
Most of the book chronicles Betty's succession of clerical jobs, none of which she is qualified for and all found by her older sister Mary whose slogan downtown is “Just show me the job and I’ll produce a sister to do it.” Mary dismisses the fact that none of her sisters know typing or shorthand, since what employers are really looking for are secretaries who “act like executives.” Mary manages to get the family through the depression (she even decides that their mother is the perfect person to write a daily radio show) and was largely instrumental in getting Betty to write The Egg and I.
This was warm, funny and charming. Now I want to track down the books written by Mary.
January 22, 2016
Of all Betty MacDonald's comic memoirs, Anybody Can Do Anything is perhaps the most unfocused. The book takes on the years after those chronicled in The Egg and I, as MacDonald fled that unhappy marriage to make a life for herself in the bosom of her family with two young daughters in tow. It focuses primarily on the primal force of Mary Bard, MacDonald's older sister, whose can-do moxie propelled MacDonald into unsuitable job after job. It's tough not to be a touch cynical about the book's concluding chapters, which read very much like promotional material for her older sister's first memoir that came out roughly at the same time, and from the same publisher.
Still, though the material's somewhat scattershot, Anybody Can Do Anything is an engaging delight. MacDonald skillfully weaves personal memoir and hilarious anecdotes with sharp-eyed observations about nineteen-thirties Seattle and the insidious reach of the Depression. Frequently reflective and even melancholy—but never mopey—it's just as much a treasure as MacDonald's other adult works.
Still, though the material's somewhat scattershot, Anybody Can Do Anything is an engaging delight. MacDonald skillfully weaves personal memoir and hilarious anecdotes with sharp-eyed observations about nineteen-thirties Seattle and the insidious reach of the Depression. Frequently reflective and even melancholy—but never mopey—it's just as much a treasure as MacDonald's other adult works.
August 1, 2024
These memoirs are so enjoyable. I’m so glad Betty’s sister Mary talked her into being a writer. I’ve enjoyed all of the 7 books I’ve read of hers. Two more books to enjoy.
April 5, 2017
3.5 stars
I grew up with The Egg and I - MacDonald's first venture into humorous memoir, and her most beloved and well-known book. This one does not have the tightness of structure, or the beautifully well-rounded anecdotes, or even the same level of humour, but it still is well-worth reading. MacDonald has a wonderfully clear and vivid writing style, and her material - the experience of being a single mother in the 1930s - was full of interest for this reader. After her divorce from the chicken farmer, MacDonald moved back into her family home in Seattle. Bursting at the seams with family members, friends and the various small-time vendors the family seems to be supporting, MacDonald's home life is comic gold. She definitely predates that beloved American humourist Erma Bombeck, and her self-deprecating style has much of the same charm as Bombeck's.
Throughout the book, MacDonald portrays herself as the shyer, less competent sidekick to her older, more vibrant sister Mary. To hear MacDonald tell it, Mary singlehandedly propels their entire family through the Depression years through a combination of self-confidence, moxie and sheer nerve. Despite being the most incompetent secretary in Seattle, at least in her own mind, MacDonald manages to bumble along from one odd job to the next. There is definitely a fear of not having enough money, which is always lurking at the edges, but MacDonald also emphasises how much fun they had 'making do' without very much. Some of her stories remind me of the stories that my grandmother used to tell of her own Depression-era childhood in Ft. Worth. The necessity and expense of children's shoes seemed to weigh heavily on mothers of that era. It's an interesting piece of social history and I loved all of the little details. If you have been to Seattle, you might particularly enjoy her description of the waterfront market of the time. Apparently you could buy a bottomless cup of coffee for 5 cents, and Betty and Mary - along with so many other office workers - would smuggle in their packed lunch in order to enjoy coffee and a cigarette and some good company.
I grew up with The Egg and I - MacDonald's first venture into humorous memoir, and her most beloved and well-known book. This one does not have the tightness of structure, or the beautifully well-rounded anecdotes, or even the same level of humour, but it still is well-worth reading. MacDonald has a wonderfully clear and vivid writing style, and her material - the experience of being a single mother in the 1930s - was full of interest for this reader. After her divorce from the chicken farmer, MacDonald moved back into her family home in Seattle. Bursting at the seams with family members, friends and the various small-time vendors the family seems to be supporting, MacDonald's home life is comic gold. She definitely predates that beloved American humourist Erma Bombeck, and her self-deprecating style has much of the same charm as Bombeck's.
