Cracks in My Foundation: Bags, Trips, Make-up Tips, Charity, Glory, and the Darker Side of the Story

Essays #2

by Marian Keyes

Go further under the covers and stay in bed a little longer with Marian Keyes in this winning follow-up to her smash essay collection, Under the Duvet. Written in the witty, forthright style that has earned her legions of devoted readers, Cracks in My Foundation offers an even deeper and more candid look into this beloved author's mind and heart, exploring such universal themes as friends and family, home, glamour and beauty, children, travel, and more. Marian's hilarious and thoughtful take on life makes her readers feel they are reading a friend, not just an author. Marian continues to entertain with her reports from the trenches, and throws in some original short fiction as well. Whether it's visiting Siberia, breaking it off with an old hairdresser, shopping (of course!), turning forty , living with her beloved husband, Himself (a man beyond description), or musing on the F word (feminism), Marian shares the joys, passions, and sorrows of her world and helps us feel good about our own. So grab a latte and a pillow and get ready to laugh your slippers off!

Genres: Chick Lit, Nonfiction, Humor, Essays, Short Stories, Memoir, Ireland

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2005

About the author

Marian Keyes (born 10 September 1963) is an Irish novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for her work in women's literature. She is an Irish Book Awards winner. Over 22 million copies of her novels have been sold worldwide and her books have been translated into 32 languages. She became known worldwide for Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, and This Charming Man, with themes including domestic violence and alcoholism.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally not my type of book but my lovely friend Heidi loaned me two by this author and it definitely got some chuckles out of me, though initially, picking it up was slow-going. While at first I was tempted to dismiss it in the genre of Chic-Lit (of which I am not a fan), I felt I had to read it in its entirety - for Heidi's sake :) I.e. if a friend is thoughtful enough to recommend a book to you then definitely you should give it a proper go. The more I read Marian Keyes the I felt as if I were in a pub with a highly entertaining Irish woman telling me hilarious story after story. Indeed I felt like I was in the company of my friends from Ireland and reading Keyes brought back fond memories of Helena and Anne-Marie and the gang (all now having moved back to the Emerald Isle). Aside from the content of the stories themselves (in this collection essays and some short stories), which were topics in a broad range from girly type things like self-tanning and shoe fetishes to angels in Los Angeles to more seriously orphanages in Russia and the author's alcoholism and how writing saved her life literally, the many "Irish-isms" (tone, speech, vocabulary, etc) are definitely what would keep me reading this author.

[Monica Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, now I am totally convinced that Marian Keyes has spies peeking in my windows watching me sleep with my make up on...tweeze my hairy legs...and so much more.

[Aurora Shele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious. Marian Keyes is a funny funny person and writer and I love reading her stories, real or not. What a gem of an author.

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I'm not generally one to pick up a book full of essays and articles, my love for Marian Keyes is much stronger than my slight aversion to such collections. Knowing I wouldn't love it as I do her novels, I wasn't disappointed! I read the essays and articles side first, and really enjoyed the feeling of getting to know one of my favorite authors (and her family and friends) a little bit better. I finished with the stories, and just loved them. I love the Walshes and was thrilled to see the inclusion of Mammy Walsh, though to be honest that turned out to be my least favorite in the story section. The angel in LA was the best IMO. A nice change of pace and enjoyable snippets when I didn't have the time to delve into a new book.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually tend to stray away from books like these, but it wasn’t bad! It’s a collection of stories and other little essays that I thought were really interesting. However, I do stay away for a reason. I prefer full novels with a solid plot throughout the whole thing because that’s just what keeps me interested. I did think that it was alright, and if you are someone who does like books like these than go ahead and pick it up. I do love Marian’s writing, but I think I’ll stick to her full 500 page novels next time. The little essays were nice, but just not for me.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another very enjoyable collection, although I think I would've preferred it as just essays. Short form fiction is not Keyes' strong point and while the stories were mildly diverting, they were overall pretty weak and because they were the last part of the book that I read, it slightly taints the memory. I love her essays and her honesty and wit, however. Which of course, I already knew, but nice to have more evidence.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book though a few of the essays were a bit long. I liked the short stories and love her style of writing but the short stories were too short. I wanted more. I like her books best I can enjoy her writing and the characters
I loved Mammy Walsh as always. Her humor is so fun to read even in these short Q&A for advice. This makes me want to go read the Walsh series again

[Sharon Falduto]

A collection of essays and short stories by the humorous Irish writer. The short stories are quirky and fun, but it's in the essays (reprinted from magazines such as Abroad or Marie Claire that her Irish charm shines through. She sounds like someone I would like to hang out with, although I don't know as she would want to hang out with *me.*

[Jessica Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I generally enjoy Marian Keyes, I agree with her that she is better with longer works than with short stories. I enjoyed some of the articles, but I felt like this was not really new material for the most part. The story about the woman in the coma was really intriguing though, and I would be interested in reading a longer version of that one.

[Fatima Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not usually into these types of books but I’ve enjoyed all of Marian Keyes fiction novels so thought I’d give it a go. There’s a story for everyone and I enjoyed learning more about her ‘darker side.’

