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The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank
Erma Bombeck takes on the unforgiving frontier of American suburbia
For years, the Bombecks have heard rumors of a magical land called Suburbia where the air is clean, the grass is trimmed, and children don’t risk getting mugged on their walk to school. After watching their friends flee the city for subdivided utopias like Bonaparte’s Retreat and Mortgage Mañana, Erma and her family load up their belongings and cry, “Station wagons . . . ho!” But life on the suburban frontier is not as perfect as they had hoped. The trees are stunted, the house is cramped, and there’s no grass at all. But the Bombecks will make do, for they are suburbanites now—the last true pioneers! This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erma Bombeck including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.
For years, the Bombecks have heard rumors of a magical land called Suburbia where the air is clean, the grass is trimmed, and children don’t risk getting mugged on their walk to school. After watching their friends flee the city for subdivided utopias like Bonaparte’s Retreat and Mortgage Mañana, Erma and her family load up their belongings and cry, “Station wagons . . . ho!” But life on the suburban frontier is not as perfect as they had hoped. The trees are stunted, the house is cramped, and there’s no grass at all. But the Bombecks will make do, for they are suburbanites now—the last true pioneers! This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erma Bombeck including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1976
903 people are currently reading
4065 people want to read
About the author
Erma Bombeck
105 books546 followersErma Louise Bombeck, born Erma Fiste, was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for a newspaper column that depicted suburban home life humorously, in the second half of the 20th century.
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Besides, the majority of her 15 books became instant best sellers.
For 31 years since 1965, Erma Bombeck published 4,000 newspaper articles. Already in the 1970s, her witty columns were read, twice weekly, by thirty million readers of 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Besides, the majority of her 15 books became instant best sellers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 362 reviews
January 22, 2022
Why I chose to read this book:
My mom, a housewife for most of her life, adored Erma Bombeck because she was so relatable. I remember Mom reading this particular book, and after finding it in a thrift shop, I thought it would be a wonderful addition to my Humor Month reading collection.
I was right! Bombeck pokes fun at herself as a housewife living in a cookie-cutter house within a newly-established suburb during the late-1940s. I couldn't help but giggle as she shares her hilarious views about: Barbie and Ken, car pools, neighborhood kids, repairmen, Halloween, the advent of television, dieting, garage sales and the joys of sharing a 21' camper with another family for two weeks!
Bombeck's unique style of writing had me laughing throughout this book! In my opinion, she is the Queen of Humor!
My mom, a housewife for most of her life, adored Erma Bombeck because she was so relatable. I remember Mom reading this particular book, and after finding it in a thrift shop, I thought it would be a wonderful addition to my Humor Month reading collection.
I was right! Bombeck pokes fun at herself as a housewife living in a cookie-cutter house within a newly-established suburb during the late-1940s. I couldn't help but giggle as she shares her hilarious views about: Barbie and Ken, car pools, neighborhood kids, repairmen, Halloween, the advent of television, dieting, garage sales and the joys of sharing a 21' camper with another family for two weeks!
Bombeck's unique style of writing had me laughing throughout this book! In my opinion, she is the Queen of Humor!
April 2, 2024
Erma Bombeck, acclaimed humorist, takes on the suburbs with this 1976 collection of satirical sketches. The first half is a non-stop laugh riot, utilizing her wittiest observations on the absurdities of everyday life. Much like the best of David Sedaris, though more farcical.
We meet hilarious sales agents, dieting housewives, and even an evolving world of sex education. The jokes are perfectly set up and effortlessly executed. She makes comedy look easy, but it's definitely not. Case in point, the second half of the book is noticeably weaker without the same level of energy and creativity.
Despite the book being nearly 50 years old, surprisingly few of the jokes feel dated. Kids are still crazy, society is still wacky, and parenting is still tough, and these are the kinds of universal human experiences Bombeck exploits to great effect. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own! but I'll definitely be back for more.
We meet hilarious sales agents, dieting housewives, and even an evolving world of sex education. The jokes are perfectly set up and effortlessly executed. She makes comedy look easy, but it's definitely not. Case in point, the second half of the book is noticeably weaker without the same level of energy and creativity.