Throughout the book, MacDonald portrays herself as the shyer, less competent sidekick to her older, more vibrant sister Mary. To hear MacDonald tell it, Mary singlehandedly propels their entire family through the Depression years through a combination of self-confidence, moxie and sheer nerve. Despite being the most incompetent secretary in Seattle, at least in her own mind, MacDonald manages to bumble along from one odd job to the next. There is definitely a fear of not having enough money, which is always lurking at the edges, but MacDonald also emphasises how much fun they had 'making do' without very much. Some of her stories remind me of the stories that my grandmother used to tell of her own Depression-era childhood in Ft. Worth. The necessity and expense of children's shoes seemed to weigh heavily on mothers of that era. It's an interesting piece of social history and I loved all of the little details. If you have been to Seattle, you might particularly enjoy her description of the waterfront market of the time. Apparently you could buy a bottomless cup of coffee for 5 cents, and Betty and Mary - along with so many other office workers - would smuggle in their packed lunch in order to enjoy coffee and a cigarette and some good company.
September 4, 2007
When you're looking for work (and as a freelance writer, that's nearly 90% of the time), you need to stay positive. Betty MacDonald's ANYBODY CAN DO ANYTHING is a surefire cure for the job blues. It's her account of scrounging for work during the Depression, when she was newly divorced with 2 kids (in 1929, no less!) and went back home to Seattle to live with her wonderfully large, zany family.
All of Betty's books -- including The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series -- hold a special place in my heart. She was a woman ahead of her time...sort of a combination between Erma Bombeck and Roseanne. Don't read her books in public if you're embarrassed by laughing aloud.
All of Betty's books -- including The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series -- hold a special place in my heart. She was a woman ahead of her time...sort of a combination between Erma Bombeck and Roseanne. Don't read her books in public if you're embarrassed by laughing aloud.
March 9, 2012
I'm surprised this isn't already in my list, as I've read this several times. I find Betty MacDonald's autobiographical books compelling on a variety of levels. I don't know whether, had I known her, we would have been friends--I'm not certain I would have trusted her, and she probably would have found me dull. Nonetheless, I admire her writing, I am fascinated by her descriptions of people and places, and in this book I get the bonus of reading her experiences in Depression Era Seattle.
My favorite of her books is Onions in the Stew, I think; The Plague and I, her book about having TB, is also a fascinating look at life in a sanitorium.
My favorite of her books is Onions in the Stew, I think; The Plague and I, her book about having TB, is also a fascinating look at life in a sanitorium.
February 9, 2017
Anybody Can Do Anything is absolutely hilarious! The Depression era was a difficult time in history and from what I learned from my grandparents, life was not easy for most. Even though this was a hard time, Betty MacDonald shares this part of her life with the perfect slice of humor that had me laughing out loud. With the help of her sister, Mary, she held many jobs and gained skills she never thought possible. Even though this is Ms. MacDonald’s memoir, her sister Mary steals the limelight in my opinion. With her can-do attitude and never-take-no-for-an-answer mentality, I really felt she was the glue that held this family together during this time of their life.
Anybody Can Do Anything is completely stand-alone, but if you want to read/listen in order, I would start with The Egg and I first, then Anybody Can Do Anything, and then end with The Plague and I. Although each book is fantastic and enjoyable I found that I enjoyed Anybody Can Do Anything just a tad bit more than the others due to all of Mary’s shenanigans. She was just fun to learn about.
Anybody Can Do Anything is narrated by Heather Henderson. I simply love all the voices of Heather Henderson but most of all her voice of Betty MacDonald. She has this certain ability to draw the listener in and convince you that Ms. MacDonald is sitting right in front of you relaying the events of her life. The production quality is superb and the pacing of the narration was just right. Ms. Henderson is a delight to listen to and makes an already great story positively amazing.
Overall, Anybody Can Do Anything was an absolute delightful listen that was fun and entertaining. Betty MacDonald wrote with such humor that I found myself laughing out loud many times. Not only is Ms. MacDonald a funny and witty writer she is also just plain entertaining and with Heather Henderson’s narration added makes this amazing read/listen.
Story – 4 stars
Performance – 5 stars
Overall – 4.5 stars
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Post Hypnotic Press, Inc. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Anybody Can Do Anything is completely stand-alone, but if you want to read/listen in order, I would start with The Egg and I first, then Anybody Can Do Anything, and then end with The Plague and I. Although each book is fantastic and enjoyable I found that I enjoyed Anybody Can Do Anything just a tad bit more than the others due to all of Mary’s shenanigans. She was just fun to learn about.
