Cheyenne Trilogy Series 1-3 [Unabridged MP3-CD] by Carolyn Lampman (MURPHY'S RAINBOW, SHADOWS IN THE WIND, WILLOW CREEK)

So funny. I love to share this as a gift

This book is great. Laurie Notoro is awesome. She has a self deprecating sense of humor (e.g., when she talks about what it's like to be the "ugly friend"--priceless!) that makes her at once both hilarious and incredibly appealing. You either relate to her (I did) or even if you don't, at the very least, you've gotta sympathize with her daily life tragedies.This book seems to be a collection of mini-essays or past columns she's written. There's no overarching story, so if you're craving a "story," then don't read this book. DO read this book, however, if you're craving light humor in small doses. The chapters are short, their topics engaging, and the writing hilarious. You can read the whole book in a day, or you can pick it up whenever and read a chapter or two, and then put it away again for a while. Either way works. The chapters are set up to be independent little stories so you won't feel like you've lost the "feel" of the book if you leave it for a while. Chances are, though, that you'll find the chapters so amusing that you'll come back before too long. Like my review summary states, there's at least one laugh out line per chapter...often times there'll be three or four. Some of her lines are so funny, I still smile whenever I think of them...which might exlain the stupid smile I currently have my face as I type this review :-) I gave this book four stars rather than five because some of the bathroom references did tend to wear a little thin after a while, but that may just be me. It's completely consistent with the rest of her low brow humor (which I loved). But read it and decide for yourself. With or without the bathroom humor, this book is still absolutely hilarious and definitely worth a read!

Laurie Notaro's first book, The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, includes nearly forty essays that were originally published in the author's humor column in the Arizona Republic. (Notaro's fifth book, An Idiot Girl's Christmas: True Tales from the Top of the Naughty List, was released in November 2005.) A self-described "idiot girl," apparently in her twenties when most of these essays were written, Notaro portrays herself as one of fortune's less favored. She is not, that is, one of those perky-breasted blondes whose clothes always fit right and who's engaged to a doctor, but rather the funny gal pal type, who's more often than not unwashed and underdressed, and more often than she should be under the table. Drinking and smoking apparently consume a good portion of Notaro's days, providing fodder for her humor--though it may be that many of the details of her allegedly misspent adulthood are exaggerated in her writing for comic effect. In either case, hopelessly straight laced suburban mother than I am, tales of nicotine and alcohol abuse tend not so much to amuse as to disturb me.Happily, there's more to the book than substance abuse. And when Notaro turns from tales of drunkenness to, say, vaginal exams and maxi pads, she's laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, this book set me laughing a good many times, as, for example, when Notaro reprimands Monica Lewinski for the effect she's had on the author's grandmother:"Now you see what you've done, Monica Lewinski, you stupid, stupid tart, I thought. Because of you, I have to explain to my nana, while she's in a hospital bed with an enlarged gallbladder, what oral sex is. Do you see the damage you've caused? Do you see where your sinful path has led?"In addition to being funny, the essays included in the collection are strung together well so that they form a coherent narrative.Now that I've gotten to know Notaro, so to speak, I'm eager to read more from her. I just hope that the next book or two will find her off the bottle and over the butts. Lung cancer and liver damage just aren't that funny.(...)

This book was a quick read and I took it with me to read on my walk back home after dropping my son off at school in the mornings. As I read through the book I found myself laughing out loud CONSTANTLY-only a few laud laughs escaped during my walk readings since I was afraid of looking crazy on the street...When I read the story about the "free bread" at the fancy restaurant, I seriously thought I was going to pass out from laughter-I don't know if that's possible-but seriously!There were some moments of "reflection" when I asked myself, How much of this story is just pure embellishment?-but that only lasted a few seconds-about as long as I could hold back the laughter that was just creeping up inside me, and then all of a sudden I didn't care if I was POSSIBLY being "lied to".The only downfall for me was that many of the chapters/stories that were ridiculously funny, made some of the others look almost as if they lacked that "punch"(at least for me).But still, this book is great for those of us looking for a good time while reading and having a bunch of laughs.I'll be buying more books from this author!! ☺

So, Laurie, if you ever happen to read this review you need to know two things:1. I spent seven lo-o-o-o-ng years "doing time" (what most other people call "residing") in Phoenix -- and not in the Sheriff Joe's Tent City, or in the Club Fed known as Florence. Every damn word you wrote is TRUE! Your vivid descriptions are already giving me nightmares, so I'm hoping you'll chip in for some PTSD therapy sessions and/or a nice bottle of Chardonnay.2. You've probably seen me on TV. Remember the "drunk driving" video that KPNX aired every week before New Year's between 1987 - 1990? I'm one of the DUI victims, not one of the perps. It made me "famous" enough that my weird male roommate took to sniffing my underwear when I wasn't home (don't ask me how I know this).So, from one 15-minutes-of-fame winner to another: thank you for the laughs and knowledge that I am not the only Idiot Girl out there. You simply ROCK!P.S. I promise never to sniff your underwear, no matter how famous you get.

A funny book although slow in parts it picks up and makes me laugh all the way through. Would recommend if someone wants some light hearted humour.

It's a clumsy collection of what I assume are stories taken from the column that the author writes. Didn't laugh once.

thank you

She's not quite David Sedaris, but if you like your amusing anecdotes a tiny bit edgier than that anyway (think Beate Kruse, Cindy Chupack, Stefan Schwarz), you will probably not go wrong with this collection of columns.Personally, it took me a couple of stories to get into the groove, but then I basically read it in two sittings because I was well-entertained. For the price, a definitive thumbs up.

All I can say about Lauier is that I would love to spend an evening with her. She is hilarious!!!!