Betty MacDonald's "The Egg and I": A Hilarious Tale of Country Living

C. Stokes: Great seller!
All as advertised!

United States on Oct 08, 2023

Bob Battaglia: A delightful read . The Ma and Pa Kettle movies come from this novel

United States on Jul 07, 2023

Heather Wlaters: Just enjoyable love stories about how others live and the community that supports them. A good light hearted warm story.

Australia on Feb 06, 2023

Serena: Betty MacDonald did not have a particularly good opinion of the local Native American population in her small part of the world and she wasn't shy about putting her thoughts on paper. However, if we slashed everything written before 1950 that is considered politically incorrect by somebody we wouldn't have any idea why anything happened or have any history to learn from.

The Egg and I is a wonderfully written and often humorous book. It sold one million copies which was huge in the mid 1940's. Reading between the lines you can glean a bit of the tension that existed between Betty MacDonald and her husband, but you aren't given any inkling that Bob was a heavy drinker which is supposed to be one of the reasons for their later divorce. Actually, it seems, that most everyone seemed to have an affinity for the local moonshine.

Betty MacDonald wrote three more autobiographical books. I haven't read them yet, but I definitely will. She also wrote Piggle Wiggle books. Unfortunately, she died at the age of 50. I can't help wondering what other wonderful books she might have written if she had lived longer.

United States on Apr 30, 2022

Nala: Betty MacDonald sounds like a fun person. Reading this was wry and endlessly witty. Beware, she has some controversial things to say about Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. I think her intention was to be witty so I looked over it.

Canada on May 08, 2021

mhembroff: From an early age Betty and her sisters were taught that their first duty was to make sure their husbands were happy in their employment.
Betty's mother had followed their father to many different locations without questioning it.
Betty met a salesman and married him when she turned nineteen. While on their honeymoon he started talking about purchasing a chicken ranch. After many discussions she decided if that was what would make him happy she would go along with it. So they went to view a place in a remote mountain district. The place needed a lot of work and the price was right. As soon as they pooled their finances they purchased the ranch and prepared to move. She becomes pregnant and a baby is added to the mix.
When she first meets some of their neighbours she is appalled by their living conditions. Betty's description of these people brings them to life.
I didn't find her stories humorous but did enjoy her vivid description. Through her writing first with letters to her family and then her book she was able to release all the pent up emotions that would have driven her crazy.

Canada on Mar 15, 2018

Annette White: A very funny book from the first half of the 20th century. Written partly as a protest against fashionable books praising the return to the simple life, living in the backwoods with no running water and other amenities, this tells of the author's life on a chicken farm in Washington State, and her weird neighbours, bush fires, moonshine etc. My only objection was to the author's scathing treatment of Native Americans, but this has to be understood in the context of her time of writing. It is a very enjoyable, laugh-out-loud read.

United Kingdom on Feb 18, 2017

A. Margaret Caza: Absolutely entertaining! First "The Egg and I," I'm now reading "Onions in the Stew." Waiting for "The Plague and I." (It's on order.)
Read them all many years ago.
This time I wanted them for my Kindle!

I've also read "Anybody can do Anything."
And oh, yes, I read "Betty" before wading into the re-read of her very entertaining boos

Canada on Oct 12, 2016

B. Wolinsky: There’s a scene in this book where some hens fly up into the apple trees and won’t come down. Frantic about the fate of these domestic homebody birds, the author eventually gives up and says “they made their bed, they’d have to lie in it.” The hens end up as dinner for the weasels, raccoons, hawks, and other creatures indigenous to the farm. She describes her chickens as boneheads who have 365 days to learn to recognize their masters and still screech every time they’re brought their lunch. She can’t figure out why the chickens never have canine loyalty.

If you think the chickens are silly, you’ll love their neighbors, the Kettle family. For those of you that loved the “Ma and Pa Kettle” films of the 1950’s, here’s where they started, right here in the Pacific Northwest, the silliest farmers in the USA. MacDonald wrote about them based on her neighbors, the Bishops, who sued the MacDonalds for defamation (and lost) after the movie came out. The Ma and Pa Kettle movies are long since forgotten, but they’re a hilarious bunch in this book.

Though this book is comedy, there is a very dark and disturbing chapter, reserved for the Native...

United States on May 21, 2014

Donna Hill: This book defies description. I just finished a modern-day book about a woman on a chicken farm, and she had a rough life, but her life was child's play compared with MacDonald's experiences. So many reviewers have stated that they got belly laughs from every page. Apparently they aren't easily disturbed by the bizarre. I tend to be the type of person who doesn't find child neglect, heavy drinking, and all types of unsanitary habits to be laugh-out-loud funny although, grant you, I did laugh aloud in places. When Betty and her husband Bob are invited to the home of a new acquaintance who was starved for some "culture" as she puts it, I cracked up. Just don't invite me for wine and fruitcake--my stomach would rebel--sorry to say. Ma and Pa Kettle are over-the-top weird and Ma did crack me up at times.

This is the type of book which will make you count your blessings. If you live in a house with electricity and tap water, you're ahead of the game. If you have a spouse who talks with you and doesn't treat you like a farm hand, thank the Lord again. If you never get so starved for company that you have to hobnob with the wild, the drunken, and the boorish, put it in your...

United States on Dec 10, 2013