Bless Your Heart, Tramp: And Other Southern Endearments

Sorry to disagree with previous reviews, but this just fell short in most areas for me. I just couldn't connect with the work and having a large southern family myself, speaks volumes. It just misses the mark on several levels.

After reading and loving 'We're Just Like You Only Prettier', I couldn't wait to read this book. My local library just got the new re-print edition (finally!), and I was the first to check it out! Mrs. Rivenbark is hilarious with all her southern advice! I couldn't stop laughing at all her horror stories, like making sure your child has the EXACT toy he needs in his happy meal, or else the poor woman at the window is gonna get an ear full...or how when your husband is sick, the world stops and the man needs a bell, but when YOU'RE sick you still have a house to clean and children to feed. And one of my favorites was her introduction to Victoria's Secret Wonder Bra! If you're looking for a light, fun read, then definitely pick up one of Mrs. Rivenbark's books. They'll absolutely have you laughing-out-loud! I can't wait wait to read her newest book, 'Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like A Skank'! Hopefully my library will be a little more on-the-ball this time!

I loved this book! It was the first one I've read by Celia Rivenbark. It took me one day to read it. I couldn't put it down. My favorite chapter? Revenge of the Amish Friendship Bread!!! I can't wait to read her other book!

I have become a favorite girlfriend and sister buying tons of copies of this book for gifts. I worried at first that some of my Yankee friends (I am a former Yankee and also a card-carrying bra and panty club member - read the book to find out more!) would not catch the humor. Boy, was I wrong - they love it. Celia is a master at turning the quirkiness of life into the best laughs. She writes about all the stupid things we do in life that we are embarrassed to admit, and it is great to know we are all nuts!I truly have not laughed this hard in years. Neither has my husband - I read him excerpts in bed and the tears of laughter begin. Don't miss this one! Write on Celia!

This book made me laugh- every page. Being from the north and having family in the south, I now am starting to get a better understanding of why I laugh at some of the things they do. I am looking to relocate to the South in a few years and will use this book as a sort of Bible. Celia is a truly gifted writer with a wit that never stops. I just finished the book and am reading chapters to all my friends(who by the way just look at me with tears runing down my face from all the laughter!)

Move over, Sweet Potato Queens and Ya-Ya Sisterhood. There's a new girl in town. Sister Celia tells it like it is. As a self-proclaimed Deddy's girl and former recipient of the Amish Friendship Bread Starterk, I can tell you that Misseriz Rivenbark's descriptions of redneck women ("the object of her desire, a stringy, tatooed, shirtless lser, lurched out of the sotre, grinning drunkenly") and Southern Bridal Mothers ("no more tenacious, single-minded and utterly obnoxious creature on this earth") are dead-on. Her penchant for explaining inexplicable Southernisms (womanless weddings, snow-induced bread-buying) makes this collection of wonderings an education in paperback. Not to worry, Ms. Rivenbark doesn't limit her eagle-eye observations solely to the South but touches on life as all god's chillren know it...above or below the Mason-Dison...by pondering many of society's most pressing issues: Where DID Lorena Bobbitt ever find a knife THAT sharp, for instance. It is truly a joy to enter Rivenbark's world with sports-crazed hubby (affectionately known as her favorite Martian), Tinky-Winky loving toddler Sophie, Hairdresser Branda and Snowball the indredible cat. Picking up the book is like finding a new girlfriend...only this time, you can hear from her only when and if you want.