What do you think?
Rate this book
The Potty Mouth at the Table
Laurie Notaro thinks everyone’s nuts. Or maybe there’s just something wrong with her. Here, she examines the basic human condition of rudeness—other people’s rudeness, that is—in her latest uproariously funny collection. In her trademark irreverent style, she uses her biting wit to cover other people’s bad behavior ranging from bathroom etiquette (interpreting a coworker’s failure to wash her hands after leaving the bathroom as a personal affront) to dinner party conundrums (did he really just pick food off of my plate?). Laurie recounts in detail such unfortunate situations as discovering that she wasn't on the viewable Facebook invite list for a good friend’s party, or standing behind a woman in the pharmacy line who says to the clerk, “Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me what a staph infection looks like?” and proceeds to embark on a fifteen-minute conversation that includes sentences like, “Infection can burrow.”
So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering if the person seated next to you on the plane is being earnest when he tells the stewardess he will handle the emergency door in the event of a crash landing or spotted a chunk of something that could be chocolate under your keyboard and desperately wanted to eat it, then this collection of sometimes bizarre and always entertaining observations is for you.
So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering if the person seated next to you on the plane is being earnest when he tells the stewardess he will handle the emergency door in the event of a crash landing or spotted a chunk of something that could be chocolate under your keyboard and desperately wanted to eat it, then this collection of sometimes bizarre and always entertaining observations is for you.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2013
94 people are currently reading
4290 people want to read
About the author
Laurie Notaro
24 books2,271 followersLaurie Notaro is a New York Times best-selling American writer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 310 reviews
April 20, 2020
Things I Never Want to Hear While Standing in Line at the Pharmacy:
"Do you know where the stuff for lice is? Because I can't find it in the shampoo department."
"Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me what a staph infection looks like."
"Smith. S-M-I-T-H. It's for Clozaril. An antipsychotic. Would you hurry up, please!"
Oh, Laurie . . .
I should have known not to start your book today, especially since I'm already reading like eight other titles, but dammit - if you can't read what you want whenever you want during a Coronavirus Lockdown, then when can you? When will there ever be a better time to stay huddled under a blanket, eating chips and dip, cavalierly flicking off the crumbs for another family member to deal with as I giggle aloud to your rants about foodies, Yelp reviewers, writers groups, your mother, and the sacredness of one's shower puff?
Just call me sluggish but satisfied.
Is there any more dip?
"Do you know where the stuff for lice is? Because I can't find it in the shampoo department."
"Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me what a staph infection looks like."
"Smith. S-M-I-T-H. It's for Clozaril. An antipsychotic. Would you hurry up, please!"
Oh, Laurie . . .
I should have known not to start your book today, especially since I'm already reading like eight other titles, but dammit - if you can't read what you want whenever you want during a Coronavirus Lockdown, then when can you? When will there ever be a better time to stay huddled under a blanket, eating chips and dip, cavalierly flicking off the crumbs for another family member to deal with as I giggle aloud to your rants about foodies, Yelp reviewers, writers groups, your mother, and the sacredness of one's shower puff?
Just call me sluggish but satisfied.
Is there any more dip?
March 24, 2013
Having read books by Notaro before, I went into this expecting a laugh-out-loud experience. In the past, I've read parts of her essays out loud to friends because I found them so funny, or had to control my snickers in public places as I read. But I really had to force this book down. Rather than being funny, her tone was snarky (not in a good way, but in an angry, bitter, mean way) and simply mean-spirited, in my opinion. It felt like she was a very unhappy person in many of the essays. The best one, by far, was the last one, where we see Notaro as an empathetic person and friend, watching one of her closest friends experience a brain tumor. She captures the bittersweet humor we try to find in the worst situations. Is the whole book worth one essay? No. Take this one out of the library, and read her older books first. Much funnier.
