I really used to enjoy Laurie Notaro's books. They made me laugh out loud, even after I read them over and over again. I don't know if I have grown too disenfranchised in my old age, or if I have read them so many times that the humor is gone. Her last book, It Looked Different on the Model was good, but I barely laughed. I decided to try The Potty Mouth at the Table to see if it would get different results.
My basic impression of the new book is that I may not be old enough to relate to a lot of these stories. Notaro's early books were about dating and jobs, a lot of twentysomething anecdotes. Later books were about getting married and buying a house. Now, the majority of the stories are about complaining about one thing or another. Most of her complaints seem valid, or at least I wouldn't want them to happen to me. It just ends up feeling like I'm hanging out with my mom when she's in one of her moods ("Let me go into a diatribe about how I dislike Obama/how you shouldn't wear a Harry Potter t-shirt because it is the devil/how SNL celebrities got famous from snorting blow").
I feel pretty bad saying this, but it seems like Laurie Notaro is turning into her mother, frequent star of her stories. Don't get me wrong, overall the stories were entertaining. I even chuckled a couple of times. The last essay about her friend's battle with cancer was both unexpected and very sweet. Again, though, I may be a couple years too young to fully appreciate this book. Maybe I'll give it another try in five to ten years and see if I can relate better.
I received my copy of The Potty Mouth at the Table from Edelweiss, courtesy of Gallery Books. It's available for purchase now.
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