American Housewife: Stories - Helen Ellis Audiobook

Written by Helen Ellis
Read by Kathleen McInerney; Lisa Cordileone, Rebecca Lowman, Dorothy Dillingham Blue
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: January 12, 2016
Duration: 03:46:04

A sharp, funny, delightfully unhinged collection of stories set in the dark world of domesticity, American Housewife features murderous ladies who lunch, celebrity treasure hunters, and the best bra fitter south of the Mason Dixon line.

Meet the women of American Housewife: they wear lipstick, pearls, and sunscreen, even when it’s cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. They pump the salad spinner like it’s a CPR dummy. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies out of the oven.

These twelve irresistible stories take us from a haunted prewar Manhattan apartment building to the set of a rigged reality television show, from the unique initiation ritual of a book club to the getaway car of a pageant princess on the lam, from the gallery opening of a tinfoil artist to the fitting room of a legendary lingerie shop.

Vicious, fresh, and nutty as a poisoned Goo Goo Cluster, American Housewife is an uproarious, pointed commentary on womanhood.

Reviewers had differing opinions….
Iloved the dark comedic tone of this whole book. Each story dared you not to laugh or say “Amen” because there is guaranteed to be something in here for everyone. Like the cover denotes, Ellis’ writing is like a collage statement piece: relics of the outdated role of women bumped up against the modern, sometimes extreme, version. An example is of one housewife who dishes household advice while plotting how to rid herself of a cadaver. Do I sense a bit of satirical humor?

I think the satire Helen Ellis evoked in her writing was supposed to highlight the relevance of Feminism, but to me these women came across as too cartoonish, twisted and unpalatable. Maybe I am too removed both geographically and culturally, from their Southern domestic experience to empathize?

I loved every second of this. I couldn’t help but cheer on all of these fierce females. Hilarious and dark at the same time, highly recommended!