[Lindsey Sullivan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Decidedly not funny

[mandyfujita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Universal themes such as friends and family, home, glamour and beauty, children and travel. Hilarious and thoughtful take on life is what we all get from these short stories.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Marian Keyes' novels - now that I've enjoyed her essays, I want to meet her and become best friends! 🤩

[Jehree Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart and funny essays/short stories. I prefer full novels but it was something different than my usual reading.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Marian Keyes and her funny stories. I have most of her novels and prefer those over short stories.

[Nickole · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Andrea Engle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of humorous essays and frothy short stories … the initial offering, “Cheaper Than Drugs,” is an hilarious send-up of jet lag … basically light-weight, but amusing …

[Shannon Hamilton]

Favorite author of all time. Devour anything she writes. Even her monthly newsletters are awesome.

[Elizabeth Terrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have re-read this book a few times.
It reads like one of her novels with the glorious detail of it being her story.
Love it.

[Lucrecia Karabitian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really liked it. It made me laugh and cry. It’s good if you wanna laugh but also learn from life and little stories that have morals of the story :)

[Julia Christian]

Love Marian Keyes!

[Monica E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Marian Keyes, smart and funny.

[Peggy Davenport]

Author Marian Keyes: Cracks in my Foundation.

This is a book I purely bought for the cover and title. Looking for an easy peasy read. One thing is knowing she is from Ireland had me reading this with an Irish accent in my head. Love. Funny. Made every joke even funnier ( it's an American thing) I loved the stories being so absolutely off the wall and admired the ability as a writer. The essays of traveling as a writer were hilarious. Her frizzy hair issues and high heels all the time. Even while hiking. Also a good book for writers to read as it gave some insight to life as a writer. I truly loved her explanation of being a writer with no children too ( hit close to home on that) This was a great read over coffee at my local hang out in the evenings , easy read, relaxed and had me laughing out loud from time to time...more times than not. Put this on your short attention span, easy read, make you feel better about your own life book list.

Recommend: My thought was my friend , Chris, for the Alien story for sure.
The one thing I would ask this author: Have you ever been to Texas and if so...what frizzy hair story from here do you have?
And did you ride a horse with high heels?
Weirdest place read? The dressing room at Ha Ba's in Galveston.
Funny Story while reading : I was approached at the coffeeshop by a guy until he saw the title of the book and asked me if it was a self-help book. I replied , yes.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed Marian Keyes' novels in the past, so reading a collection of her essays and short stories that she has written was interestig. I greatly enjoyed the essays that she has written. One of the reasons I like her novels is that I feel like I can realte to some of the characters. After reading the essays, I think that is because I can relate to Marian Keyes as a person as well. The essays made me feel like I had a friend telling me her personal funny stories.

What I didn't enjoy, were her short stories. They felt a bit too simple and junvenile to me. A few of them even felt unfinished, like she wasn't sure how to end the story so she just stopped where she was.

I would read more of Marian's essay collections and definitly look forward to her next novel, but I think I will skip her short stories in the future.

[Courtney Dunning · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Keyes takes you through a journey of stories ranging from personal experiences to life lessons. She focuses specifically on herself and her family. Using a wide range of approaches to the "common woman", Keyes reflects on her own life while trying to relate. She shares her successful journey into adulthood as a comedic outlet to share her opinions on growing up. This classic series of short tales share the definition of "femininity" in today's world and what it means to handle yourself as a woman.

All together I think this was a clever book that left me wanting more!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thank you to my friend Susan for turning me on to this fun author. This book sat on the nightstand for about a year as I am not one that usually reads short stories but this book really read more like a novel. I felt like I got to know the author through her series of essays mostly about herself and her family. I loved her writing and her sense of humor and look forward to reading more by her, and to passing this one along to more friends.

[MsSmartiePants ...like the candy... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always entertaining, this Irish author is a favorite of mine. I like to peruse the used book stores for inexpensive copies of books by a short list of authors. This book is a collection of essays written from the perspective of an educated, well traveled, modern woman on various subjects from men to make up! This is the kind of nice, light, fun reading I like to do when I'm unwinding from my day.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I didn't enjoy this quite as much as "Under the Duvet", it's still a great read. Marian's views on many things in her life have that wonderful humorous buzz that she's well known (and well read) for. If you're new to her writing, start with the Walsh sister series, and then move on to these latter two to see how much of her personality shines through in her non-fiction works as well. Hope there will be more like this.

[Patricia Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Marian Keyes is very funny and tells some entertaining stories . . . I didn't quite finish this book because some of her stories are more entertaining than others and some cover topics that are more interesting to me than others. The solution would be to probably skim through the ones I'd like and skip the ones that don't intrigue me as much. I might return to this book or others by her but got this at the library and it needed to be returned.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was neat, half short stories and when you got to the end of them you turned th ebook upside down and backwards to read the essay half. That being said, I liked the story side a lot more than the essays. Her first book of essays was much more enthralling. These were not bad, just not quite as gripping. Still worth a read.