Family: The Ties That Bind.... and Gag » (~)

A cherished family reunion sets the stage of Erma Bombeck's predictably hilarious recollections of raising a family. Her conclusion: you can't live with them, you can't live without them...or can you...?

Publishers Weekly

Syndicated columnist and bestselling author (Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession Bombeck here takes a look at the family grown and comes up with characteristically incisive, irreverent and pertinent wisdom. Her three children, now adults, and herself at the age where ``you look wonderful,'' she provokes thought about the shifting family. Intergenerational relationshipsBombeck's with her parents; hers with her childrenand the amorphous family constellations of the '80s are explored by a master of the art of domesticity. Adult children who return to the empty nest, technology that needs to be mastered in kitchen and family room are grist for Bombeck's ever-ready mill. ``Family is a perennial that comes up year after year'' demonstrates matriarch Bombeck. First serial to Redbook; author tour. (September 28)