July 18, 2017
Laurie Notaro hates FaceBook! That makes this a 5 star book. Laurie had food poisoning in a hotel 9 hours away from home - now we are bonding like Twins separated at Birth. Laurie hates people who want to eat the inedible; nettles, animal face parts, and quinoa.
Laurie's friend has a brain tumor .... a bad one... stage 4...now I can't stop crying. Now I know why Laurie is so prickly. But I still want to know about the dead body her husband won't let her write about.
There are some really laugh out loud stories in this book, the first one that got me was the deer in the driveway and her fear of deer attack. But overall this book has a darker undertone than others.
Laurie's friend has a brain tumor .... a bad one... stage 4...now I can't stop crying. Now I know why Laurie is so prickly. But I still want to know about the dead body her husband won't let her write about.
There are some really laugh out loud stories in this book, the first one that got me was the deer in the driveway and her fear of deer attack. But overall this book has a darker undertone than others.
December 13, 2012
Dear Laurie Notaro,
You, Jen Lancaster, Jenny Lawson, and I need to get together and have the most hilarious, bitchin'-est sleepover ever! Or the most intense, epic author rumble - honestly, I'm fine with either. Thank you for writing another fabulous book that made me "LOL out loud" to quote Monk.
Sincerely,
Me
You, Jen Lancaster, Jenny Lawson, and I need to get together and have the most hilarious, bitchin'-est sleepover ever! Or the most intense, epic author rumble - honestly, I'm fine with either. Thank you for writing another fabulous book that made me "LOL out loud" to quote Monk.
Sincerely,
Me
March 8, 2013
I didn't like this book at all. It reminded me of the snarky kid who makes fun of others at their expense.
July 10, 2013
Meh. I used to really enjoy Notaro's book, but this book has such a negative angry vibe. In nearly every single chapter she is railing on people and it's not funny. She hates Antique Roadshow, she hates yoga people, she hates foodies, she's mean to cab drivers who might not have the means to address the issue she has with them, she rips on people for being resourceful, she hates pinterest....she hates and hates and hates. She seems to hate everyone and everything. I had to skip through the last bits because I was tired of all the negativity. Which is a shame because while skimming the last bits it looked like she might have had something actually nice at the end involving her grandmother, but I was just over the book by that point. Her old books were more self deprecating relatable humor. The only chapter I enjoyed in this one was the one about the shower puff.
January 18, 2015
While Notaro's earlier works are my favorite comedic reads, I can't help but feel like her latest efforts are becoming more of a stretch. Her writing is still sharp, and the final essay in this book is really emotional and poignant, but where I used to read her and laugh out loud, I now just feel like I'm listening to a curmudgeon rant about hating everything. This is less funny and more griping, and like that friend that everyone has who just never has anything good to say, I found this book to mainly be exhausting.
June 9, 2013
I’ll always feel a certain compulsion to read Notaro’s books because I’ll go to my grave praising her for Idiot Girl’s Action Adventure Club, which provided hours of gut wrenching entertainment. I feel a strange loyalty, oddly enough! Her style has been a ‘back and forth’ over the years. Some books are funnier than others but I’m cognizant, however, that its hard to beat an autobiography that happened to be her first book and also hellishly funny. Pulling a repertoire together, repeatedly, is a lot of pressure so I seem to anticipate slim pickings whenever I pick up her newer books.
I will say, however, that her writing (and experiences) has matured. Its almost like married life ‘becomes her’ and her stories are more ‘middle class’ (hate to write that as its almost an insult). She’s still irreverent but she’s more ballsy and less apologetic for her opinions (I would never say ‘smug’ but perhaps ‘confident’).
Her last story was her salve in Potty Mouth. Its reassuring to know that not everybody falls victim to her acerbic tongue and makes you realize that Notaro is human and that some clouds not only don’t have a silver lining but they don’t always need one to make a story a good one!
I will say, however, that her writing (and experiences) has matured. Its almost like married life ‘becomes her’ and her stories are more ‘middle class’ (hate to write that as its almost an insult). She’s still irreverent but she’s more ballsy and less apologetic for her opinions (I would never say ‘smug’ but perhaps ‘confident’).
