THE EGG AND I

This might be a companion piece to Roughly Speaking. It has the same exuberance, tinctured with distaste rather than nest; it is also about as exhausting as entertaining. It is breezy, slangy, colloquial — and original. It hasn't the suavity of Grandma Called It Carnal but it's as down to earth a picture of rural life as experienced on a primitive chicken ranch in the far northwest. The young wife is utterly unprepared, despite the unconventional mining town upbringing she had had, and by nature ineffectual. The husband loves it all. And the result is a panorama in black and white of the life, the neighbors, the hardships, with a saving grace of humor.