Review: Funny, real, honest, true
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 8, 2013
Brian Petti's SISTER MERCEDES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM is a collection of postings from his blog about such recognizable things as growing up, having kids, and trying to survive the pitfalls of daily living.  Like Jean Shepherd's hysterical musings (WANDA HICKEY is a forever favorite), SISTER MERCEDES is funny because it's so true.  Petti was a fat Irish/Italian Catholic kid who crashed on the ski slopes, fell off his first bike, peed in the corner of his room (to avoid the monsters that lurked on the way to the bathroom), and got laughed at pretty much all the time (either for real or in his imagination).  Later, no longer fat (but still Irish/Italian and Catholic), Petti got married, had kids, juggled health issues, and put up with all the stuff we've all put up with (like flooded basements, ruined birthdays, sick kids, and a whole ton of rejection, in one form or another).  I found myself smiling more that out-and-out laughing, but nodding vigorously as he described yet another scenario that could have been ripped from the pages of my own life (I especially like the reference to how his wife was bothered by the sounds of squeaky sneakers during basketball games on TV - I can totally relate!).Much of SISTER MERCEDES could be described as self-deprecating humor, as Petti reveals the many horrific-but-humorous things that have happened to him over the years.  At one point he says that his best tactic for dealing with the many ways he disappoints his wife (leaving drawers and cabinets open, not knowing how to pre-wash dishes, and folding the laundry incorrectly) is to throw up his hands and say, "I'm an idiot!"  Similarly, he kids about his love-hate relationship with his children (he actually says that he hates them, but finally admits, "Nah, it's only a joke"), about the rejections slips he could paper his house with (if he had a house), and about his many medical procedures.One of the things I enjoyed the most about SISTER MERCEDES is all the references to food.  Petti calls himself a "foodie," but I'm not sure he and I have the same understanding of the word!  Petti explains that there are three "tiers" of meal preparation, with Tier I being a real dinner (with an entrée, side dishes, and even a vegetable) and Tier III being whatever you can dig out of the back of the cupboard in a pinch (cereal, anyone?).  There's an unforgettable vignette about his son's thirteenth birthday which began with a pig-out breakfast at Burger King and ended with a monumental Chinese buffet, complete with purloined crab legs.  Good stuff.  I always love reading about food!I have to admit I had no knowledge of Brian Petti before picking this up - I have not seen any of his plays and I have never visited his website or read his blog.  But I had fun with this, which is totally his intent.  In the book's forward, he writes, "Read the first entry - if you don't snicker at the description of the woman who has 19 children, you probably won't like the rest."  Well, it's hard to not snicker, so I think he's got us!  SISTER MERCEDES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM is a fun read that works because of how true it is.  There's a little bit of Brian Petti in all of us.