Her last story was her salve in Potty Mouth. Its reassuring to know that not everybody falls victim to her acerbic tongue and makes you realize that Notaro is human and that some clouds not only don’t have a silver lining but they don’t always need one to make a story a good one!
May 24, 2015
Oh Laurie there is an expiration date to your sense of humor and this book is it. I did laugh a few times, but not hold my belly laugh like with other books. I am beyond disappointed in some of your topic choices because it is inappropriate to make jokes about mental illness! So disappointed in you and this book!
May 12, 2013
Laurie Notaro grows up. If you've read her books from the beginning (which I have) you will note that her writing and experiences have changed. She isn't the professional college student making questionable choices anymore, nor is she the young career gal pushing the edge and encouraging her readers to email her editor when her column was cancelled. But rather she is comfortable in her own skin and observing the absurdity of life. I was sad to see less of her mom in this one, but the vomit story and the one about Pinterest had me giggling. I read it in my usual marathon pace and have already commenced the re-read.
May 31, 2013
Laurie Notaro was the first non-fiction, humor author I ever read and I LOVED her instantly. Fast forward a few years and a couple of books and I have to say she's lost her luster for me. I'm not sure if I've gotten less snarky (doubtful) or she's gotten more cranky, but either way I was less than enamored by this book. She came across as petty, selfish and curmudgeony (yes, I made up a new word. Totally justified). There were some gems here - I'll always fear the deer and respect the pouf, but all-in-all it was kind of a sad and pathetic book. Definitely disappointing.
Read
May 19, 2024 __________________________
“Savory! Holy shit! It just means salty. It just means salty and not sweet.”
This hilarious set of Laurie Notaro’s essays covers a variety of topics, but I related most closely to her rants about foodies because my wife has taken up watching the Food Channel on TV and inflicting what she has learned from that gathering of gastronomic gasbags on me if I fail to wash the dishes.
For instance, the Food Channel frequently challenges people to make savory cookies. Why? Why? Why? It’s un-American. Notaro agrees with me. She also is puzzled about foodies' need to use more and more exotic ingredients in their dishes––for instance, nettles. A foodie trend that I was unaware of is culinary foam, a method Notaro likens to a bulldog drooling over otherwise perfectly good food to provide a different mouthfeel (Yes, mouthfeel is an actual foodie term.)
Other topics discussed in the book include the plague of “hobos”in her alleyway, one of whom had made the private garlic patch in her backyard his private lavatory. (Notaro wonders if foodies could identify the unique flavor enhancer in her homegrown allium sativum.)
In non-food related essays, she rants about the rich women who illegally use her alleyway as a private drive to reach their upscale gym so they don’t have to park their BMWs on the street, about the possible terrorist in the seat next to her on a plane trip, about why not to get on a plane when you have food poisoning, about her concern with her toilet seat when she finds out one of her best friends had a STD, and about her vindictive feud with The Antique Road Show.
★★★★ One of Notaro best books.
Note: Pseudo has discovered that savory cookies are greatly improved if they are covered with a foam made up of 2 parts maple syrup, 1 part brown sugar, 1 part powdered sugar, and a sprinkle of fresh, yard-grown thistle thorns.
“Savory! Holy shit! It just means salty. It just means salty and not sweet.”
This hilarious set of Laurie Notaro’s essays covers a variety of topics, but I related most closely to her rants about foodies because my wife has taken up watching the Food Channel on TV and inflicting what she has learned from that gathering of gastronomic gasbags on me if I fail to wash the dishes.
For instance, the Food Channel frequently challenges people to make savory cookies. Why? Why? Why? It’s un-American. Notaro agrees with me. She also is puzzled about foodies' need to use more and more exotic ingredients in their dishes––for instance, nettles. A foodie trend that I was unaware of is culinary foam, a method Notaro likens to a bulldog drooling over otherwise perfectly good food to provide a different mouthfeel (Yes, mouthfeel is an actual foodie term.)