Anybody Can Do Anything is narrated by Heather Henderson. I simply love all the voices of Heather Henderson but most of all her voice of Betty MacDonald. She has this certain ability to draw the listener in and convince you that Ms. MacDonald is sitting right in front of you relaying the events of her life. The production quality is superb and the pacing of the narration was just right. Ms. Henderson is a delight to listen to and makes an already great story positively amazing.
Overall, Anybody Can Do Anything was an absolute delightful listen that was fun and entertaining. Betty MacDonald wrote with such humor that I found myself laughing out loud many times. Not only is Ms. MacDonald a funny and witty writer she is also just plain entertaining and with Heather Henderson’s narration added makes this amazing read/listen.
Story – 4 stars
Performance – 5 stars
Overall – 4.5 stars
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Post Hypnotic Press, Inc. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
September 5, 2018
Betty mac Donald nous emmène découvrir l'atmosphère des années 30 quand la fameuse crise économique dominante les vie quotidienne des américains . Cette époque caractérisait par la rareté des offres d'emploi, betty décrocha un emploi grâce sa soeur marry qui prenait en mains toute la famille. Betty vivait sous l'ombre de Marry qui est convaincue que n'importe qui peut faire n'importe quoi .betty se déplaça d'un poste à un autre sans difficulté grâce à sa soeur marry qui se remit à la recherche d'elle et finit par obtenir une entrevue pour elle . Grâce à Marry, elle avait touché jusqu'ici des salaires microscopiques dans plusieurs postes différents et diversifié ses expériences
October 20, 2019
After a few years living on an isolated chicken farm, Betty was lonely and miserable and decided that she had married the wrong man, so she took her two young children and moved back to her childhood home in Seattle.
“It’s a wonderful thing to know that you can come home any time from anywhere and just open the door and belong. That everybody will shift until you fit and that from that day on it’s a matter of sharing everything. When you share your money, your clothes and your food with a mother, a brother and three sisters, your portion may be meagre, but by the same token when you share unhappiness, loneliness and anxiety about the future with a mother, a brother and three sisters, there isn’t much left for you.”
This book is mostly about her efforts to find a job during the Depression despite having few marketable skills. She’s helped by her determined, vivacious sister, who insists that “anybody can do anything” and “accomplishment was merely a matter of will power”. Mary frequently finds Betty jobs for which she is hilariously unqualified.
This is also the story of her family’s financial struggles. ��There is no getting around the fact that being poor takes getting used to. You have to adjust to the fact that it is no longer a question of what you will eat but if you eat. That when you want to go to a movie you can stay home and read the book. That when you want to go dancing you can stay home and make fudge. That when you want to go for a drive in a convertible you can go for a walk in the park. And when you want to go to a concert you can play Chinese checkers with Mother.”
She claims she couldn’t have a kinship with someone who has never had bills: “Owing money is not pleasant and undoubtedly stems from weakness, but those of us who have known the burden of debt; have spent our long wakeful night hours peering into that black sinkhole labelled ‘the future’; have grown wild with frustration trying to yank and pull one dollar into the shape of five; have flinched at the sight of any windowed envelope; have cringed with embarrassment at the stentorian voices of bill collectors; have been wilted by money-lenders’ searing questions…”
The book is uneven, but overall it’s an amusing and interesting read. It’s especially striking how much sexual harassment the women endured as a matter of course. A great many “interviews” Betty went to included overt sexual molestation, and it’s treated as an annoyance. “He pinched and prodded me like a leg of lamb and he said we’d do the book-keeping at night.”
“It’s a wonderful thing to know that you can come home any time from anywhere and just open the door and belong. That everybody will shift until you fit and that from that day on it’s a matter of sharing everything. When you share your money, your clothes and your food with a mother, a brother and three sisters, your portion may be meagre, but by the same token when you share unhappiness, loneliness and anxiety about the future with a mother, a brother and three sisters, there isn’t much left for you.”
This book is mostly about her efforts to find a job during the Depression despite having few marketable skills. She’s helped by her determined, vivacious sister, who insists that “anybody can do anything” and “accomplishment was merely a matter of will power”. Mary frequently finds Betty jobs for which she is hilariously unqualified.
