What do you suppose I like about it?

A word about the post title today: A long time ago I read a book by humorist Jean Kerr, who wrote books in the 1950s and whom, for some reason, I find hilarious and totally love (she's best known for her bestseller Please Don't Eat the Daisies). One of the things I remember about that book is the line drawings; in one, Jean and her husband are looking at a huge monstrosity of an ugly old house they're thinking about buying, and the caption is, "What do you suppose we like about it?" I think of that line frequently, when I like something but I have no idea why (which happens surprisingly often).

I know. My brain is filled with things like captions from books published in the 1950s. Is it any wonder I can't remember how to do simple math, family members' birthdays, and gifts my mother-in-law gave me last Christmas*?

So here's today's review that isn't really a review: I picked up Michael Greenberg's memoir Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer's Life, and read it through in about two nights. For most of the book, all I could think was, I don't know if I like this. But then I couldn't put it down. It's meant to be the memoir of Greenberg's life spent as a writer--and I do mean as a WRITER--it's the only thing he really ever wanted to do and he set about doing it no matter what it took, even when it took selling cosmetics on the street in the Bronx and driving a cab. For most of the book, I can't even say I liked Greenberg all that much--but yet I really did enjoy this one, in a weird sort of way.

So what do you suppose I liked about it? Read it and let me know, wouldja?

*This last one can get a little awkward at times, like when your mother-in-law says things like, "oh, you have a 9 x 13 baking pan," and I say, "No, I don't," and she says "I gave you one last Christmas." D'oh! (I did find it in the cupboard eventually; who knew?)

Comments

[Tripp]

It is an odd sort of book isn't it? I think it is about being a writer, although it rarely talks about the actual writing. It is about the odd life you have to cobble together to be the writer.

My initial reaction was also mixed, but then the story telling style got me as I kept reading.

[Citizen Reader]

Tripp,
Yes, really odd, completely not what I thought...and still? Very interesting. I think you're right; it gives you more of the feeling of being a writer (all over the place?) with less of the how. I kept thinking I wasn't going to keep reading it but then I just kept picking it up. Always fun when that happens.

[Jessica]

I thought I had a 10x13 baking pan, but it turned out to be 9x12. Hence the pineapple upside down cake that spewed a 10x13 puddle in the bottom of my oven. It took about two hours to scour off. Would it really be too much trouble for the manufacturer to etch the size into the bottom of the pan? Hmm?

I discovered recently that I can no longer do basic 8th grade level math. If it goes beyond simple algebra, forget it, and that includes calculating the area of a rectangle. Pfft. Who cares? We have communication skills to make up the difference, right?

[Sarah]

OMG, how can you LIVE without a 9x13 pan?? I'm also thinking that most of my problems are because I don't have a jelly-roll one and therefore can't make buttermilk brownies like a good librarian.

[Rachael]

Mmm, buttermilk brownies. I think you just hijacked this thread. But, in a jellyroll pan? Won't they be rather thin?

I'll have to look for the book, I like the occasional "must read, but I don't know why" piece.

[Citizen Reader]

Jessica,
Wow, I've just been lucky so far with baking accidents, I never notice or care what kind of pan I'm flinging whatever dough or cake ingredients into. (Hence it was not etched in my indelible memory that I had a 9x13 non-Airbake pan from my mother-in-law.) If I were you I'd just get a new stove.

Good lord, I lost all my math and communication skills years ago. Now all I have left is a scary knowledge of BBC series, programs, and British stars. Someone somewhere should want to pay me for that, right?

Sarah, Rachael,
Mmm, buttermilk brownies. Consider the thread hijacked and my attention now all about wanting brownies. Rachael--do give the book a try. At least it's a quick read, and you should know within the space of a few chapters if you want to keep reading it.