This is a collection of humorous essays by the Deseret News columnist (and incidentally, the daughter of BYU football coach LaVell Edwards. Her subject (mostly) is the travails of modern family life with lots of small children. The voice of this book is plucky, smart--someone you would like to be friends with. Her comedy is unforced and natural; it's closer to Garrison Keillor than the irritating wackiness of Erma Bombeck. For me, her funniest theme is her secret fear that she has white-trash tendencies (a common fear, I think, among Utah expatriates.) This fear is grimly confirmed when she takes a couple of her boys to the doctor and discovers they aren't wearing any underwear. "I can assure you," she tells the doctor, "that I am wearing mine." The quality of her comedy about her imperfect-but-always-trying family occasionally hits "Simpsons" levels of hilarity. But Edwards also shows a touching, down-to-earth, common-sense sense spirituality than can unexpectedly put tears in your eyes. Highly recommened.

---
R.W. Rasband                                      rrasband@mailexcite.com
Heber City, UT                                       hsu481@freenet.mb.ca