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Jun 15, 2013JCLBeckyC rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Scottoline and her nest-flown daughter Francesca Serritella take turns writing short essays about living alone without being lonely. Scottoline, twice-divorced, surrounds herself on the couch in front of the big screen TV with her pack of five dogs, two cats and a laptop. Serritella has recently moved into her first post-college apartment in New York City, which worries her mother to our amusement: “I thought I said, ‘I am going to see my cousin’s new apartment.’ but in Mom-speak that translates to: ‘I am going to meet certain death in the New York City subway tunnels that are soon to be my tomb.’” Octogenarian curmudgeon “Mother Mary” is a recurring character who is quite a character, as well as Scottoline’s gay brother who puts their mother up in his house in south Florida and somehow manages to put up with her. Serritella writes lovingly and humorously about trying to get her grandmother to divulge a secret family recipe and is amused to discover it manages to include no fresh ingredients. Mother Mary goes on a book tour with Scottoline and steals the show like a 4’11” grey haired rock star. Fans flock to Scottoline’s appearances probably for the same reason even a Debbie Downer like me enjoyed this book. It’s easy to feel at home among these kooky people who open the door to their daily lives for us to enter and settle down to a good laugh.