It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy by Laurie Notaro

It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy Reviews

• 
  Kate

  3.5 stars
  
  I love Laurie Notaro's unique sense of humor and her non-fiction books are so much better than her fictional ones because of the goofy stuff that happens to her on a daily basis. This book is a funny fast read that helped get me through a trip to the DMV to change my address on my license (I was the only person having fun there), as well as, my daily commute this week.
  
  The gems of this collection include:
  
  - Fancy store shirt trapping
  - Ambien Laurie (she's hilarious!)
  - Getting banned from the post office aka "The Two-Cent Stamp Bandit"
  - Jellyfish fever
  - Touching Babe's Blue Balls
  - Mom's emails where FWD = Forecasting World Destruction (Something I can totally relate to!)
  - Oh and last but not least, the dog bark translator.
  
  A must read for anyone with a wicked sense of humor.
  
  
• 
  Barb

  WARNING: Do not read this book while you are in the doctor's office waiting room. You will either be laughing so hard that the receptionist will think you are having a seizure or you will be asked if everything is all right since you are crying.
  
  The book is quite funny and trying to not laugh out loud is next to impossible. Everyone can relate to at least one chapter in the book. A great read when you are feeling overwhelmed with work, the economy, the kids, etc.
• 
  librarian90

  There are few things worse than reading a review that makes a book sound amazing and laugh-out-loud funny, wait for weeks until it's actually in the system, wait all day until there's time to curl up and start reading said hilarious book, and don't laugh. Not even a slight smile. The author's sense of humor is not mine and I'm still trying to find humor in getting stuck in shirt that was clearly marked as a size too small and getting blood on it. The only word that comes to mind is "whatever". Good thing I got it from the library and didn't waste any money!
• 
  thefourthvine

  I read a trio of Laurie Notaro's books a decade ago, and then declared I was done with her, because her humor could not make up for the relentless pummeling of her self-loathing. But a few weeks ago I thought of her for some reason, and it occurred to me that after a decade, maybe I could read her again.
  
  I wish I had not had thought. This book is everything that made me stop reading her -- an endless pounding beat of "oh, I'm so stupid, I'm so fat, I'm so ugly, I'm such a dummy" -- plus a new counterbeat of dislike for her readers and everyone else in the world. It's. Well. Not great.
  
  Basically, Notaro used to be the Miserable Friend -- somebody who has such great qualities, and is so fun to be with, that you can almost ignore the way she forces you to listen to the nasty voice playing on a loop in her head, the way she constantly reinforces her dislike of herself. She was the friend who, sure, gets drunk way more than you wish she would and makes choices that are not in her best interest, and who you desperately wish would get therapy, but you love her anyway.
  
  Notaro has become Asshole Friend. She's the one whose contributions you dread coming up in the group text because half the time what she says is so mean you cringe. She's the one who says she's a liberal, sure, but all this trans stuff and coddling children and political correctness these days has just Gone Too Far. She's the one making fun of people, including strangers on the street. The one you suspect is making fun of you, too, whenever you're not around.
  
  And here's the thing about Asshole Friends: they aren't funny (because their humor, if they have any, is of the punching-down variety), and they aren't fun. Asshole Friends are the kind of people you end friendships with, and I. I guess I am ready to end this friendship.
• 
  Alena

  I don't know why I don't read humor essays more often. This one had me laughing out loud. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy since they couldn't see the book in my lap over the fence, but somehow I think Notaro might appreciate that.
• 
  Marla

  Pretty funny book. I had fun listening to it while I worked. I think people were wondering why I was laughing sometimes.
• 
  Margaret

  I can't give a plot summary of this book because I didn't get past page 27. There are some books that don't grab my interest right away, but I keep reading to see if I am missing something; or I put it aside and come back later when my mind is cleared. I want to give it a fair chance, and very often, I am glad I did. This book was a disaster for me.
  
  At the beginning (and keep in mind, I didn't get much past that) Laurie finds herself stuck in an adorable blouse, marked down to a bargain price, but too small. Ok. I have had a zipper get stuck or I have had a pair of slacks that just didn't quite make it past my hips. It is frustrating, embarrassing, and disappointing. So that part seemed real and I could see the humor in the situation. The problem was, the escapade went on and on and long descriptive imaginary dialogue between her "nice voice" and her "mean voice". Laurie ends up buying the too small, by then bloody blouse due to her struggle and a too small slip as well to cover up for her battle in the dressing room.
  