This is also the story of her family’s financial struggles. ��There is no getting around the fact that being poor takes getting used to. You have to adjust to the fact that it is no longer a question of what you will eat but if you eat. That when you want to go to a movie you can stay home and read the book. That when you want to go dancing you can stay home and make fudge. That when you want to go for a drive in a convertible you can go for a walk in the park. And when you want to go to a concert you can play Chinese checkers with Mother.”
She claims she couldn’t have a kinship with someone who has never had bills: “Owing money is not pleasant and undoubtedly stems from weakness, but those of us who have known the burden of debt; have spent our long wakeful night hours peering into that black sinkhole labelled ‘the future’; have grown wild with frustration trying to yank and pull one dollar into the shape of five; have flinched at the sight of any windowed envelope; have cringed with embarrassment at the stentorian voices of bill collectors; have been wilted by money-lenders’ searing questions…”
The book is uneven, but overall it’s an amusing and interesting read. It’s especially striking how much sexual harassment the women endured as a matter of course. A great many “interviews” Betty went to included overt sexual molestation, and it’s treated as an annoyance. “He pinched and prodded me like a leg of lamb and he said we’d do the book-keeping at night.”
November 3, 2016
I am a big fan of Betty MacDonald and was glad to be able to find a copy of Anybody Can Do Anything which was one of her adult books that I haven't read. Betty relates her experiences trying to get and keep a job during the depression after she left her husband. Her and her two daughters moved into her mother's house already filled with unemployed siblings and her sister Mary did everything she could to help Betty with her unemployment status. Betty's humor shines through these stories even though life was very hard for her and her family.
February 18, 2017
Audio Book Review (listened at 1.25x) Anybody Can Do Anything is the third of Betty MacDonald's memoirs (and the second I've listened to), and it doesn't disappoint. With the excellent narrator Heather Henderson returning, readers will be transported right into the arms -- or armpit -- of MacDonald's like during the Depression.
I was expecting this book to pick-up where MacDonald's prior memoir, The Plague and I, left off, but these memoirs don't go sequentially. The Egg and I was about her life as the wife of an egg farmer in the 20s, Plague was mostly about MacDonald's experiences in the late 30s, but in this book, we are back to MacDonald's childhood for a fair amount at the start, jump to MacDonald leaving her husband, skip over her bout with tuberculosis, and then focus on her life in the Great Depression years.
"Life was as neatly folded and full of promise as the morning newspaper."
The aptly titled Anybody Can Do Anything is all about MacDonald's (and certainly her sister's) perseverance through one hurdle after another and especially applying for jobs even when completely unqualified for them. As Betty's sister Mary would say, why not? MacDonald keeps the reader engaged with the hilarious anecdotes relating to these jobs and her epic fails at them. Betty NEVER overestimates her abilities and was even certain her book was a failure after she submitted the manuscript for her first book.
Betty's older sister Mary is as main a character in the book as Betty. Mary is truly a piece of work, and the steady stream of childhood hijinks may make readers wonder if she had a death wish for young Betty. As the sisters grow into adults, Mary is Betty and the whole family's cheerleader and ultimately helps Betty find her vocation as a writer.
For modern readers, the snapshot of Depression era living is startling, with hard to believe prices for goods and services (twelve cents a pound for ground beef) and MacDonald's descriptive passages bringing it all vividly to life.
"The space-for-rent signs, marking the sudden death of businesses, had sprung up over the city like white crosses on the battlefield."
But despite the extreme conditions, MacDonald speaks of "the warmth and loyalty and laughter of a big family," and how "everyone will shift until you fit." MacDonald and her mother, siblings, and children found happiness, held it together, and even thrived.
With an original publication date of 1948, there are anecdotes and attitudes that are definitely not considered politically correct today, which again illustrate the differences of life eighty plus years ago. There are also situations that show some things never change, like the irony of the debt cycle that can happens when borrowing on credit or working for the government where MacDonald said that never had she seen so many "directors directing directors, supervisors supervising supervisors."
Heather Henderson shines as the audiobook narrator, and she absolutely nails both the humor and melancholy of MacDonald's writing, as she did in The Plague and I. Henderson knows which words to emphasize in her performance, and she voices multiple characters with humor and finesse. She is particularly clever in voicing a character named Dorita (lots of laughing for me, here) and really brought Dorita's strangeness to peculiar life.
