“I’d sooner wear white shoes in February, drink unsweetened tea, and eat Miracle Whip instead of Duke’s than utter the words ‘you guys’.”

This one starts out very funny, and then goes downhill pretty quickly. I’d recommend just reading the first third, or skipping it altogether…

Celia Riverbark is a Southern woman, and really proud of it. Obnoxiously so. Some parts of this collection of stories cracked me up, especially her updates to a 1950s textbook on pleasing your man:

“[Home Economics Textbook from 1950]: “Make [your husband] comfortable. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in low, soft, soothing tones, allowing him to relax and unwind.”

Mama Celia: “Place a pillow over his head and hold it there until he promises to do at least one household chore a month.”

But most of the book is either political (and it’s about 10 years out of date, and doesn’t hold up well), or insensitive in a way that’s not funny (a whole chapter of transvestite jokes). I have a sense of humor, and I live in the South, but a lot of the contents of this book are too tasteless to be funny.