I'll Take It

by Paul Rudnick

Book Overview

They came. They saw. They came and took what they saw. The Esker sisters are shoppers. Loving, caring, driven, merciless shoppers. Ida never "passes a store without slipping in and buying something to give away." Pola, who only buys in bulk, would have been good in foreign affairs: "If a nation acted up, Aunt Pola would buy it." And Hedy, dearest of them all, proved the whole thing was genetic. Or maybe environmental. Either way, she passed the bug...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394579178
• ISBN13: 9780394579177
• Release Date: June 1989
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

HYSTERICAL.

There is no funnier book out there, nothing even close. Give this book to your mother-in-law and your sisters and your aunts and to any guys who like light fiction. Paul Rudnick is a genius.

Hilarious. If you ever need a lift, this is THE book.

This book is the funniest I have ever read. Every page makes me hoot with laughter. If you have a friend or relative who could use many chuckles and guffaws, buy this book for them. If you like David Sedaris' humor in his book 'Naked', you will love 'I'll Take It'. You will not be embarrassed to buy this book for your mother. It's similar humor, but much cleaner than 'Naked'. A Must-Read.

I laugh every time I re-read it!

I received this book by accident from a book club years ago, and it has remained my favorite book of all time. Every time I lend this wonderfully witty piece of work to a friend, I have a hard time getting it back. This is a book that only gets better every time I pick it up.

Yes, it really is one of the funniest books ever

I laughed so hard reading this book I evidently broke something. My wife and sister both read it and both agree: it is one of the funniest, truest books about family life ever written. Paul Rudnick is a national treasure.

The Funniest Book I've Ever Read and Reread

As an adult I've read hundreds of books but this is by far the funniest book I have ever read. I enjoyed it so much that I've reread it three times (something I rarely do). Joe Reckler is a 26 year old Yale graduate who is self-employed as a pickpocket, and shoplifter extraordinare. As fall approaches Joe's mother convinces Joe to accompany her and her two sisters [Ida and Pola] on a trip to Maine to shop at the outlets and take in some foliage on the way. But Joe's mother has an ulterior motive for going to Maine - and it's not leaves! Over the years Mrs. Reckler has spent thousands of dollars at L.L. Bean and now it is time for her to retire. However she has one last wish before she retires and that's to remodel her living room. It's really not for her though, it's for her husband Saul, who's already retired and deserves nice surroundings. She figures that $10,000.00 will be enough to make it look spiffy. And she figures that L.L. Bean is just the place to get the money. To the casual observer it would appear like robbery but to Mrs. Reckler it's seen merely as a discount or maybe a refund for her loyal patronage over the years. After all the money she's spent there they owe her! She confides in Joe and tells him her plan and asks for his assistance, but her sisters have no idea they're leaf peeping with a modern day Ma Barker. And the results are hilarious! Some of the more memorable stops along the way are a trip to Bloomingdales to pick up a few brownies for the ride (and as long as you don't have one of your own but just take bites off of someone else's the calories don't count). A stop at Loehmann's (before they even leave New York), to try on a few things. A visit to Joe's brother Clark and his live-in girlfriend Patty in a run down farmhouse in Massachusetts. And although the leaves are beautiful here in Massachusetts, Mrs. Reckler tells the others they can rest their eyes because it's not Vermont. "Don't look! The foliage doesn't count until you get to Vermont." Clark and Patty's living room couch is a carseat rescued from a '57 Chevy, this trigger's Joe's Aunt Ida to comment "I feel like we're still driving!" And the decrepit condition of the house in general makes Mrs. Reckler decide to up her ante at L.L. Bean hoist to $12,000.00 so that she can help Clark and Patty spruce up the kitchen a bit. Then there's Vermont and a trip to the Bennington Pottery Barn, and eventually Maine and L.L. Bean's. But not before more hi-jinx and some interactions with one of the depressed local shopkeepers [Kerry] and her husband [Grey]. By the time the interaction is through Kerry's troubles aren't the only think that's disappeared. What makes this book the funniest book I've ever read is the realistic Jewish dialogue, the quick banter and comebacks and the outrageous antics (even when you can see it coming you're saying to yourself NO, NO he's not going to let them do that is he: oh my God he is!). The writing style and humor coupled