book 72

frank b. gilbreth and ernestine gilbreth carey's cheaper by the dozen
so my sister bought the steve martin version of this story on dvd yesterday, and i was trying to express my frustration that they'd made such a sweet story into such a goofy-looking movie (not that the book doesn't have goofy parts, but goofiness was way different in the 1920s). anyway, since this had been one of my favorites when i was growing up, and since i hadn't read it in probably 8 or 10 years, i took a quick glance at the ol' bookshelf and spotted it immediately. a sign! i reread it before bed last night and its sweetness and fun still hold up--i mean, it hasn't been out of print since it was first published in the 40s, so i wasn't surprised that i still loved the book. my favorite part is still the scene where the kids smoke one of the older sister's boyfriends out of a tree while he attempts to be a peeping tom. and i still get a little weepy when their much-loved father--one of the great fathers of literature!--dies suddenly of a heart attack. if i hadn't been so sleepy i'd have read the sequel last night too.