Pretend You're Normal

Award-Winning Finalist in the Humor category of the National Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards!

These reviews were given by average people with not-so-average names. After poring over the telephone book and getting up my nerve to ask, these not so celebrated individuals graciously gave their time for a quick review.

“Clean wholesome stories. Reminds me of my Aunt Goldie and my own family.”
—Robert Frost

“I thought it was funny. It cheers you up.”
—Elizabeth (Betty) Browning

“After reading Ann Baumgardner’s Pretend You’re Normal, I was left motionless, in a pose Auguste Rodin would undoubtedly recognize. From cynical tips on how to engorge wild beasts, to subtle pop culture references of yesteryear, Baumgardner covers the gamut of what it means to be free, to be alive, to be challenged…to be human. After decades upon decades of searching, I have finally found the one piece of literature that I will bring with me as I lay dying under the golden moonlight in August.”
—William Faulkner

E. Poe revealed his darker side and hung up on me. Shakespeare, however, was delightful and friendly — but with a broken hip and expecting visitors, she was unable to make much ado about anything.