Other topics discussed in the book include the plague of “hobos”in her alleyway, one of whom had made the private garlic patch in her backyard his private lavatory. (Notaro wonders if foodies could identify the unique flavor enhancer in her homegrown allium sativum.)
In non-food related essays, she rants about the rich women who illegally use her alleyway as a private drive to reach their upscale gym so they don’t have to park their BMWs on the street, about the possible terrorist in the seat next to her on a plane trip, about why not to get on a plane when you have food poisoning, about her concern with her toilet seat when she finds out one of her best friends had a STD, and about her vindictive feud with The Antique Road Show.
★★★★ One of Notaro best books.
Note: Pseudo has discovered that savory cookies are greatly improved if they are covered with a foam made up of 2 parts maple syrup, 1 part brown sugar, 1 part powdered sugar, and a sprinkle of fresh, yard-grown thistle thorns.
May 12, 2013
I consider myself a rabid Laurie Notaro superfan. I've had this one purchased and waiting for me since the day it became available for pre-order on Amazon, and I've been waiting. So. Patiently. for it to show up on my doorstep. Which is why it kills me to say that this one was...ok. Not the laugh riot, drooling on myself, tears-streaming, I shouldn't read this in public because people will think I am having a seizure comedy I've come to expect from her. Just ok. I laughed a few times, but nothing extreme, and on the whole it was a little anti-climactic for me. I still adore her, and I will still eagerly snap up her next book the second I'm able to, but every author has their lesser works, and sadly this one is Laurie's. I gave it three stars because I couldn't bring myself to give it two.
August 26, 2013
Laurie Notaro has been one of my favorite authors for a long time. With that being said, this book was not at all what I expected. All she did is poke fun at other people (carefully steering clear of the race, sex, religion, age, and gender). This book is just a compilation of lists of things that annoy her. A complete disappointment.
July 30, 2020
I’d like to thank Laurie Notaro for putting into words what my brain is so often [snarkily, cynically, hatefully] silently screaming.
I challenge anyone to read this book and not say at least once, “That’s happened to me”, “Ive thought that”, or “Exactly!” ...Let’s be truthful...who has never been someplace where it reeks of “...bad thoughts, lingering regrets and possibly a touch of human decomposition”?
The book started off slow but it picked up steam. It is well worth the time, especially any of the chapters that involve food in any way.
Based on past readings of hers, there weren’t as many embarassing-in-public laugh-out-loud instances but this is forgiven because the genius is in the details. They make a quick anecdote become momentous.
Full disclosure: I am envious of Laurie Notaro’s description of French vanilla coffee creamer.
Favorite quote: “That’s like putting cocaine on sale.”
I challenge anyone to read this book and not say at least once, “That’s happened to me”, “Ive thought that”, or “Exactly!” ...Let’s be truthful...who has never been someplace where it reeks of “...bad thoughts, lingering regrets and possibly a touch of human decomposition”?
The book started off slow but it picked up steam. It is well worth the time, especially any of the chapters that involve food in any way.
Based on past readings of hers, there weren’t as many embarassing-in-public laugh-out-loud instances but this is forgiven because the genius is in the details. They make a quick anecdote become momentous.
Full disclosure: I am envious of Laurie Notaro’s description of French vanilla coffee creamer.
Favorite quote: “That’s like putting cocaine on sale.”
March 21, 2026
Like a dive into my mind. (My skype bio used to be ugh, people). Musings ranging from the hilarious (throwing up on a train - no, really!), to the instructional (Don’t make me the asshole (translate: arsehole for the RotW), to the touching (Rewinding), this little grab bag of stories has something for everyone. And those you’re not interested in, skip past (for me: foodies and Pinterest). Certainly would buy more of this author’s writings (and, indeed, I have one on the WTR shelf, a birthday present from my kids).
