by Ellen Carroll on February 20, 2009

Book Reviews, Erma Bombeck, Family: The Ties That Bind- And Gag!

I know, I know. You’re tired, you’ve got chores to do and the kids just won’t go to sleep. The dishes are piled so dangerously high that if someone slams the refrigerator shut, you’ll be eating out of your hands until payday. The laundry has been ignored so long its taking out personal ads.  Moldy White Lump seeking a soft touch and hot bath. The bills are piling up and if one more kid brings home a request for a parent/principal ‘chat’, heads are gonna roll.

Everyone knows life as a parent is hectic, but no one tells it like Erma.  Although this week’s book isn’t a new one, (published in 1988) Bombeck’s words still bring laughs to parents young and old. Throughout her hugely successful career as a journalist and author, Bombeck turned out over a dozen books and thousands of articles, each jam packed with wit and humor while still preserving the truth of real life.

Of her books, Family: The Ties That Bind- And Gag! is my favorite. I’ll admit that the first time I picked it up, I wasn’t interested. I was a teenager then, rifling through my grandmother’s bookshelf when I came across the bright red cover. I flipped through a few pages and instantly knew I couldn’t read it. It was full of ‘Mom Talk’. I dismissed it quickly and decided to raid Grandma’s cookie jar instead.

Years later, when I was married and had children of my own, my mother sent me a stack of books she had found in my grandmother’s things. Among them was Bombeck’s classic. I knew my grandmother only kept books she loved and was missing her desperately, so I decided to give it another shot. During my night time ritual of a book and bubble bath, I cracked it open and quickly discovered Erma Bombeck’s genius.

Throughout 288 pages of wit-induced laughter, I found myself feeling as though this story could have been cut straight from my life! Not only could I relate to the daughter returning home (reluctantly, of course) for the annual family Christmas photo, but now I understood the exasperation of a mother trying to keep everything together!

With a laugh or more to a page, this book was fulfilling in every way. It tells the all too familiar tales of a family that is hopelessly tangled together, yet lost without each other. The struggles of each family member are chronicled in a way that brings a fresh perspective to the drudge of real life and meaning to every moment, no matter how ‘normal’. In short, it’s funny ’cause it’s true.

So leave the dishes where they are and unwind with Erma.  You won’t regret it for a minute.

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