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There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble

by Laurie Notaro

There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble Cover

ISBN13: 9780812975727
ISBN10: 0812975723
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The first novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club is a rollicking tale of small-town peculiarity, dark secrets, and one extraordinary beauty pageant.

When her husband is offered a post at a small university, Maye is only too happy to pack up and leave the relentless Phoenix heat for the lush green quietude of Spaulding, Washington. While she loves the odd little town, there is one thing she didn't anticipate: just how heartbreaking it would be leaving her friends behind. And when you're a childless thirtysomething freelance writer who works at home, making new friends can be quite a challenge.

After a series of false starts nearly gets her exiled from town, Maye decides that her last chance to connect with her new neighbors is to enter the annual Sewer Pipe Queen Pageant, a kooky but dead-serious local tradition open to contestants of all ages and genders. Aided by a deranged former pageant queen with one eyebrow, Maye doesn't just make a splash, she uncovers a sinister mystery that has haunted the town for decades.

Review:

"[Laurie Notaro] may be the funniest writer in this solar system." The Miami Herald

Synopsis:

The first novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, this is a rollicking tale of small-town peculiarity, dark secrets, and one extraordinary beauty pageant.

About the Author

Laurie Notaro was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She packed her bags for Eugene, Oregon, once she realized that since she was past thirty, her mother could no longer report her as a teenage runaway. She is the author of The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, Autobiography of a Fat Bride, I Love Everybody, We Thought You'd Be Prettier, and An Idiot Girl's Christmas. She is currently at work on a plan B (to take effect when her book contract runs out,) which consists of options with minimum dander of office politics, including selling hot dogs at Costco, selling hot dogs from a street cart, selling hot dogs at high school football games, or being the Stop sign holder for road construction crews. She avoids raccoons both day and night and fully expects to be run out of her new hometown once this book is published. At press time, she is still married, her cat is still alive, and she has an adorably disobedient dog named Maeby, who wears sweaters and loves chicken strips. (Clearly, Notaro has no children.)

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 5 comments:
kai, August 17, 2008 (view all comments by kai)
Laurie Notaro's first book that isn't short stories and it's a winner. Everyone who ever lived in a small town can relate to the characters in this story--I found myself laughing and and saying, "oh that's ...". As with all of Laurie Notaro's books, you will be laughing out loud. For those of you living within 100 miles of Powell's, make sure you come to her readings because she's even crazier in person than in her books.
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
R J Fink, May 23, 2008 (view all comments by R J Fink)
DO NOT read this book at work, while waiting for a funeral to start, in your shrink's waiting room, or at a golf tournament.

Laurie Notaro brings real, honest-to-goodness humor back in a way that reminds the reader of Gilda Radner, Lucille Ball, and Carol Burnett all rolled into one. Yes, I mentioned those three queens of comedy in reference to Laurie Notaro.

This stuff is gut-busting, oh-no-my-bladder funny. It's old-school funny in a new way. It's funnier than two monkeys trying to bake a cake. It's painful, face-hurting, muscle-pulling goodness. But it's worth it. Try some today!
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(4 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)
Jennifer Jachimstal, February 9, 2008 (view all comments by Jennifer Jachimstal)
I will admit that I found some of the situations in this book slightly amusing, but I seriously cannot read this. The author's incessant use of ever-more-outrageous metaphors is driving me up a wall. I could put up with it from Maye; when the lawn-boy started spouting his own crazy metaphors, I had had enough. The whole book, from the writing to the off-the-wall characters that pepper every page, is completely overblown and unnecessary. This sounded like a funny book, but the slight storyline can't hold up to the effort the author has poured into being humorous.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780812975727
Subtitle:
A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble
Author:
Notaro, Laurie
Publisher:
Villard Books
Subject:
General
Subject:
Humorous fiction
Publication Date:
May 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
302
Dimensions:
8.02x5.26x.70 in. .53 lbs.

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