"The Smartest Woman I Know"

by Ilene Beckerman, NF, 2011, 103p, rating=3
Source: won from Sarah @ Sarah Reads Too Much

It 's been said there 's nobody as smart as an old woman. That 's Gingy 's grandmother, Ettie, though she had no more than a third-grade education. She dispensed unforgettable wisdom to Gingy and her sister, Tootsie, as well as to the customers at her and (her husband) Mr. Goldberg 's stationery and magazine store, where customers ranged from Irish nannies to Sara Delano Roosevelt to Marlene Dietrich. Clever about life and love, food and men, Ettie had advice for everyone, and it didn't hurt that she got some of her best ideas from talking things over with God, out loud.
Known for bringing wit and emotion to issues that concern women, depth and poignancy to subjects as seemingly trivial as clothes, beauty, and bridesmaids, Gingy now magically brings the irrepressible Ettie Goldberg to life. (Goodreads)

A darling read.  Ms Beckerman's grandmother, Ettie, is a hoot!  I probably missed a bit of the inside jokes not being Jewish but in general Ettie was a grandmother you certainly will find interesting.  This book is filled with Ettie's cute adventures and wisdom about love and life that the author recalled while she lived with Ettie since she was twelve years old.  Also included was Ettie's brief history ..Russia, New Orleans, then New York --the setting for this book starting in the late 1940s.  Four main characters here are Ettie, Mr. Goldberg (Ettie's husband), Tootsie (author's older sister) and Gingy (the author). 

Check out a few excerpts:

• "A husband is like buying new shoes.  You might see something you fall in love with right away, but if it's not a good fit, it will never make you happy."
• "You got a minute, God?  I'm not really complaining but it says in the Talmud that a man has 613 mitzvahs to do but a woman only has 3.  So how come i am busy from the minute I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night, and Mr. Goldberg (her husband), who has 613 mitzvahs to do, has enough time to go upstairs at four o'clock every afternoon and take a nap?"
• "Everyone needs to believe in something.  I have always been able to count on my faith in the power of Vaseline, chicken soup, and the Talmud"
• "So you listening, God?  Boils, blood, lice, wild beasts, pestilence, hail, locusts, darkness, slaying the firstborn --that's nothing compared to what I go through in a week with Mr. Goldberg."
• But Mr. Goldberg could be fun too, check this out --"Oy, oy, oy.  It hurts.  I can't breathe.  I'll have to wash the and iron the sheets again."
• And my favorite --"So I'll give you some free advice how to lose weight.  Don't eat so much."

Simply a light, funny, and miss-your-grandma kind of read.