The Egg and I - Betty MacDonald

"A beloved literary treasure for more than half a century, Betty MacDonald's The Egg and I is a heartwarming and uproarious account of adventure and survival on an American frontier. "

Betty MacDonald's autobiographical novel does a few quick pages on childhood and launches headlong into a painstaking account of her first few years of marriage on a chicken ranch in Washington state. MacDonald fills the stories with humor, self-deprecating humor, panic, loneliness, achievement and some more humor. I laughed constantly through this book.

I also learned a bit. Apparently early 1900's farm life is centered heavily around growing, preserving and eating your own food. MacDonald revels in the fare available and discusses in excruciating detail nearly every aspect of the planting, tending, harvesting, preserving and preparing fruits and veggies, and the birthing, raising, butchering, preserving and preparing meat. And that's before she even gets into the chickens.

I highly recommend this book, its a quick read from a very clever female writer with an early feminist voice. Oh, and did I mention that the old Ma & Pa Kettle movies are based on MacDonald's neighbors in this book? Yep, they are.