A review of “May Contain Nuts: A Novel of Extreme Parenting”

by John O’Farrell


A mini-review, if you will.

I didn’t like this book, at all, for the most part. Sure, it was funny. But for John O’Farrell, well, it wasn’t quite up to snuff. It was heavy-handed, awkward, and tedious, at times.

Until the end. About a page or two from the end, where I didn’t think he’d do anything at all to redeem the book and was just reading it to get it forever off my bedside table and banished to some mostly unreachable corner of the bookshelf, he did it. It may have been the germ that ignited the whole book for him, and he just got bogged down in the details along the way, or he may have finally hit his stride after dealing with these characters all the way along. But whatever it was, I would say the end was nearly worth it for me, slogging through all the rest.

Twitter Updates for 2008-04-28

  • Erm… the iPhone screen went sort of whitish, then black, and now is dead, to me and the world. Not a good idea to plug it into a HiFi? No. #
  • Apple Store in Burlington (MA), you guys kick butt. #
  • @yodasl – Rain. And replaced iPhones. And… not much else. No AC problems. : ) #
  • @yodasl – I think you’d better sort out your stories when the police show up, looking into your dodgy A/C past… I rang them a bit ago… #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-04-28

  • Erm… the iPhone screen went sort of whitish, then black, and now is dead, to me and the world. Not a good idea to plug it into a HiFi? No. #
  • Apple Store in Burlington (MA), you guys kick butt. #
  • @yodasl – Rain. And replaced iPhones. And… not much else. No AC problems. : ) #
  • @yodasl – I think you’d better sort out your stories when the police show up, looking into your dodgy A/C past… I rang them a bit ago… #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-04-25

  • Craving a cup of Dunks right about now… #
  • I kinda regret not keeping any copies of "Olives: Wombats Dig ‘Em!", digital or burned to tape, at the very least. #
  • @dote Do iPhones count? With iPhones: 9, without: 7 #
  • @dote The thing is we’ve only ever paid for the first two (the very first two)… #
  • @andrewmac – Exactly. I think @shayman has just gotten smarter about not advertising his cheats… #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-04-25

  • Craving a cup of Dunks right about now… #
  • I kinda regret not keeping any copies of "Olives: Wombats Dig ‘Em!", digital or burned to tape, at the very least. #
  • @dote Do iPhones count? With iPhones: 9, without: 7 #
  • @dote The thing is we’ve only ever paid for the first two (the very first two)… #
  • @andrewmac – Exactly. I think @shayman has just gotten smarter about not advertising his cheats… #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-04-24

  • Bed. Build system yet again, and in a different way this time, wrestled into submission. #
  • Travel booked to the Coop for mid-May. People to whom I owe copious amounts of beer be warned. (Also be warned we’re bringing the kids.) #
  • Worried that I’m having difficulties telling the difference between my wife’s socks and the two year old’s. #
  • @whump Boooooooooooo. (Sorry, force of habit at seeing the name…) #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-04-23

  • Ugh. Flyers vs Montreal? Could both teams could be floated out onto an iceberg to play out their series while the rest of us rev our cars? #
  • @danielpunkass Listen, if it interferes with your ability to hunt down and KILL food for your loved ones, it should be done grudgingly. #
  • @shayman And CanadiEns have a simple approach, too: it’s like diving. Oh, and beating the snot out of the Bruins. #

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