Let's time-travel to 1945, when the publishing industry was rocked by the humorous yet painfully honest autobiography of a rural housewife who came out of nowhere.
"The Egg and I" by Betty MacDonald tells of her life with her first husband on a chicken farm in rural Washington. Deprivation may have reigned, but Betty's ever- optimistic attitude ruled.
"Egg" was an international phenomenon that spent more than two years on best-seller lists and made the unassuming MacDonald famous and rich overnight. She wrote it 15 years after moving off the farm and divorcing her husband. The book has been translated worldwide and, amazingly, has never been out of print.
The 1947 movie starred Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. It introduced Ma and Pa Kettle, composite characters in the book, played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride. "Egg" also made it to TV in 1951 as a short-lived series.
MacDonald went on to write more books, including a children's series, "Miss Piggle Wiggle." To honor the centennial of her birth year (1908; she died in 1958), the Harper publishing company has issued a special edition of "Egg" ($13.95, 287 pages).
I phoned literary agent Charles Schlessiger in New York; he represents the MacDonald estate.
The book was published in an era when women in general were stay-at-home workers. Was part of its success due to the novelty of a female author?
Probably, but let me quote something Betty said about the book: "It's a rebuttal to the recent 'I love life' books by female 'good sports' whose husbands forced them to live in the country, without lights or running water."
This was a book that said, "Come on, this is hard work!"
What was the book's appeal back then?
The humor. Also, the false notion that the husband is in charge. When you read it, she's doing everything and dealing with the hardships. She was a feminist who predated feminism.
What is its appeal today?
Her voice hasn't dated at all, it's a "now" voice. You don't have the feeling that you're reading something that was written 50 years ago. It's stylish, straight-from-the-shoulder writing.
Big-buzz alert: "The Little Book" by Selden Edwards (Dutton, $25.95, 416 pages; on sale Aug. 14): Writing and getting this remarkable novel published was a 30-year labor of love for the author. "The story was nearly always in my head," he has said. In it, the protagonist, Wheeler Burden, 47, of San Francisco, suddenly finds himself in Vienna, Austria, in 1897. How he deals with this "dislocation in time" and what he discovers about his "impact on the course of human history" is the meat of the tale.
Upcoming author appearance:
Joan Hansen for the self-published "100 Years in Miami" (PublishAmerica, $20, 377 pages): South Florida is the setting for this multigenerational drama about the fictitious Donegon family and its climb up the ladder of power.
Event: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the South Natomas Library, 2901 Truxel Road, Sacramento; (916) 566-2129.
The Bee's Allen Pierleoni can be reached at (916) 321-1128 or apierleoni@sacbee.com. Contact him with news of coming literary events that are open to the public.
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