Don't Sleep With A Bubba

Susan Reinhardt's new book not only lives up to the first, it's like getting two presents in one box. The wit is still there, the southern girl language still rings, and the stories will make you laugh out loud. But unlike the first book, this one will break your heart: You'll want to hug your daddy, go watch your children sleep, cry for your lost youth, and beat up anyone who doesn't understand. Then she'll have you laughing again. (a) "You Can't Clone Decency" is one of the most poignant pieces I've ever read. There is a short novel called "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson that comes close, but you evoke the feeling of that book in just a few pages. It was so honest and painfully sincere: If I taught sex ed, it would be required reading. She's compared to Dave Barry and David Sedaris, but I'm not sure either of them could hit so close to the heart on such a sensitive subject. (b) "The Cradle Will Fall" left me wide awake, and scared, to tell the truth. This could be so many of us, anytime. If I ended up in the same place, could I tell it, possibly as a wake-up call to others like me, or would I find a convenient way to KEEP covering it up? I'm afraid I know the answer, and it's not pretty. (c) "A Symphony of Seasons" was my favorite part of the book. This is beauty in written word at its best. Something read aloud on NPR that makes you smile and tear up at the same time. This is not humor, or chic lit, or anything in between- this is pure southern literature. (d) The passion and tenderness the reader feels anytime her dad walks into a room colors the whole flavor of her stories, even when the primary focus is on the humor. And as much as I love her funny stories, I would treasure the privilege of getting to sit down with a Susan Reinhardt book that wasn't particularly funny. (e) But if the next one is funny, I'll read it, and love it, too . . .

Susan Reinhardt's latest book is every bit as hysterical as her others...perhaps funnier. I read several chapters while sitting in a Chinese restaurant and embarrassed myself when an unexpected burst of laughter caused the piece of egg roll I was chewing, to fly across the room. The characters in this book are preposterous, wacky and wonderful. We're never quite sure which are real and which are a creation of Reinhardt's highly developed sense of the absurd. Reinhardt does something different in this book than she's done before; she reveals a time in her life that was not all laughs; a time when dark, deep depression lead to nine days in a mental hospital. Her decision to open up to her readers was bold, brave and edifying. As a non-fiction humor writer myself, I'd kill for a dose of Reinhardt's uninhibited imagination.

This book is extremely funny, yet the essays I liked best were those that touched on the darker side of life. It's common to cover pain with laughter, and while people may assume that humorists must be laughing all the time, Reinhardt makes it clear that they are subject to the same fears, tears and anxieties we all are. I really related to the issues of motherhood, fear of aging and fighting your demons that Reinhardt raises. The book is by turns laugh out loud funny and frankly honest. I was born and raised in New York, so even though I live in Dallas now, I am far from a Southern Belle. You definitely don't have to be one to know one, or to laugh with one!

It's that IT thing for which all humor writers pray ... the ability to be naturally funny, no matter what. Lucille Ball had it. Carol Burnett had it. Erma had it. Susan Reinhardt has it, bless her heart. Her first book, Not Tonight Honey: Wait Till I'm a Size Six was silly and hilarious and at times raucous and rowdy. I giggled my way through. Thinking I was in for more of the same with her new book, Don't Sleep With a Bubba, I could hardly wait to wrap myself in some good ole down home humor, Reinhardt Style. She did not disappoint. Here's the kicker: she also exposes a vulnerable side of herself that has been hidden within the folds of laughter for way too long. Writing openly and honestly about her Achilles' heel, she even finds bits of humor in her darkest nights. In three chapters, she takes off her clown mask and becomes human, giving depth and insight to the entire book. Susan pokes fun at herself throughout. She still blames BIB (Bitch in a Bag), the name she gave her uterus for making her go "crazy as a shot cat." Her mother is liberally sprinkled throughout and is always a delight. Her kids and her husband dive often into the wacky world of this writer. The chapters are filled with prose that comes straight from the author's heart and funny bone. Oh, heck. I don't want to spoil it for you, so go on and buy Susan Reinhardt's terrific new book, Don't Sleep With a Bubba ...Unless Your Eggs Are in Wheelchairs. You're gonna love it, bless your heart.

Susan Reinhardt's new book is a great read! Her humor, as introduced by her previous book "Not tonight Honey..." is front and center but readers also get a glimpse at the darker side as well. Susan honestly writes about her struggle with depression, with being a southern "good girl" and other issues one deals with when being the perpetual funny gal. It takes courage to write about personal struggles and I believe that this book will help a lot of folks who may be feeling the same way. As for the title, it's a bit unfortunate.