Anybody Can Do Anything Author:Betty MacDonald You know how sometimes friendship blossoms in the Þrst few moments of meeting? Something clicked, we say. Well, thats what discovering Betty MacDonald was like for me: I happened to read a couple of pages of one of her books and click knew right away that here was a vivacious writer whose friendly, fun... more »ny, and Þery company I was really going to enjoy. Although MacDonalds Þrst and most popular book, The Egg and I, has remained in print since its original publication, her three other volumes have been unavailable for decades. The Plague and I recounts MacDonalds experiences in a Seattle sanitarium, where the author spent almost a year (1938-39) battling tuberculosis. The White Plague was no laughing matter, but MacDonald nonetheless makes a sprightly tale of her brush with something deadly. Anybody Can Do Anything is a high-spirited, hilarious celebration of how the warmth and loyalty and laughter of a big family brightened their weathering of The Great Depression. In Onions in the Stew, MacDonald is in unbuttonedly frolicsome form as she describes how, with husband and daughters, she set to work making a life on a rough-and-tumble island in Puget Sound, a ferry-ride from Seattle.« less
Single mother in depression era Seattle, and her extended family. It's the sequel to "The Egg and I" about chicken farming in rural Washington in the late 20's.
I read "the Egg and I" first and really enjoyed it. Anybody Can Do Anything" presented a different side of Betty and, of course, includes her whole family and lots of insights into living through the Great Depression. She has a subtle humor throughout.
I am now looking for "The Plague and I." I also learned that her sister Mary wrote a few books and want to read them.