I highly recommend the Anybody Can Do Anything audiobook and would love the print version so I could highlight all the fabulous quotes. I especially love that it was a story that was easy to listen to without having to give it my full attention (while driving or wearing my domestic goddess crown, for example). I am looking forward to reading (with my ears) Betty MacDonald's next memoir, Onions in the Stew, so stay tuned for my review.
Thank you to The Audiobookworm and Post Hypnotic Press for providing me the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give. This review plus an audio excerpt link on 2/21/17 http://bit.ly/2l6k0my
I was expecting this book to pick-up where MacDonald's prior memoir, The Plague and I, left off, but these memoirs don't go sequentially. The Egg and I was about her life as the wife of an egg farmer in the 20s, Plague was mostly about MacDonald's experiences in the late 30s, but in this book, we are back to MacDonald's childhood for a fair amount at the start, jump to MacDonald leaving her husband, skip over her bout with tuberculosis, and then focus on her life in the Great Depression years.
"Life was as neatly folded and full of promise as the morning newspaper."
The aptly titled Anybody Can Do Anything is all about MacDonald's (and certainly her sister's) perseverance through one hurdle after another and especially applying for jobs even when completely unqualified for them. As Betty's sister Mary would say, why not? MacDonald keeps the reader engaged with the hilarious anecdotes relating to these jobs and her epic fails at them. Betty NEVER overestimates her abilities and was even certain her book was a failure after she submitted the manuscript for her first book.
Betty's older sister Mary is as main a character in the book as Betty. Mary is truly a piece of work, and the steady stream of childhood hijinks may make readers wonder if she had a death wish for young Betty. As the sisters grow into adults, Mary is Betty and the whole family's cheerleader and ultimately helps Betty find her vocation as a writer.
For modern readers, the snapshot of Depression era living is startling, with hard to believe prices for goods and services (twelve cents a pound for ground beef) and MacDonald's descriptive passages bringing it all vividly to life.
"The space-for-rent signs, marking the sudden death of businesses, had sprung up over the city like white crosses on the battlefield."
But despite the extreme conditions, MacDonald speaks of "the warmth and loyalty and laughter of a big family," and how "everyone will shift until you fit." MacDonald and her mother, siblings, and children found happiness, held it together, and even thrived.
With an original publication date of 1948, there are anecdotes and attitudes that are definitely not considered politically correct today, which again illustrate the differences of life eighty plus years ago. There are also situations that show some things never change, like the irony of the debt cycle that can happens when borrowing on credit or working for the government where MacDonald said that never had she seen so many "directors directing directors, supervisors supervising supervisors."
Heather Henderson shines as the audiobook narrator, and she absolutely nails both the humor and melancholy of MacDonald's writing, as she did in The Plague and I. Henderson knows which words to emphasize in her performance, and she voices multiple characters with humor and finesse. She is particularly clever in voicing a character named Dorita (lots of laughing for me, here) and really brought Dorita's strangeness to peculiar life.
I highly recommend the Anybody Can Do Anything audiobook and would love the print version so I could highlight all the fabulous quotes. I especially love that it was a story that was easy to listen to without having to give it my full attention (while driving or wearing my domestic goddess crown, for example). I am looking forward to reading (with my ears) Betty MacDonald's next memoir, Onions in the Stew, so stay tuned for my review.
Thank you to The Audiobookworm and Post Hypnotic Press for providing me the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give. This review plus an audio excerpt link on 2/21/17 http://bit.ly/2l6k0my
February 25, 2017
I chose to listen to this audiobook after receiving a free copy from Audiobookworm Promotions. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
I had listened to The Egg and I and The Plague and I and enjoyed both so I was looking forward to listening to this one. Betty MacDonald's storytelling is delightful as is the narration.
This is my favorite book by Betty MacDonald so far. It's mostly about her family life, both as a child and after she left her husband on the chicken farm and returned home. Since it was during the Depression, Betty, her daughters, her mom, and her siblings all lived under one roof and tried to survive the best they could.
Betty's sister, Mary, was a force to be reckoned with. She could talk Betty into doing just about anything both when they were children and when they were adults. She got Betty into some scary situations but Betty is always able to put a spin on it and makes most things funny, anywhere from a chuckle to laugh out loud funny.
The narrator, Heather Henderson, has a pleasant voice and I enjoyed listening to her. She did a great job of using different voices for different characters. She has narrated all of the books by Betty MacDonald that I've listened to and it was nice to associate her voice with Betty's stories.
