Onions in the Stew: Amazon.ca: Betty Bard MacDonald: Books

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Book Description

You know how sometimes friendship blossoms in the Þrst few moments of meeting? “Something clicked,” we say. Well, that’s what discovering Betty MacDonald was like for me: I happened to read a couple of pages of one of her books and — click — knew right away that here was a vivacious writer whose friendly, funny, and Þery company I was really going to enjoy. Although MacDonald’s Þrst and most popular book, The Egg and I, has remained in print since its original publication, her three other volumes have been unavailable for decades. The Plague and I recounts MacDonald’s experiences in a Seattle sanitarium, where the author spent almost a year (1938-39) battling tuberculosis. The White Plague was no laughing matter, but MacDonald nonetheless makes a sprightly tale of her brush with something deadly. Anybody Can Do Anything is a high-spirited, hilarious celebration of how “the warmth and loyalty and laughter of a big family” brightened their weathering of The Great Depression. In Onions in the Stew, MacDonald is in unbuttonedly frolicsome form as she describes how, with husband and daughters, she set to work making a life on a rough-and-tumble island in Puget Sound, a ferry-ride from Seattle.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Non Carb Comfort Food...that's our Betty....., Oct 22 2007

By

Sharon L Kincaid-Wininger "McKaitheartist" (McKaitheartist) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Onions in the Stew (Paperback)

Years ago, my parents subscribed to the readers Digest. When the Digest published Onions in the Stew I was about twelve years of age. I thought that life on Vashon Island sounded glamorous, romantic, and tons of fun. Of course, at that time I still believed that dusting my own house (as opposed to dusting my parents house) would make me feel beloved and a card carrying member of society. Just like Betty; I'd be able to look
at my problems over a cigarette after dinner, wearing formal attire, of course, and make witty comments about each day. I should have been more careful what I wished for---in retrospect...my first marriage also ended in divorce---But I was the comeback kid, just like Betty! As a young woman, I realized that there was always something special about all of her stories. About once a year I reread Onions in the Stew. I know each bit by heart...
I realize that Betty wasn't politically correct and that always surprises me.Her dedication to her wifely pursuits make for a good read and a good look back at life in the 1950's. I'd have let the wringer washer go on its merry way out into the big water at the beginning of Onions.....
Betty's words still tickle my funny bone and it was a thrill for me when I finally got to visit Vashon and see some of the sites described in her stories. The barn is a lovely old building and the view is everything
I thought it would be. In some ways my life really has paralleled hers. I have often wondered if her daughters are still alive and what happened to her family? I'd love to know more! Betty's world seemed (and still seems) a very safe one, very orderly, very romantic, very traditional. Thats still comforting. Onions in the Stew remains a good read and a nice addition to any library.

Sharon L. Kincaid-Wininger
(aka McKai)
itsalwaysuphill@bellsouth.net &
mckaitheartist on myspace.......

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4.0 out of 5 stars What a pleasant surprise!, Aug 28 2002

By

"soomin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Onions in the Stew (Paperback)

Having finished my previous book and waiting for Amazon's free shipping promo to buy more, I picked up this book collecting dust in my book closet. I was pleasantly surprised.

It is smart and funny and so down-to-earth that you have to instantly like Betty as your best friend. Althouhg I am not a big fan of women titles (those seems to dominate the New York Times bestsellers list these days), I laughed out loud on a plane from Washington DC to Houston on a business trip. Who knew that everyday domestic issues can be so light and funny?

Anyway, just try it. You will find it more enjoyable than you want to admit.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, Dec 18 2001

By

Elizabeth G. Melillo "gloriana" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Onions in the Stew (Paperback)

Betty's greatest talent was for describing situations that are quite banal, even rather troublesome, in a totally hilarious fashion. The situations are all the funnier for the reader's realisation that, in other hands, they could have been described as a tale of woe - where, in Betty's hands, they are delightful.

Financial crunches, months of futile searching for a residence, the adjustment of Betty and her children to a life with a new husband and stepfather (whose attitudes are quite different from those of a carefree Bard), living on an island where there are too many visitors and far too little accessibility for daily work and school, a beautiful neighbour's having her eyes on one's husband - these could have been the stuff of whining or dreary "self-help" attitudes. Betty is far from sentimental, totally honest, yet approaches all from a highly positive attitude that nearly makes one envious. This book is also a fine reminder to today's concerned parents that having adolescent children was no joy ride, even 60 years ago.

My only criticism of Betty's writing is that, in her descriptions, she did not know when to stop. For example, her description of Vashon Island is engaging for the first two paragraphs, but rather excessive when it runs to several pages.

This is easily one of the funniest, and most honest, books I have ever read - and read I do, again and again, always finding it a refreshing treat.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Onions in the Stew
I'm so glad this book is back in print, because I give a copy to every set of parents I know who have children entering adolescence. Read more

Published on July 16 2001 by Dana Stabenow

5.0 out of 5 stars It's so funny, witty and wise
Betty MacDonald's books are all funny, witty and wise.