October 23, 2017
This book started out laugh out loud funny, so i thought this was going to be a great book that i want to buy asap (it didnt turn out this way)...About half way through- it wasnt making me laugh at all anymore. And im not sure why. But then it picked back up with the ending was so sad and sweet 💕
This was worth reading one time, I will probably never pick it up again though. But I could tell this author had potential and would love to try another book of hers!
This was worth reading one time, I will probably never pick it up again though. But I could tell this author had potential and would love to try another book of hers!
January 12, 2022
I wanted to like this book more than I did. If she had told you one of these stories at a party sometime, it might have been funny, but in book format the humor felt predictable. She’s a wonderful writer in the sense that the book reads smoothly (I’m not claiming to be better!), which was what compelled me to finish. It was the first book I read of hers and made me wonder if there’s another that people enjoyed more that you could try first.
December 17, 2019
Not her funniest, but still entertaining and fun! I'm a big Notaro fan! We don't see eye to eye on everything, but I can definitely relate to A LOT of what she puts down!!! haha.
March 24, 2017
This book surprised me--I'm not a fan of short stories and had my doubts I'd enjoy the humor. But I did! A lot! This is a talented author and I could relate to a lot of it. She didn't shy away from making fun of herself or the people around her. Worth reading for sure.
July 13, 2025
This book has been in my kindle library for 10 years and now I understand why I hadn’t read it before. I hope for my former self that I wasn’t aware of the authors positions on immigrants, a variety of cultures, people of different body types, and the list could go on…I also hope that I somehow got this book for free as I hate to think my money went to supporting this garbage. This book certainly didn’t age well and in today’s world it’s even worse.
Ick.
Ick.
September 6, 2022
Funny and cute and really enjoyed it! So far I've loved all her books!
December 24, 2016
Let me start off this review by stating that Laurie Notaro is one of my favorite living writers, and I think it would be hilarious to go hang out with her some time. However, I've read all her books, and while her novels are getting stronger I think, the essays are losing some of their humor. It's probably because, like me, she is 20 years older than when she wrote and I first read The Idiot Girl's Action Adventure Club. I'm not sure how we both got old. It seems unfair.
But alas, she's no longer roaming the streets of San Francisco looking for the one pair of tall black boots that she can zip up over her chunky calves (and finding it in a store that caters to transvestites). Now she's sitting at home griping about people who are accusing her of being an employee plant with her positive Yelp review of a local restaurant. And I agree, no-one should be awarded Yelp "elite" status for reviewing various locations of Starbucks. Here's your participation medal status maybe, but elite?
Laurie's writing is still very funny. The best part continues to be her interactions with her mom. I miss her stories about her grandmother, who thought that the plots of Lifetime movies were happening in her life, but her mom is always comedy gold. But she is missing out on having a crazy gang of drunken ladies in her life providing her fodder. And, I was constantly hungry, as she talked a lot about food, foodies, food reviewers, and hiding donuts. No where is safe when your houseguests smell a bacon maple roll, apparently. These stories made me smile, but not really laugh out loud. My favorite jab was at the smug lady at the airplane reading Eat, Pray, Love, largely because it reminded me that we have similar snobby literary tastes. Not high-brow, just not that. Yuck.
I'd like to give this review 3 1/2 stars, as it was better than average, but you know, on a 5 point scale, 3 is better than average, and to get a 4 from me is pretty darn good as I grade on a curve and strive for full range distribution. Unlike my mother's Goodreads grading scale that is a 2-point range, where books she likes are 5 stars, and books that she really does NOT like, maybe didn't even finish, or that she returned to the library and told them "for shame, this is trash" get 4 stars, as my mom is not capable of giving a book (which is an inanimate object, mind you) an average score.
