Idiots and Children: Slightly Off-Kilter Tales of Family, Food, and Firearms

In her latest collection of humor essays, award-winning author Diana Estill delivers twisted tales of past and present. Having grown up with an absent-minded father and a mother who refused to wear-but nevertheless tried to sell-beauty products, Estill drolly recalls her childhood angst and confusion. The author's keen observations about life and family straddle the line between satire and memoir, consistently hitting the comedic bull's eye.

Besides poking fun at herself and her kin, Estill unleashes tongue-in-cheek commentary on subjects such as populating Mars, finding the "fun" in funerals, cloning Neanderthals, and store gun policies. ("If you're feeling unsafe enough to pack a shotgun for your trip to purchase pork rinds, then maybe you ought to stay home and shoot your own snacks.") Travelogues about crossing the pond ("Looking for the Loo in London") and commissioning a hot air balloon to fly across a desert ("Fatal Attractions") offer witty vacation advice. If you enjoy a good laugh, this book is one to add to your collection.

Included in these 24 essays:

An Apple a Day Teaches Nothing
Cosmetically Confused
Do These Jeans Make My Butt Look Perky?
Fifty Nightshades of Grey
Finding the "Fun" in Funerals
Legally Stupid
Life in Dad's Laboratory
Psycho Hotline
Separation of Church and Fate and more...