I definitely recommend Anybody Can Do Anything if you enjoy a good story and I am looking forward to listening to Onions in the Stew by Betty MacDonald in the near future.
I had listened to The Egg and I and The Plague and I and enjoyed both so I was looking forward to listening to this one. Betty MacDonald's storytelling is delightful as is the narration.
This is my favorite book by Betty MacDonald so far. It's mostly about her family life, both as a child and after she left her husband on the chicken farm and returned home. Since it was during the Depression, Betty, her daughters, her mom, and her siblings all lived under one roof and tried to survive the best they could.
Betty's sister, Mary, was a force to be reckoned with. She could talk Betty into doing just about anything both when they were children and when they were adults. She got Betty into some scary situations but Betty is always able to put a spin on it and makes most things funny, anywhere from a chuckle to laugh out loud funny.
The narrator, Heather Henderson, has a pleasant voice and I enjoyed listening to her. She did a great job of using different voices for different characters. She has narrated all of the books by Betty MacDonald that I've listened to and it was nice to associate her voice with Betty's stories.
I definitely recommend Anybody Can Do Anything if you enjoy a good story and I am looking forward to listening to Onions in the Stew by Betty MacDonald in the near future.
November 17, 2025
I love this author and have tried to read all she has written. This book has moments of brilliance!
March 1, 2013
Fun memoirs about Betty and her family's experience during the Depression. As with all of Betty's autobiographies, this book is full of haphazard stories and a witty perspective that portray an otherwise gloomy existence into a beaming and hilarious lesson on attitude.
Some side thoughts:
This may be of particular interest for anyone looking to find cultural or historical insight into the past. Betty gives some personal perspective on things such as the early involvement of women and minorities in the workforce, fledgling beaurocratic movements in unemployment, the history of Seattle when it first lit up (in neon). And, having been written with self reflection and within the time period, provides a window into the beliefs, expectations and throught processes of the era with limited slant of hindsight. In other words, you can see what Betty and her sister thought about skirt chasers at work before anyone termed the phrase sexual harassment.
Also, this book, last I checked, was still out of print. Most of Betty's autobiographies are and therefore expensive.
Some side thoughts:
This may be of particular interest for anyone looking to find cultural or historical insight into the past. Betty gives some personal perspective on things such as the early involvement of women and minorities in the workforce, fledgling beaurocratic movements in unemployment, the history of Seattle when it first lit up (in neon). And, having been written with self reflection and within the time period, provides a window into the beliefs, expectations and throught processes of the era with limited slant of hindsight. In other words, you can see what Betty and her sister thought about skirt chasers at work before anyone termed the phrase sexual harassment.
Also, this book, last I checked, was still out of print. Most of Betty's autobiographies are and therefore expensive.
March 11, 2019
Betty Macdonald (author of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books) humorously remembers the days when she was a divorced mother of two, living with her mother and sisters in Seattle, during the Depression. The title comes from the positive attitude of Betty's sister, Mary, who believed that Anybody (especially Betty) Can Do Anything. Mary spends her time finding jobs and vocations for her sisters (especially Betty), and Betty often winds up in uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous, work situations. This was a good book to read during a road trip, as each chapter stands alone and there is no story arc. My only discomfort with the book comes from Macdonald's descriptions of the physical features of people, which are usually not very flattering. This is meant to be funny, but with 21st century sensibilities, it sometimes seems cruel.
September 13, 2010
Betty MacDonald part 3
For some reason I thought this was going to be about her battle with depression (especially after spending a year in the tuberculosis hospital) - today I realized it was about her adventures getting and keeping a job during the Depression - I'm half way through the book and was wondering when she was going to start writing about being depressed, she seems so happy!! haha, I'm dumb. :) I try not to read the summaries because they can ruin the book, I guess they come in handy sometimes!
Not as interesting as her book about tb, but still entertaining to read about all of the wacky people she worked for during the Depression.
For some reason I thought this was going to be about her battle with depression (especially after spending a year in the tuberculosis hospital) - today I realized it was about her adventures getting and keeping a job during the Depression - I'm half way through the book and was wondering when she was going to start writing about being depressed, she seems so happy!! haha, I'm dumb. :) I try not to read the summaries because they can ruin the book, I guess they come in handy sometimes!
Not as interesting as her book about tb, but still entertaining to read about all of the wacky people she worked for during the Depression.
