Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Review: Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank


Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank: a Slightly Tarnished Southern Belle's Words of Wisdom by Celia Rivenbark
3.5 stars

Reasons for reading: Nonfiction for Triple 8 Challenge; it's Southern; saw a good review on someone's blog (leave a comment if it was yours! :-) )

Description: "Celia Rivenbark is an intrepid explorer and acid commentator on the land south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In this collection of screamingly funny essays, you'll discover:
* How to get your kid into a character breakfast at Disney World (or run the risk of eating chicken out of a bucket with Sneezy)
* Secrets of Celebrity Moms (don't hate them because they're beautiful when there are so many other reasons)
* Ebay addiction and why "It ain't worth having if it ain't on Ebay."
*Why today's children's clothes make six-year-olds look like Vegas showgirls with an abundance of anger issues
*And so much more!
Celia Rivenbark's essays about life in today's South are like caramel popcorn---sweet, salty, and utterly irresistible."

My thoughts: This was a fun and funny book of essays that helped keep me sane during an almost 2-hour wait for a doctor's appointment. I liked the Southern-ness of it, particularly the one on how to speak Southern. And I completely agree with the title essay - six-year-olds definitely shouldn't be dressed as sexily as they are these days. Rivenbark is a keen observer of everyday life with a biting wit. I'll definitely be looking into her other collections.

5 comments:

Jena said...

I'm not familiar with Rivenbark, but if you liked her "Southern-ness," you should consider reading Southern Ladies & Gentlemen by Florence King. It was the first book we were assigned to read (before class) for my Southern Women Writers class in grad school, and I appreciate Southern books and movies so much more now. Not to mention that King's writing is hilarious; even my MIL wanted to know what I was reading (though with the swearing & stuff, I don't think she'd have appreciated it as much as I did).

Katherine said...

Rivenbark is hysterical! I've only read one of her other collections: Belle Weather. This one sounds, funny, too.

tinylittlelibrarian said...

Jena - I am indeed a big fan of Southern writing, so that sounds like a perfect pick for me, thanks!

Katherine - It was and I'll definitely be looking at her other ones. I hadn't seen anything about Belle Weather, I'll have to add it to the list.

Beth Fehlbaum, Author said...

This book sounds hilarious!
Beth Fehlbaum, author
Courage in Patience, a story of hope for those who have endured abuse
http://courageinpatience.blogspot.com
Ch. 1 is online!

Penny said...

Oh geez, I have to read this! Here I thought I was the only conservative parent left!