My first exposure to Laurie Notaro was The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life — which I read on Pamie.com’s recommendation when I was a teenager. At the time, Notaro would have been in her 30s, and that book was full of silly stories about single girls in their 20s, battling hangovers at their minimum wage jobs. I loved it.
Now, I’m 31, Notaro’s in her 50s, and her stories mostly revolve around making her husband crazy, and getting old and fat. They’re still funny, but they just don’t have that appeal anymore. They’re not so wild and crazy. I guess growing up is hard on all of us. Which isn’t to say it’s a bad book — it definitely made me laugh, and if you like Jenny Lawson, I’d recommend Notaro for sure. But I don’t think she’s ever topped The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club.