Despite the book being nearly 50 years old, surprisingly few of the jokes feel dated. Kids are still crazy, society is still wacky, and parenting is still tough, and these are the kinds of universal human experiences Bombeck exploits to great effect. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own! but I'll definitely be back for more.
August 11, 2016
A long, long time ago... In a household far, far away... My mother kept this book on a shelf. I don't recall that I was ever told absolutely not to read it, but I do remember sneaking into the den when no one was watching, removing it from the shelf, and absconding with it to my bedroom (or to a certain snug cache behind the sofa) and thinking of myself as "quite grown up" because I was reading a book for adults. And on the sly no less. How funny to think of this now... :)
January 21, 2012
I love Erma's books! While other kids were sneakily reading the latest issue of Batman or Archie & Veronica comic books between the pages of their schoolbooks during class I was trying not to get caught laughing too loudly at the pages of the latest book by humorist author Erma Bombeck. Its safe to say that I grew up with her books and her name, and stories, just like V.C. Andrews', another author I grew up reading, brings back a lot of good reading memories. Erma, and her writing, will be dearly missed. We lucky that she left behind a treasure trove of very funny writing in her wake for generations to enjoy.
December 3, 2021
A very clever book about life in suburbia. Her wit and talent with irony are of the highest order. The book will definitely evoke chuckles.
October 25, 2011
Worth RE-READING! Years ago, this gave me one of my first reading experiences where I laughed out loud and then had to close the book to finish out my bout with hysteria, wipe my eyes, and then find my place in the book again to continue reading, only to start laughing all over AGAIN. Erma is just one of her her own kind, and there are a lot of different kinds, but her kind is best served with a box of tissues for those hysterical moments. Every reader's 'moment' will be different... THAT is why Erma is so great. She just knows.
March 6, 2016
80 percent through this book and I thought I was done with Erma Bombeck. But then I noticed that I was getting less and less clueless as the chapters went by. I'm going to give this author another go, because I'm hoping her next bestseller is totally as nice as Chapters 11 and 12 here.
Something kept nagging my brain while I read. Then I realized that something was the repressed tone and dry humor. This book, published in the 70's but about events - I use the term loosely - in the 50's, reminded me of the first season of the Simpsons. When the latter were fresh and any good. This feeling crystallized by the time I read this collection of a family trying to settle in the suburbs. There are many references that I didn't get, and most of the narrator's point, and the jokes were like gibberish to me. But I suspect that James L Brooks was made of the same stuff as Erma Bombeck was. They were of the same generation so there's little question of who influenced whom. But the book's unlikely parentage to a spin off cartoon from the Fox network was unexpected.
The 11th chapter The Volunteer Brigade was the best one. The coach Ralph Corlis, was the most evolved soul and his decency which - maybe, but Erma doesn't say it- led to a probable fall from grace was refreshing to read about. For a book this dry, there wasn't much cynicism.
I read some lines from a few reviews of this book. Mostly female reviewers of varying scores judged this book. Those who panned it mention that it's a dated book. I cannot figure out this statement. The parables still held, the adventurousness is very much relevant. People living in the American suburbs now will definitely find this book useful. I think I'll give another Erma Bombeck book a shot. Just not immediately.
Something kept nagging my brain while I read. Then I realized that something was the repressed tone and dry humor. This book, published in the 70's but about events - I use the term loosely - in the 50's, reminded me of the first season of the Simpsons. When the latter were fresh and any good. This feeling crystallized by the time I read this collection of a family trying to settle in the suburbs. There are many references that I didn't get, and most of the narrator's point, and the jokes were like gibberish to me. But I suspect that James L Brooks was made of the same stuff as Erma Bombeck was. They were of the same generation so there's little question of who influenced whom. But the book's unlikely parentage to a spin off cartoon from the Fox network was unexpected.
The 11th chapter The Volunteer Brigade was the best one. The coach Ralph Corlis, was the most evolved soul and his decency which - maybe, but Erma doesn't say it- led to a probable fall from grace was refreshing to read about. For a book this dry, there wasn't much cynicism.
I read some lines from a few reviews of this book. Mostly female reviewers of varying scores judged this book. Those who panned it mention that it's a dated book. I cannot figure out this statement. The parables still held, the adventurousness is very much relevant. People living in the American suburbs now will definitely find this book useful. I think I'll give another Erma Bombeck book a shot. Just not immediately.
