A review by heartsneedle
Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman

5.0

4.5/5

“It was like the set of one of those movies where The Bomb has gone off, and the narrator of the movie is the only survivor left on earth. I stood there, bewildered, wondering if some terrible calamity had occurred, when I heard the faint oompah of drums and squee of trumpets floating, ghostly, on the wind. Swinging around, I saw the balloon figures hobbling, building-high, blocks down, and burst out laughing.”

Feminism, Materialism, Chauvinism
Mental Illness, Affair, Middle Class

The diary is a clever portrayal of late-twentieth-century marriage set in domesticity. I loved how the loose, substance writing and ironic-stylistic elements allowed the characters and story to unfold parallel. While the ending left me dissatisfied, it speaks to the era and the culture; Kaufman wrote it in and for.