American Housewife: Stories

by Helen Ellis

Meet the women of American Housewife: they wear lipstick, pearls, and sunscreen, even when it's cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. They pump the salad spinner like it's a CPR dummy. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies out of the oven. These twelve irresistible stories take us from a haunted prewar Manhattan apartment building to the set of a rigged reality television show, from the unique initiation ritual of a book club to the getaway car of a pageant princess on the lam, from the gallery opening of a tinfoil artist to the fitting room of a legendary lingerie shop. Vicious, fresh, and nutty as a poisoned Goo Goo Cluster,American Housewife is an uproarious, pointed commentary on womanhood. --Publisher

• ISBN10: 0385541031
• ISBN13: 9780385541039
• Publish Date: 12 January 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Doubleday Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

I rarely read short story collections, but I tore through this one, devouring a story or two each night before I’d sleep. There is a sharpness to Ellis’s stories — they are very New York, but very Proper Southern Lady at the same time, which is exactly how I imagine Helen Ellis to be. An imagining that has turned out to be pretty accurate, if you read this article http://www.lennyletter.com/work/interviews/a364/helen-ellis-poker-queen/ (she’s also a poker player!).

My favorite stories were Dumpster Diving with the Stars, about a writer participating in a reality show, and The Fitter, which had a sadder edge to it. There were a couple that didn’t work for me. My Novel is Brought to You by the Good People at Tampax just didn’t do much for me, and Hello! Welcome to the Book Club had a tone that I didn’t care for due to the subject matter.

Overall, this was collection of stories that was quick and fun. I think it would make a great summer beach read!

[Hillary]

This book was blowing up in the book blogging world, so I had to read it. My hold at the library came up quickly. I read it while recovering from surgery but I was in no condition to write, so I am just now getting it up.

First, I read this through the haze of Percocet. I think that made the bizarreness of this book even more fascinating. I am sure reading this sober is fine also but through the haze of Percocet it was like the stories just made sense in a way that I doubt it would sober. I am not to sure that I would have liked this book as well if I had not been doped up.

It is a series of short stories that I think is supposed to be satire. I hope. Anyways they start off mudane, and I was left with oookkk why is this book so popular? Then I read more and with each passing story they got more and more bizarre. Like i said, i was doped up, and I felt some kinship with the characters that seem even more fucked than I was while reading this.

This book has dark undertones, so if you are looking for happy stories, this is not it. It is crude and bizarre. I know some bloggers did not like it for that reason. I can see why there is a lot of offensive materials in the book. If you want to enjoy it, you must like dark crude humor and expand your mind.

I liked this book. I did. It may even make my top ten list in December. I wonder if I had read it while sober if it would have had the same effect on me? I have no idea.

Have you ever read a book while under the influence that you would not have under normal circumstances?This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

[lisacee]

I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but these were fun and fulfilling stories.