  Immediately following in chapter 2, Laurie becomes known as "Ambien Laurie". It seems that she takes Ambien as a sleep aid, wakes up in the night and becomes a serial internet shopper as well as a compulsive eater. She makes long phone calls to friends that she doesn't remember. The Ambien also causes her to have unbelievable dreams about Fart Charts. (Really??) and men covered in marsupial fur keeping cheeseburgers warm under their man boobs. ( I can't get this picture out of my mind. Ew
  www.)
  
  That was the end for me. I was prepared for a light, fun read. There have been many well-done stories about women and their struggles with their weight issues. I was hoping for an up-lifting positive story and this one may well have been just that, but I couldn't get past the rambling descriptions and the rather disgusting scenarios. I didn't understand after a few pages where this story was going, but I didn't want to stick with it to find out. Other reviews have raved about the quirky humor of Notaro, but she is just not the author for me.
• 
  Samantha

  I should start out by saying that I had never read a Laurie Notaro book before so I didn't have any grand expectations like some of the other reviews, but I can say just one thing if it's meant to be funny, it probably should be. The opening essay follows the author through the dressing room shame of not being able to fit into GASP a size medium shirt. Seriously, woman? A medium? That's where you lost me. The very first essay and I'm gone even as you're slitting yourself open and practically handing over said shirt soaked in blood like a maxi pad (which, by the way, is just gross, not particularly funny) to be paid for. My mind has already moved on to wonder--indeed PRAY--for when Jen Lancaster's next book is coming out because that woman, ladies, can bring the funny!
• 
  Leah K

  It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy by Laurie Notaro
  
  ★★★★★ + ♥
  
  I’ve pretty much read every Laurie Notaro book, and as usual, this one did not disappoint in the least. In fact, I would say that this is one of my favorite by her. She is hilarious. If you enjoy Jen Lancaster, this is no way you can’t enjoy Notaro and vise versa.
  
  The situations that Laurie gets herself into are too funny, I found myself laughing on several occasions while reading this book. They are also situations that one can see themselves getting into. For the most part, they aren’t over top, making her very relatable. I would recommend this for anyone looking for some humor. It’s a fun, quick read. I know I had trouble putting it down. I was even disappointed that sleep finally took over at several points (being super sick and on sleepy meds does that) because it meant putting down the book. I look forward to her next book being released this coming week (on 5/7/2013).
  
• 
  Stephanie

  I did not actually read this. I listened to the audiobook and I've made it through about half of the first disc. And now I am abandoning it. DO NOT bother with this crap. First an essay about trying on a shirt and how she can't get the shirt off because she's too fat? And now the next essay is about having woken up in a hotel room with snack packaging around her and she's unknowingly bought some cute shoes online in the middle of the night?
  
  I absolutely HATE women like this and will not be listening to one more sentence of this. Yeah, all women do is eat and shop. I am going to stop this book right now before I have to hear something about RELATIONSHIPS, for godsake!
  
  And most damning - this book is soooooo not funny.
• 
  Meg

  Ambien shenanigans. Tweekers falling asleep on your front lawn. Getting into a fight with a size “M” shirt at a boutique store — and losing. All just moments in the life of Laurie Notaro, a humor writer transplanted from sunny Arizona to the hippie-laced suburbs of Oregon. And in her latest memoir, It Looked Different On The Model, Notaro welcomes us again into the zany world that is her no-holds-barred brain.
  
  Notaro has been my hero for quite some time — and though I couldn’t get into her recent novel, I’m still a huge fan of her true-to-life, hilarious stories. No one makes me giggle like Notaro, and some of her scenes in this one — especially those including “Ambien Laurie” — will forever be embedded in my brain. Her line about a monkey rooting through purse trash? Comedy gold.
  
  That being said, is this Notaro’s finest work? Nope. Laurie is at her best when she’s making fun of herself and relating stories of “impending shame and infamy,” as her title suggests. The only problem here is that while a few of her recent tales had me in stitches, the vast majority just sort of . . . rambled along with no real goal or intention. Just between you and me, friends, I may have skimmed over a few. Like the open letter to her alleged iPhone thief? I mean, I love my phone — I really do. But page after page of that drivel? Eh.
  