October 31, 2010
I could be really snotty and say that this book is an essential read for anyone wanting to study the rise of suburbia in the United States, but that would belittle Erma Bombeck's gentle, satirical exaggeration of the woman's perspective on suburban life.
Just as with the Barbie and Ken dolls she encounters with some aggravation and then with amusement as she watches her children throw Ken in a box when he's supposed to be "at work" and they play at the domestic dramas they know, this book, between the satire and exaggeration, is a fun glance into that life. But it's hardly comprehensive. It is always funny.
Just as with the Barbie and Ken dolls she encounters with some aggravation and then with amusement as she watches her children throw Ken in a box when he's supposed to be "at work" and they play at the domestic dramas they know, this book, between the satire and exaggeration, is a fun glance into that life. But it's hardly comprehensive. It is always funny.
December 22, 2019
An oldie but goodie. Still a fun read.
January 30, 2026
I remember this book being on my grandma's bookshelf as a kid, and I vaguely remember that there was a movie with Carol Burnett. It's completely dated, but it is such a funny snapshot of the mid 1970s with the flight to suburbia, those awful cars, ridiculous diets, and the humor (very often not funny) about women's roles. There's an endnote in the edition I listened to talking about how Bombeck's writing coincided with an explosion of identical suburban neighborhoods at that period, which kind of makes me feel like we should pay more attention to what this book is capturing.
Oh, and it's narrated by Barbara Rosenblatt (although I don't see that noted anywhere). She is completely over the top, but I love her.
Oh, and it's narrated by Barbara Rosenblatt (although I don't see that noted anywhere). She is completely over the top, but I love her.
October 14, 2023
This book is a snapshot of suburban living in the 1970s written by nationally known humorist Erma Bombeck. The author pokes fun, at her own expense, at family life after moving out of the city and into a suburban enclave where every house looks the same, mothers volunteered for PTA and Girl Scout cookie leaders, dads manicured their lawns with meticulous precision, and children ran wild through the neighborhood. This book may have been written 50 years ago, but much of the humorous commentary still resonates with modern families.
I read this book in the 70s. It was funny then and I still chuckle today.
I read this book in the 70s. It was funny then and I still chuckle today.
May 5, 2020
I remember this being one of the first books I read, far beyond my years, but soon after we moved to the country and my mom became a Girl Scout leader in a tiny town....
June 7, 2025
And yet...nobody has invented something to locate the missing Tupperware lid.
I grew up in the suburbs during the 70s and I can only identify with everything being sold through home party plans. Everything else in this book, I found only mildly amusing. Much of it, I'd never heard of. I just don't think some things age well. Maybe it's 'cos I grew up in suburban Brisbane (Australia). It was different here.
Anyway. I found this okay...just. Now where did I put the bag for my Amway vacuum cleaner?
I grew up in the suburbs during the 70s and I can only identify with everything being sold through home party plans. Everything else in this book, I found only mildly amusing. Much of it, I'd never heard of. I just don't think some things age well. Maybe it's 'cos I grew up in suburban Brisbane (Australia). It was different here.
Anyway. I found this okay...just. Now where did I put the bag for my Amway vacuum cleaner?
November 7, 2012
Erma Bombeck is still funny, but funniest if you remember the post war period and the building of suburbia. Her books seem to be collections of her columns and she has a good eye for details which take to expanding into comic situations. She wrote about her own life and was read by people going through much the same problems as she was. This book is illustrated by Judith Nilson (I think) and her drawings appear to be cartoons of real people which adds immeasurably to the humour. Some of the allusions have dated a bit, but I still laughed.
November 26, 2019
Another of Bombeck's laugh out loud books... while her stories are mostly about funny things that happen when you're married with children (which I wasn't when reading them) her take on life really resonated with me. A very funny lady.
January 16, 2020
Erma Bombeck is a salve for my tired mind.
When I cant settle down and read, I know I need a laugh. Erma always delivers.
When I cant settle down and read, I know I need a laugh. Erma always delivers.
April 21, 2020
Dated, but so am I, so I enjoyed the humor.
