Please Don't Eat the Daisies

De: Jean Kerr

Narrado por: Marni Webb

This collection of essays observes the perils of motherhood, wifehood, selfhood, and other assorted challenges. Since its publication in 1957, it has sold millions of copies and has been adapted into a Broadway play, a film, a TV series, and now an audiobook. Jean Kerr's parodies of the clichéd 1950s prescription for glamorous or maternal feminine behavior still resonate today as we enter the 21st century.

©1987 Jean Kerr (P)2010 BBC Audio

Not the movie story. Great listen though.

This is a series of well written, short essays about family life in the 50’s but the mothers interactions with small children are timeless. Don’t get this if you are expecting the basic plot used in the Doris Day movie. That being said, the quality of the writing and narration makes this a very enjoyable listen.

Interesting

Not my normal reading material but I enjoyed the strong story and sense of character

Poor narration of smart, dry, funny essays

Would you consider the audio edition of Please Don't Eat the Daisies to be better than the print version?

Much worse. Narration is so off I cannot listen. And Jean Kerr is a favorite.

What other book might you compare Please Don't Eat the Daisies to and why?

Dave Barry essays. Funny, smart, domestic. Kerr is less over the top than Barry. Interesting glimpse into life and theater scene in New York in the fifties.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Vaudeville style humor narration -- every slightly funny line is so overemphasized it is like being hit in the face with a pie.

Any additional comments?

I literally have not been able to listen to even the first essay, the narration is so grating and off.

Funny

As a stay at home mom, it’s nice to hear that the overwhelm mothers feel today has always existed and kids haven’t changed.

Dated, so dated

I remember when I was small, watching the television show "please don't eat the daisies." I loved it, and assumed that the book would be similar. Unfortunately, the book was extremely dated. For instance, instead of saying that she didn't want her children to be scarred so much that they would end up going to expensive psychiatrists when they were adults, she said she didn't want them going to psychiatrists who would charge $25 an hour. $25 an hour! I so wish that was the price today!

That was just one of many, many, many Times that she used a price or a date or something else that would throw you out of the book and into realization that this book was written in 1950, or whenever it was written. Whereas I expect that her goal was something to be universally applicable to people's lives, if a little exaggerated for comic effect, the frequent specifics of dates or names or decorating fashions, did the opposite.

It's sad. But it's a lesson in what not to do if you want your book to be read for decades in the future.

Just Awful

I don’t know what I was expecting but not yes. Was this a movie? It sounded familiar but not what I expected.