So sad to say I have never heard of Laurie Notaro. My library recommended this book to me since I like to read memoirs and humor. Unfortunately there was not enough humor for me. I laughed a few times, but mostly just read and wondered what the point was at the end of some of Notaro's essays. 

Notaro's essays mainly focus on her life living in Oregon with her husband and her not so tidy life/house. We get to read about how she had grapes turn into raisins and apparently ate them. I maybe shuddered during that one essay. And also we get to read about how stacks of paper/bills/etc. come to her house to live and never seem to go away. I just didn't get most of it, and since I have a freaking aversion to walking into what sounded like a pre-hoarder house (is that a thing?) I didn't find it as cute and lovable as Notaro did. 

I also give authors who write memoirs kudos though for opening themselves up. Notaro let's readers into her everyday life and also provides details about things in her past (such as when she first started taking her nephews to The Waffle House) and trying to rent a house with her mother while she still lived in Arizona.

The flow was up and down for me depending on what essay I was reading. 

The setting for the most part is Oregon with some comments about her upbringing or specific events in Arizona.

The book jumps around a lot, but eventually ends and I just kind of nodded my head and went well I finished it. Not bad, not great, just a nice read. 

So I can't say much about this since I'm not familiar with this author beyond his book. I only found two essays funny, the rest, not really.

The time frame for certain stories was confusing too. Some took place when she was younger, and others read as just happening to her.

Also I like things being clean and or neat and her house sounded like it would give me hives. Her making being tidy sounding like a disorder didn't appeal to me at all. I grew up in a home like she says but lots better. That's cause if my mother's tendencies to hoard we're not thwarted by my father things would have gotten out of hand. 

I am curious if she's a blogger or what. This was recommended to me via my library choices and I was too lazy to look her up. 

FYI tags still not working and I'm refusing to keep retyping them in. Booklikes needs to fix already. 

I think I could fill a shelf with all these obscure true stories of accomplished women. Notaro captures a frenzied time before Amelia Earhart was a household name; when scores of people were literally racing to be the first to cross the Atlantic, and many were dying in the attempt. What I love about this book is the three unique women Notaro profiles: the bad girl daughter of an earl, the beauty queen with something to prove, and the glamorous scene-stealer who I kept imagining as Lina Lamont from Singing in the Rain, for some reason. (If you remember who she is, you will hear that screechy voice say all of her lines as you read, sorry!)

In any case, this is part thriller, part slapstick, and always riveting drama. Why have I not heard of any of these women before? Why does this keep happening? I feel like I literally learned "the history of men" in school, and people are just now realizing our mistake. Let's hope they keep making up for it with compelling stories like this one.

I thought this would be funnier.

I kept almost laughing, almost finding it funny, but it never quite made it there. Some of this might just be that it is remarkably mean humor throughout--I'm not convinced this woman likes anything in the world--but it's also all so very heavy-handed that it feels meaner than it is probably meant to feel.

Everything she complains about is turned up so far past probable that instead of getting that laughing "Yes, I think that, too!" response or even the slightly-ashamed-but-still-laughing, "Oh, that is horrible! I thought that was just me!" response, I found myself just staring blankly at the page in distaste wondering if any of this could possibly be true and hoping not.

That's not the worst reaction to have to a book, of course, but it's definitely not the reaction I am hoping for going into any kind of humorous memoir.

I won't be picking up anything else by her and I'm not sure I could really recommend this to anyone else, either. It wasn't the most terrible humor I've ever read, but it just never quite managed to get anywhere funny, and that's almost worse.

Beschreibung

Als Lucy von einem Urlaub mit ihren Freundinnen zurückkehrt, wird sie von einer regelrechten Pechsträhne verfolgt. Zuerst hat sie ihr Verlobter Martin aus unerfindlichen Gründen vor die Tür gesetzt, ihren Job ist sie los, und dann wird Lucy auch noch von einem Bus überfahren, der ihrem noch so jungen Leben ein jähes Ende bereitet.

Lucy erwacht als Unfalltote mitten im Jenseits und muss sich zunächst mit ihrem Spektralkörper in einer Geisterschule bekannt machen, bevor sie zurück in ihr Leben geschickt wird, um eine Mission zu erledigen. Niemals hätte sich Lucy erträumt, dass ihre Mission daraus bestehen würde, zurück zu Martin gesandt zu werden, der bereits einen Ersatz für Lucy gefunden hat.

Meine Meinung

Zu allerestes besticht bei „Spooky Littel Girl“ das leuchtend gelbe Cover mit einer Abbildung eines Geistermädchens in grünem Kleid und roten Pumps, was mich auf dem Mängelexemplar-Tisch wie magisch angezogen hat. Schnell war das Buch gekauft, und ehrlich gesagt fast genauso schnell gelesen.

Laurie Notaro hat einen herrlich flüssigen und lebendigen Schreibstil, der einen schnell in seinen Bann zieht. Dazu kommt eine überaus kreative Geschichte mit authentischen Charakteren und jede Menge Fantasie! Die Hauptprotagonistin Lucy habe ich recht schnell in mein Herz geschlossen und fieberte Seite für Seite mit ihr mit.

Nach Lucys Ableben wird die Story erst so richtig interessant, denn Lucy wacht im Jenseits auf, und muss mit einigen anderen Menschen die kürzlich völlig unerwartet verstorben sind, ihren plötzlichen Tod begreifen, und die Geisterschule besuchen, um den Umgang mit ihren neuen Spektralkörpern zu erlernen. Dabei werden die Geister von der aufgeweckten Lehrerin Ruby tatkräftig unterstützt. Ruby ist für mich eine der schönsten Charaktere der Geschichte, denn sie bereichert das Buch durch ihre urkomischen Sprüche ungemein!

„Spooky Little Girl“ hat mich zum lachen gebracht, aber auch ein paar Tränchen vergießen lassen. Denn die Geschichte ist nicht immer so komisch wie man zu Beginn erwarten würde. Für mich ein rundum stimmiger Roman, der mir einige schöne Lesestunden bereitet hat. Daher vergebe ich 5 von 5 Grinsekatzen und eine absolute Leseempfehlung!

Über die Autorin

Laurie Notaro wurde in New York geboren und lebt heute in Oregon. Sie studierte Journalistik und entdeckte nach verschiedenen Jobs das Schreiben für sich.

Fazit

Ein irrwitziger Roman voller Humor und Dramatik!