The New York Times Book Review: Laura Shapiro:
“Cunningham
makes it delightfully clear that the horrors of the simple life, from snakes to
nasty neighbors, are right up front with the bliss...she’s a sharp and witty
writer. If this particular memoirist
were offering up 287 pages on life in an auto parts dealership, you’d be well
advised to accept...This book...reminds me most of “The Egg and I”...published
in l945, remains a pleasure to read.
Half a century from now, someone is sure to be saying the same thing
about “
Sleeping Arrangements...was so extravagantly loved by readers and
reviewers that
The
“This is a wiser, deeper
voice than the one heard in Sleeping Arrangements" and it is a voice well
worth listening to, equally convincing for its range and hard-won
clarity”.."”
The
The New York Times: Michiko Kakutani
“...as engaging as “Sleeping Arrangements”. Adept at poking fun at her and her husband’s city-slicker dreams, Ms.Cunningham also gives us some delightful portraits of ...their friends and neighbors.”
TIME OUT: Marlene Adelstein
“...an engaging, affectionate tribute to the house that took her ten years to find –a big old yellow farmhouse...as well as an exploration of how a city girl could be so passionate about nature.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:
“A breath of fresh air...a wry,
funny account of Cunningham’s lifelong case of country-house fever.”
Library Journal: Sue Samson
“Cunningham’s memoir, a case for creative non-fiction, embodies Robert Frost’s remark that ‘locality gives art.’ This memoir draws you in as a novel might, capturing your interest with plot and characters. Highly recommended.
“lovely, bittersweet
memoir. A place in the Country is about
a girl from the
Book page: Eliza R.L. McGraw
“Combining autobiographical accounting with near-poetic turns of phrase..”
Publisher’s Weekly:
“Throughout, Cunningham’s lovely portrait of country scenes will engage readers, who, like her, have dreamed of the glories of a rural retreat.
The Journal News : Irina Rich Langer:
“Her escapades with the farm animals she adopts, the dairy farmers who live next door and the English lord and lady who sold her the house are lovingly and hilariously detailed.”
Cunningham’s buoyant spirit enables her to lighten urban life...She is living a dream and she does so with fortitude and courage...This is a wiser, deeper voice than the one readers heard in Sleeping Arrangements.”
“Her entertaining account of her search for the ideal country house is the grand-daughter of such American house hunt comedies as...Mr.Blandings Builds His Dream House and “George Washington Slept here.” ...lively reading...delightfully up to date.”
San Hose Mercury News:
“Like Jean Kerr and Betty
MacDonald before her, Laura Shaine Cunningham is both a wonderful writer and a
wonderful observer of domestic life.....”Sleeping
Arrangements...was so extravagantly loved by readers and reviewers that
..What comes as a surprise (is) how much of the book spins off in astonishing directions as Cunningham’s life transforms and deepens.
Garden Design: Cynthia Kling
“There is no better, funnier book than
Harper’s
Bazaar:
“Lyrical...taps
into every jaded urbanite’s fantasy of an idyllic country lifestyle.”
Booklist:
“Cunningham
chronicles her lifelong dream of owning a home in teh country in this ode to
all things green and earthy..She turns the tribulations of country living into
hilarious and cautionary anecdotes. Read
this because you want your own place in the country; read this before you own a
place in the country.”
The
“Cunningham writes endearingly of her conversion from
The Press Democrat,
“funny, endearing...Although rural life is the centerpiece, Cunningham’s book is one of those memoirs whose charm lies in its ability to offer up delectable stories about other people. The author has a talent for viewing her family and her neighbors as one-of-a-kind treasures (or horrors), and she takes obvious delight in telling you about them. Her warm, self-deprecating humor enhances the tale.
The
“Falling in love with a place isn’t so terribly different from falling in love with a person...A place in The Country radiates a feeling of contentment...The result is a book that will tempt the reader to start looking for an old place of her own, an attempt to replicate the author’s particularly attractive brand of insanity.”
“This enchanting, and frequently hilarious memoir is Cunningham’s love letter to her own house of dreams, a l9th century former stage coach inn.”
The
...an always poignant, often wry, frequently humorous and sometimes even farcical non-fiction account of one woman’s search for her own dream house and her own little corner of the woods...But what is at least equally appealing is its poetic language....”
Newsday: Heller McAlpin
“With wit and nostalgia, Cunningham charts her yearning for a country home...wonderful images abound..”