  But I still love you, Laurie — and I still desperately wish you could be my BFF. We’d make snarky comments about our neighbors and speculate over which crazy acquaintance is really a drug addict and gripe about our weight. It would be a grand old time.
  
  I read this book quickly and recommend it — and her — to fans of Jen Lancaster and Valerie Frankel. If you’re looking for laugh-out-loud memoirs that remind you we really are all human, Laurie Notaro could well be your girl. I recommend starting with We Thought You Would Be Prettier, my first experience with Notaro — but if you’re a stickler for reading chronologically, first check out The Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club. Laurie doesn’t take herself too seriously, and that’s what I love about her. She’s a hilarious mess.
• 
  Terry Southard

  One of the reviews I read said that Notaro has sledgehammer humor (or something to that effect). Nothing is treated subtly. I agree. But I think the problem with reviews like this is more the way the reader *read* the book, and not so much with how the author *wrote* the book. Here's what I mean: The book is not a novel. It is a series of humorous anecdotes and rants. If you read the book all at once, the way you'd read a novel, it *does* run together and get old. But I do not believe that's the way the book works best. It is meant to be dipped into, one little bite at a time, and then put down, to be picked up again a couple of days later. Read that way, Notaro's sarcastic humor is *funny* and not wearing.
  
  At least to me.
• 
  Kelly

  Laurie Notaro is a gift to all our feminine insecurities. She gets to the heart of the matter, slices it to pieces and exposes it with raw humor. The next time I try on clothes at the boutique, I'm not going to leave feeling defeated because I left my best body years ago. I'm going to giggle, remembering Laurie's recollection of her dressing room experience.
  
  I convulsed with laughter six pages in. Just a word of warning, pee before reading. That's how funny she is!
• 
  Whitney

  The first word that comes to mind here is "hysterical," EXCEPT that Laurie Notaro is one of those authors who will know that when the word "hysterical" is used, correct grammar dictates it to describe a person, and NOT a synonym for "funny." If someone says, "Oh, she's hysterical," this is not a nice thing. It means that the person in question is behaving in ways that, in previous centuries, would land women in sanitariums for life. Examples of such behavior are:
  
  
  (For further questions, don't forget to call your local asylum today!)
  
  Well, anyway, these days we all can relate! Perhaps this book IS hysterical. Definitely laugh-out-loud funny. I feel sympathy for Laurie Notaro because her internal voices are MEAN. She's a tough cookie, though. She can handle it because her family raised her to handle almost anything. Warm yet ruthless.
  
  Quote from Laurie's mother: "You don't just open a coffeemaker and pour a gallon of water in the first hole you see. It's not a girl at the bar." (What kind of bars does she go to?)
  
  Laurie's take on her pre-teen nephew: "I figured if you're old enough to go to the bathroom for forty minutes with the door closed and you really ARE just reading a magazine, you're old enough to figure out what a pair of pants looks like folded up." (Kids these days, amirite?)
• 
  Brian

  Dear Laurie Notaro,
  
  I've loved most of your books, except your last fiction book. I was very excited that you were putting out another collection of humorous short stories. However, I felt that some of the stories in this book were a bit lacking. There were plenty of funny ones, sure, but a couple of them were very tough to follow and didn't make a lot of sense. I would give this book lower, but it gets three stars because it did have a few stories that made me chuckle.
  
  Your sort of fan,
  
  Brian
• 
  Chanda

  A friend of mine recommended another book by her, but it wasn't available at the time so I thought I'd give this one a try. My husband now thinks I'm a crazy person because I was laughing out loud, almost to the point of crying, while reading this book. I love her sarcastic sense of humor - right up my alley. Each chapter is a short story so it's great to read when you only have a few minutes, like waiting at the doctor's office or picking up kids from school. I will definitely read some of her other books.
• 
  Jan Polep

  Well, I've finally hurt myself reading a book. I have many witty, fun friends but this Notaro wins, hands down. Some chapters are just amusing but the story about the dog-bark translator brought a stitch to my side and tears of laughter so loud and so long that Steve and Jack left the room. It was even funnier than Jack trying to share his dog toys with the chipmunk in the livingroom today...but I digress...
• 
  Amy

  Well, maybe I shouldn't say "read" because I didn't finish it. I keep looking for what I enjoyed in "The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club". Why can't I find it??? It makes me wonder if I was right about it after all. I did enjoy the first few stories in this one more than I have her last few books in total, but they weren't enough to keep me reading and I still felt a little let down. :( Bummer.
• 
  Beverly J.

  Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard at times that i snorted. Bad bad funny, LOL....it had some seriously lacking parts but the hilarious parts far out weighed them.
• 
  Tracy

  Wow, this is just so bad and not funny.
  Perhaps the humor from 2011 does not stand the test of time.
• 
  Alatea

  Meh. I guess it's okay when you are on a plane with nothing else to read, but otherwise I wouldn't ave finished it.
• 
  Ruth

  I was browsing for books at Borders about two years ago. A young salesgirl asked me if she could help me find anything. I told her I was just browsing and she told me that she really enjoyed books by Laurie Notaro. I did write her down in my book where I list books to read and I must say that I found the titles of her books very interesting. Since I was making a long drive, I like to have a book on CD to help pass the time. My daughter was going with me so I needed one that would interest both of us. When I saw that this one was available I figured it would be perfect for us.
  
  The book was a collection of essays on her take about things that have happened to her and her family. Her topics are varied and although a few brought a chuckle to my lips, all in all I found that I would much rather read Lisa Scottoline's Best Friends, Occasional Enemies or the other two books she has written which are similar to this one. I wouldn't write her off but I will look her books over carefully before I decide to spend time between the covers.
• 
  Beth Brekke

  This book was not exactly what I was expecting but that's OK. Rather than a continuing story, it is a collection of short stories based on the author's experiences. How much you enjoy it will depend on how much you can relate and if your sense of humor matches. I most enjoyed the dressing room experience and the description of her vocally-challenged family. "I do not come from a family of singers. When we get together and warble "Happy Birthday" to one another over cake and candle, it doesn't sound as much like a song as it does a pack of jackals yapping over a fresh carcass. And in my case, it's nothing that you want to inflict on the innocent, or at least on people who haven't reported us to the city yet. Who is flat, off-key or tone deaf in the Notaro clan is all up in the air--it doesn't matter, and we can't tell, anyway." This served the purpose of the light read I was looking for but is not something I would rave about.
• 
  MissSusie

  Another fun book from Laurie Notaro! The chapter where she realizes that size M and an L are very different and her dressing room antics had tears running down my face!
  
  And who hasn’t gotten those FWDFWDFWDFWD from your parents or in-laws with every hoax available to man and no matter how many times you tell them it’s a hoax they still send them along to you!
  
  Ambien Laurie is freaking hilarious and makes me wonder what this drug is supposed to do because it didn’t seem to help her sleep!
  
  I enjoy Laurie’s sense of humor its sardonic and sarcastic and I can relate to her very well. Laurie’s books are fun and will make you laugh if you like sarcastic humor.
  
  As usual Hilary Huber does a great job at the narration!
  4 Stars
  
• 
  Ruth

  This book was entertaining and fun. It wasn't quite as good as Notaro's earlier books, several of which made me laugh so hard that passengers on three planes had to wonder if an escaped mental patient was on board. I can't put my finger on exactly why "It Looked Different..." didn't live up to the hilarity of Notaro's previous books of essays, but maybe it seemed she was trying a little too hard this time. It can't be that we get less funny as we get older, can it? Still, this book is a pleasant way to pass the time, with essays of just the right length and depth to read amidst interruptions.
• 
  Stephanie

  3.5 - Some of the essays were hillarious and some were not that great. I felt like she was really stretching it on some of them and trying to hard (like the one where she lost her phone and the one about her mom sending e-mails to her). But, I will still read more of her stuff when she releases it. All, in all, this cements my view that, though her writing is funny, she can't touch David Sedaris. Worth buying but I'm glad I didn't pay full price.
• 
  Lauri

  Laurie Notaro is a very funny author. I've read most of her earlier books, and although I didn't love this one as much as some of the others, it was definitely a fun and enjoyable read. She has a humorous view of the world with a hint of bitterness/cynicism to which I can definitely relate. Plus her family is even nuttier than mine. :)