September 24, 2022
____________________________________
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky. . .
and they all look just the same ―Reynolds Malvina
If you don’t remember Erma Bombeck, you are too young for me and you should go pick on someone your own age. If you are my age and you tell me you can remember Erma Bombeck, well, you are probably just bragging.
Now, it’s been a week since I read The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, so let’s see if I can remember what it is about. No, it’s not a paean to the great modern American septic tank, no matter how much those holes full of s…. ah…septic deserve to be praised. No, it’s not about grass. I’d remember if it was about grass, unless, of course, I was writing this in the ‘60s. Oh, I remember now, it’s about how in 1959 Erma and her family packed up their trusty covered station wagon, yoked up their oxen, and after a long and perilous journey of nearly 30 miles across the prairie, moved from the mega- metropolis of Dayton, Ohio, to the new untamed suburbs, fought off savage wild rabbits and vicious class moms, and bought a ticky tacky home deep in the virgin forest of a giant housing development. Adventures ensued.
Bombeck was the master at skewering normal life in the United States. She published over dozen hilarious bestselling books, hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and appeared as a commentator on national television. Even her book titles make me laugh.
―Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession
―Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own
―I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression
―The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank
―If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?
―Aunt Erma's Cope Book
―Family — The Ties That Bind … and Gag!,
―When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home
―A Marriage Made in Heaven … or Too Tired for an Affair
―All I Know about Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann's Dressing Room
I hereby vow to re-read all of Bombeck’s books. Now, I just need someone to remind me to do so.
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky. . .
and they all look just the same ―Reynolds Malvina
If you don’t remember Erma Bombeck, you are too young for me and you should go pick on someone your own age. If you are my age and you tell me you can remember Erma Bombeck, well, you are probably just bragging.
Now, it’s been a week since I read The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, so let’s see if I can remember what it is about. No, it’s not a paean to the great modern American septic tank, no matter how much those holes full of s…. ah…septic deserve to be praised. No, it’s not about grass. I’d remember if it was about grass, unless, of course, I was writing this in the ‘60s. Oh, I remember now, it’s about how in 1959 Erma and her family packed up their trusty covered station wagon, yoked up their oxen, and after a long and perilous journey of nearly 30 miles across the prairie, moved from the mega- metropolis of Dayton, Ohio, to the new untamed suburbs, fought off savage wild rabbits and vicious class moms, and bought a ticky tacky home deep in the virgin forest of a giant housing development. Adventures ensued.
Bombeck was the master at skewering normal life in the United States. She published over dozen hilarious bestselling books, hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and appeared as a commentator on national television. Even her book titles make me laugh.
―Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession
―Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own
―I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression
―The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank
―If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?
―Aunt Erma's Cope Book
―Family — The Ties That Bind … and Gag!,
―When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home
―A Marriage Made in Heaven … or Too Tired for an Affair
―All I Know about Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann's Dressing Room
I hereby vow to re-read all of Bombeck’s books. Now, I just need someone to remind me to do so.
February 4, 2019
Typical Bombeck humor. I laughed out loud several times.
May 12, 2023
A cute and short read about life in suburbia. I didn’t know anything about the book or author prior to this. One of my favorite audiobook narrators in Barbara Rosenblat, who narrates this story, so I decided to give it a try.
November 24, 2024
I remember reading her column in the paper, and although most of it I couldn't relate to, I still could appreciate her writing style. I loved reading this again for the chuckles! Many thanks to Mom for having this around, somehow knowing we'd enjoy.
September 16, 2018
This was a nostalgia pick. I’ve been rereading some older stuff I’d read to see if it helped up in my middle years. I feel like I grew up with Erma Bombeck. I watched her on Good Morning America, my mom loved her books, so she encouraged me to read her books. We had family jokes around the phrase “over the septic tank.” So I was a little nervous about revisiting Bombeck. I didn’t want to lose my pleasant memories of that time or that humor.
I needn’t have been worried. Erma Bombeck may have written about the 60’s and 70’s into the 80’s but her work is timeless. Bombeck was part of a generation of women who got married and stayed married, raised kids with a healthy self-esteem, moved to the burbs, tried to help neighbors, and mined humor in the day to day chaos of life. She’s not glib or hip, and her sarcasm is gentle. There is not a mean bone in any of her writing.
