Gag Gifts, Occasion Gifts - Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again

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Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 746.432
EAN: 9780740769474
ISBN: 0740769472
Label: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-09-23
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Studio: Andrews McMeel Publishing

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Editorial Reviews:

". . . a sort of David Sedaris-like take on knitting--laugh-out-loud funny most of the time and poignantly reflective when it's not cracking you up." --Library Journal on Yarn Harlot

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee returns to pen another hilarious and poignant collection of essays surrounding her favorite topics: knitting, knitters, and what happens when you get those two things anywhere near ordinary people.

For the 60 million knitters in America, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a. the Yarn Harlot) shares stories of knitting horrors and triumphs, knitting successes and defeats, but, mostly, stories about the human condition that ring true for everyone--especially if you happen to have a rather large amount of yarn in your house.

Pearl-McPhee maintains a popular blog at www.yarnharlot.ca. Divided into sections relating to each essay's content, such as women, politics, family, and overcoming boredom, Free-Range Knitter will entertain yarnsmiths who enjoy sharing in the collective experiences of the woolen and silky skein.

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Free-Range Fun!
Comment: This book is a collection of stories. While it's written by knitters for knitters, you don't actually have to be a knitter to appreciate the stories. (The lingo might make a bit more sense though.) Since one of my ex-girlfriends liked to knit (and consequently, I've been on trips to buy yarn), I'm not entirely unfamiliar with knitting, but I've certainly never done anything with knitting needles that didn't involve pretend sword-fighting.

However, like I said, you don't have to be a knitter to appreciate the stories. The book's author/compiler, Susan Pearl McPhee, winds her own stories (and humourous letters) throughout the book, giving it a nice overall cohesiveness, and the stories that she's brought in from other writers are quite good. Broken up into sections which have knitting names ("Cast On" for the first, "Cast Off" for the last, etc.), the book is easy enough to read by story or by section.

There were times during the stories when I found myself laughing out loud, so I'm confident that others will really enjoy this book. Even though it's skewed toward a female audience (there's only one story about a male knitter, written by a woman, who then talks about how women view male knitters) the underlying themes of family, trials, tribulations, love, loss, happiness, and yes, knitting, speak to a human audience.

Customer Rating:

Summary: She's funny as ever!
Comment: More laughs and thought-provoking commentary. Very funny, even for the less experienced knitter. The Yarn Harlot is great!

Customer Rating:

Summary: My favorite philosopher
Comment: My review can't possibly do justice to the eloquence of this woman's writings. She is a wife and a mother and a knitter and a beautiful soul. She helps me to make sense of my crazy life, and to feel that my obsession with yarn is a normal and natural thing. And she makes me laugh.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Knitting enthusiasts will love this book
Comment: I love this book. So easy to pick up and put down as time permits. It is lighthearted and funny.

Another winner from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!

Customer Rating:

Summary: Absolutely hilarious! Especially for knitters
Comment: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is the funniest lady I know. She truly is the Erma Bombeck of knitting. I was thrilled to get this book as early as I did so that I could take it to the book signing and actually meet Steph and get it autographed.

If you have a chance to read her books - any of them - or hear her live, do it. Your sides will hurt from laughing.

It's an easy carry-around book, too. Small format and broken into short essays for short-term reading. Try it.

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