But alas, she's no longer roaming the streets of San Francisco looking for the one pair of tall black boots that she can zip up over her chunky calves (and finding it in a store that caters to transvestites). Now she's sitting at home griping about people who are accusing her of being an employee plant with her positive Yelp review of a local restaurant. And I agree, no-one should be awarded Yelp "elite" status for reviewing various locations of Starbucks. Here's your participation medal status maybe, but elite?
Laurie's writing is still very funny. The best part continues to be her interactions with her mom. I miss her stories about her grandmother, who thought that the plots of Lifetime movies were happening in her life, but her mom is always comedy gold. But she is missing out on having a crazy gang of drunken ladies in her life providing her fodder. And, I was constantly hungry, as she talked a lot about food, foodies, food reviewers, and hiding donuts. No where is safe when your houseguests smell a bacon maple roll, apparently. These stories made me smile, but not really laugh out loud. My favorite jab was at the smug lady at the airplane reading Eat, Pray, Love, largely because it reminded me that we have similar snobby literary tastes. Not high-brow, just not that. Yuck.
I'd like to give this review 3 1/2 stars, as it was better than average, but you know, on a 5 point scale, 3 is better than average, and to get a 4 from me is pretty darn good as I grade on a curve and strive for full range distribution. Unlike my mother's Goodreads grading scale that is a 2-point range, where books she likes are 5 stars, and books that she really does NOT like, maybe didn't even finish, or that she returned to the library and told them "for shame, this is trash" get 4 stars, as my mom is not capable of giving a book (which is an inanimate object, mind you) an average score.
October 26, 2013
i am coming around on laurie notaro. i think now she just writes these essays for her books & isn't churning them our for a newspaper column. you can tell. they're funnier, they are less of an annoying newspaper column length, & she's starting to master the call-back. i still think her all-time best story was the one about her friend falling into the pond at the japanese garden, followed by the exploding corduroy pants story (which both might have been from the same essay, actually), but some of the stuff in here about the hobos that camp out behind her house made me laugh out loud. i also just like books like this more (short, funny essays) now that i have a kid & don't have scads of spare time to devote to serious reading.
June 21, 2021
This was a DNF for me. It wasn't that Notaro doesn't have a decent way of writing, and I am usually very much eager for a good dose of snark and sarcasm. But the content of her jokes was what bothered me more. The "illegal immigrant" story and the "hobo" story were filled with the kind of white-privileged indignation that really doesn't consider any problem except her personal guilt. It probably wouldn't have been as noticeable when the book was written (things were different even just 10 years ago) but this book hasn't really aged well.
April 22, 2023
I wanted to give this book a 3.5 but that wasn't an option so because I do love Laurie and usually giggle all the way through her books I gave it a 4 instead of. 3. I'm not exactly sure what it as about this book that made it not as enjoyable as others I have read by her. This book felt a little more angry then others... Some of the insults felt harder and less good natured. I will still read more of Laurie but this one is just not my favorite.
July 9, 2013
This book just didn't make me laugh. Maybe I just read it at the wrong time and wasn't in the right mood. She just came axross as annoying to me instead of funny. The only part that really struck me as funny is when her sister told the paramedics her weight in front of her coworkers, one of whom said "lowball" after she heard. Ha.
July 16, 2013
What a let down. I couldn't shake the feeling I had read some of the stories before than it dawned on me, oh yeah, I have...on Facebook. While some of the stories were pretty hilarious (her getting sick on the train) many just felt like the rantings of a really judgmental person, with none of the wit and humor that her earlier work held. Disappointing.
July 3, 2013
Pretty hilarious, as always. I'm not a foodie and not into that scene, so some of those pieces were lost on me, but the one about the deer in her driveway, the one about the writer's group and the title story were laugh-out-loud funny.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2013
This book was Laurie Notaro's funniest in ages. I always loved her humor in her first few books but the last few have fallen slightly short. The Potty Mouth at the Table makes up for all of that. I laughed until I cried and embarrassed myself snickering along in Starbucks. Hilarious.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 310 reviews