The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank focuses on her early years when moving up meant buying a split level in the suburbs. The book is of its time and the subjects include picture windows, carpools, homeroom mothers and other largely extinct topics. Didn’t matter a bit. The humor is timeless. And the chapter on the evolution of Barbie in her family is not only laugh out loud funny, but right up there with Twain and others in truly great American greats. Sometimes, Thomas Wolfe was wrong, you can go home again and laugh at the old stories and enjoy the old memories along the way.
I needn’t have been worried. Erma Bombeck may have written about the 60’s and 70’s into the 80’s but her work is timeless. Bombeck was part of a generation of women who got married and stayed married, raised kids with a healthy self-esteem, moved to the burbs, tried to help neighbors, and mined humor in the day to day chaos of life. She’s not glib or hip, and her sarcasm is gentle. There is not a mean bone in any of her writing.
The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank focuses on her early years when moving up meant buying a split level in the suburbs. The book is of its time and the subjects include picture windows, carpools, homeroom mothers and other largely extinct topics. Didn’t matter a bit. The humor is timeless. And the chapter on the evolution of Barbie in her family is not only laugh out loud funny, but right up there with Twain and others in truly great American greats. Sometimes, Thomas Wolfe was wrong, you can go home again and laugh at the old stories and enjoy the old memories along the way.
December 18, 2014
I found this on a table at work with a mysterious note offering it free to a good home. It's pretty outdated and probably suited more to those with a nostalgia for 1970s suburbia. Somewhat amusing in parts though.
August 21, 2025
Erma Bombeck just makes me snort with laughter.
Never forget that she also campaigned for the ERA.
Never forget that she also campaigned for the ERA.
August 10, 2020
Who doesn’t love Erma Bombeck? This is a story about their move to the suburbs. It’s really funny. Her husband was probably laughing and joking with her because he sounds like such a good sport.
March 10, 2025
This book was absolutely hilarious… at times. It was also at least twice the necessary length, and was not a long book. I am sure if I were to try to reread it, I would be aghast that I gave it 4 stars, but both the concept and the first third or so was really charming, and while it took me trudging through to make it to the end, I’m sure the right audience would have found it funny throughout. That’s pretty much all there is to say though. Suburbans are an absurd phenomenon, and this book sells that fact really well.
January 2, 2021
Absolutely loved it, completely still relevant regarding life in the suburbs. The “Super Mom” chapter was THE BEST!
February 12, 2021
3 stars.
Erma Bombeck was always funny and her stories of suburban life in this book are no exception. Some of this is especially funny to me as I work in the new home construction industry and can picture some of what she describes of moving into a new masterplanned development.
Erma Bombeck was always funny and her stories of suburban life in this book are no exception. Some of this is especially funny to me as I work in the new home construction industry and can picture some of what she describes of moving into a new masterplanned development.
December 13, 2025
“Now about your tub, do you want it hooked up under your shower?” This book (sad as this is) is still so relevant to the materialistic lifestyle that American culture values so much. Her writing was hilarious and I couldn’t put the book down. Fantastic!
January 14, 2026
I grew up in Strongsville, an outer ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, (first four years of my life were in inner ring suburb Lakewood) where my parents actually helped build their house with my uncle who was a brick layer, when Strongsville was less than 5,000 residents in 30 square miles. My childhood was idyllic. Woods, creeks to play in, trees to climb. The first time I read this book was not long after my parents attended a book signing and talk by Erma Bombeck so the book I read, and now reread, was my parents’ edition purchased and signed by Erma Bombeck in 1976. I remember it being a lot funnier the first time being a 25/26 year old high school science teacher. Single, never married, no children. Just being with about 140 9th through 12th graders everyday for the entire school year. Coaching swimming and diving and actually enjoying each school day and sporting event even when the days and students were far less than perfect. Now, being a parent of a 40 year old daughter and a 35 year old son I didn’t find the book very funny at all. What happened to me in between these two readings? Perhaps I’ve grown tired of extreme satire. But, I do love Weird Al Yankovick and his music and I have so many of the Capitol Steps dvds. Maybe I’m just turning into a futsy old person. Rats!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 362 reviews