March 5, 2012
Betty MacDonald is the author of "The Egg and I" and this book continues where that one leaves off. Still in the Pacific Northwest, Betty leaves her unhappy marriage and chicken farm to move in with her Mother and siblings still at home in Seattle. These are her hilarious adventures of finding work during the depression. They're hilarious because her sister is constantly signing her up for jobs or throwing her into projects that Betty has no previous experience for and the results are amusing. A pretty fast read and very entertaining. I'm looking forward to "The Plague and I" and "Onions in the Stew."
February 19, 2022
2022: Still utterly hilarious and Mary and her lies are a hoot. But much like my reread of The Plague and I, I'd be reading, laughing, and then slapped in the face with racism, over and over. It was just such a normal part of her worldview.
2014: Betty left her husband at the start of the Depression and took her two young girls to go back to live her with mother and sisters. Her sister Mary was in charge of getting everyone jobs, which she did. Often. Because Mary was very good at finding jobs, just not necessarily jobs that matched people's skills, with hilarious results. While it seems rather terrifying to live like that, it really was a joy to read.
2014: Betty left her husband at the start of the Depression and took her two young girls to go back to live her with mother and sisters. Her sister Mary was in charge of getting everyone jobs, which she did. Often. Because Mary was very good at finding jobs, just not necessarily jobs that matched people's skills, with hilarious results. While it seems rather terrifying to live like that, it really was a joy to read.
April 25, 2018
Found a copy of this at the British heart foundation store in Clapham junction and was going to get it based on the cute retro cover alone but then realised it was written by the same lady who wrote mrs piggle wiggle, which I LOVED as a child. This was a perfect #funemployment read and I laughed out loud AT LEAST SEVERAL times! Also kept wondering why she hasn't been rediscovered by funny lady writers of today - her observations of little things and descriptions just killed me and i have a feeling others would feel similarly had they the chance to read this, too!
Now to track down her other novels...
Now to track down her other novels...
July 30, 2012
The right book at the right time. The woman behind Ma & Pa Kettle is more than just a failed farmer; she's a failed receptionist, a failed secretary, a failed photography tinter, etc., mostly buoyed by her sister's unending (and often unwanted) help. It's a nice description of Depression-era Seattle (though I could've done without the gratuitous drunken Indian anecdote and the half dozen references to white slavery), and good motivation for those still struggling to find their calling in tough times. The final sentence is a killer.
October 28, 2016
Familiar to readers from The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, Betty MacDonald chronicles her years in Depression Era Seattle, living with her two children in her mother's home with siblings, including a sister who continually found her jobs for which she wasn't exactly qualified. The memoir is full of amusing anecdotes, written in her breezy style; characters are quirky; the tone is humorous (sometimes outrageously so) and heartwarming. Heather Henderson reads at a brisk pace and captures characters, humor, and the upbeat tone.
March 19, 2013
"I wanted some sort of very steady job with a salary, and duties mediocre enough to be congruent with my mediocre ability. I had in mind a combination of janitress, slow typist and file clerk. Not for a moment did Mary entertain any such humble ideas. She had in mind for me any job up to and including the President of the United States."
July 16, 2016
This is a bizarre story. I have zero memory of adding this book to my Kindle or why I would think I would find this interesting. But I can NOT stop reading it. There are other volumes in this woman's memoirs? I don't know that I would find those as interesting if they don't include her older sister who I find hilarious.
October 18, 2018
I'm not sure if I would love having a sister like Mary, or if I would want to strangle her. Whatever camp you fall into, you're sure to love the adventures of the Bard sisters in this family story. It's the Depression and the unemployment rate is 25%. Can Mary keep herself and all of her sisters employed? Read to find out.
July 25, 2011
Didn't like this one as much as her other books. Seemed to be mainly a laundry list of jobs her wacky sister Mary obtained for author Betty during the Depression (that Betty wasn't really qualified to do) and the pranks and hijinks that ensued.
August 10, 2015
This was an enjoyable read, a first-hand account of life in Seattle during the Depression. I was quite interested in the descriptions of a grimmer city during the '30s and also how Betty's family not only survived but thrived.
September 23, 2009
The best of this author and a tale for our times.
August 5, 2013
Disappointing description of her life during the war when jobs were scarce. Not very funny.
November 29, 2017
Apparently not her most popular book, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The focus on the relationship with her sister whose motto gives the book its title is wonderfully entertaining.
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