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I Married a Logger: Life in Michigan's Tall Timber
Book by Anderson, Julie
328 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 27, 2022
In the right light this is an unintentional comedy. It’s the memoir of a spoiled, dainty woman who was an art student in Chicago (apparently they were no less vapid than today) who is forced to get a teaching degree in Milwaukee and be of some value to society when the depression hits. She moves to upper Michigan, a remote part of the country, because at that desperate time work was scarce. This is where the story begins.
She marries the first successful man she finds despite having an extensive sexual history, as art school girls tend to. I think this is a good case study of what these women will do during the next depression. This is the eponymous logger of the books title. Why he marries her is a mystery. On their first date he takes her to his logging camp and tells her explicitly to dress for rough terrain. She deliberately ignores him and goes out of his way to dress as cute as possible, ruining her outfit, ripping the crotch on her pants. Throughout their courtship she complains constantly, refusing to bear the slightest discomfort. Many of her early stories end with “and I never tried doing that again!”
Once she attempts to bake pies for the logging camp and goes through great lengths to explain why it was so hard! Much too hard for this poor damsel! She cries and her husband, already a busy man, intervenes. On an average day she refuses to eat any of the food in the logging camp and instead eats only cheese sandwiches.
At one point she asks him if he will be a logger forever and when he says Damn Right, she is heartbroken and disappointed because she realizes she will never be a fashion designer in Paris.
One wonders why the hardy logger, barely a character, married this Trollop. A hint can be found in a story she tells where their broken bed frame is used as a plot device. How did it break. According to her it happened at random. Fascinating. She actually says at one point “I was never very smart, but my beauty makes up for it!”
I could go on, but I don’t think I should have to. In the end, I couldn’t take the bellyaching anymore. This woman has no redeeming qualities and her observations of an intensely captivating world are superficial and dull.
Given that she never develops as a person, I think her honesty in depicting herself this way is the result of self-centered obliviousness, which oddly enough works to make this a solid read as honesty is the foundation of good writing, even if inadvertent.
She marries the first successful man she finds despite having an extensive sexual history, as art school girls tend to. I think this is a good case study of what these women will do during the next depression. This is the eponymous logger of the books title. Why he marries her is a mystery. On their first date he takes her to his logging camp and tells her explicitly to dress for rough terrain. She deliberately ignores him and goes out of his way to dress as cute as possible, ruining her outfit, ripping the crotch on her pants. Throughout their courtship she complains constantly, refusing to bear the slightest discomfort. Many of her early stories end with “and I never tried doing that again!”
Once she attempts to bake pies for the logging camp and goes through great lengths to explain why it was so hard! Much too hard for this poor damsel! She cries and her husband, already a busy man, intervenes. On an average day she refuses to eat any of the food in the logging camp and instead eats only cheese sandwiches.
At one point she asks him if he will be a logger forever and when he says Damn Right, she is heartbroken and disappointed because she realizes she will never be a fashion designer in Paris.
One wonders why the hardy logger, barely a character, married this Trollop. A hint can be found in a story she tells where their broken bed frame is used as a plot device. How did it break. According to her it happened at random. Fascinating. She actually says at one point “I was never very smart, but my beauty makes up for it!”
I could go on, but I don’t think I should have to. In the end, I couldn’t take the bellyaching anymore. This woman has no redeeming qualities and her observations of an intensely captivating world are superficial and dull.
Given that she never develops as a person, I think her honesty in depicting herself this way is the result of self-centered obliviousness, which oddly enough works to make this a solid read as honesty is the foundation of good writing, even if inadvertent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2013
OK, maybe it's not a 5, but I can't rate these true story Michigan books any less than that.
Totally charming book based on what it was like to be married to the one in charge of logging camps and the real deal on what happened in her life as such.
Charming.
Read in 2004
Totally charming book based on what it was like to be married to the one in charge of logging camps and the real deal on what happened in her life as such.
Charming.
Read in 2004
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews