Friends of Betty MacDonald

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Topic: Reading Betty again

Last Reply: Mar 15, 2010 1:06 PM

Joined: Mar, 2010

Mar 01, 2010, 8:54 PM

4939

I just read Anybody Can Do Anything for the fourth time, and The Plague and I for the third. Every time I read a Betty book I send it to a friend, so I have to keep getting more copies. I first read Anybody Can Do Anything at age 14 after finding it on my mother's bookshelf. It was like discovering a secret no one else knew about. Now, 50 years later I still feel the same. One of my other favorite writers is Hunter S. Thompson, who I find perfectly appropriate as a literary companion to Betty.

johnftwa48in

Joined: Feb, 2005

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Mar 02, 2010, 8:39 AM	4940
To me, The Plague and I is Betty's best book after The Egg and I.

debbies

Joined: Jul, 2005

Location: Northern California

Occupation: Vagabond

Mar 06, 2010, 5:42 PM	4942
Betty's books - like most classics - are truly timeless (and difficult NOT to share!). Good for you, Jeff, for spreading the word of Betty's clever and poignant writing. We can "keep her alive" by sharing with others, and I encourage all our members to pass along any extra copies they may have of Betty's books!

johnftwa48in

Joined: Feb, 2005

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Mar 06, 2010, 11:25 PM	4944
To have extra copies of Betty's books would be a wonderful addition to any home library. I have an extra copy of TE&I in paperback that I use for research and it has lots of notes scribbled in the margins.

johnftwa48in

Joined: Feb, 2005

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Mar 07, 2010, 11:22 PM

4945

Hello MacDonalites,

After a long arduous move to a new apartment, one that affords me the luxury of a much need and desires office, I found myself surrounded by a sea of boxes, books, and stacks of files on Betty that desperately needed straightened out. So, after a few whiskey sours I decided to tackle the job of getting these files in order. During the course of my little adventure, and in between whisky sours that were more whisky than sour, I found an interview that Betty did in 1947 for the University of Washington newspaper. I would like to share part of it with you.

“Egging on the Author of The Egg and I”

“ I know that my ‘outrageous’ success has been very galling to some writers who feel, and probably rightly so, that their books are far better than mine abs cannot understand why theirs only sold a few thousand copies and The Egg and I sold over a million… Certainly when I was crouched in my kitchen on Vashon Island writing The Egg I didn’t dream that I was oozing out a bestseller. The most I hoped for was to get the damned thing finished and published so that I wouldn’t have to move off the Island because I had told so many people on the ferry that I was writing a book…George Savage… told me that if I made a great deal of money and spent it freely I would be called a show off —a try-to-be- grand. If I made a great deal of money and saved it, I would be called stingy and a miser. He said that I would encounter envy and jealousy where I least expect it and instead of getting my feelings hurt I should learn to brace my feet and let the blows glance off. I have tried and tried but… I still cannot understand why people will crawl for miles over broken glass just to tell me how hideous I look.” – Betty MacDonald, Fall 1947.

Columns, University of Washington. 1947

I hope you enjoyed this little insight on Betty.

debbies

Joined: Jul, 2005

Location: Northern California

Occupation: Vagabond

Mar 15, 2010, 1:06 PM	4952
I have seen this article, too. It does appear Betty felt the need to justify her success, though she certainly deserved every bit of acclaim and the monetary gains from that acclaim. You can tell from this interview, she is expressing her frustration, under the guise of quoting George Savage. Clever!

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