The Egg & I

“Astoundingly light-hearted . . . The MacDonalds . . . had . . . an abounding humor that bounced them over the direst crises.” —New York Times

When Betty MacDonald married a marine and moved to a small chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, she was largely unprepared for the rigors of life in the wild. With no running water, no electricity, a house in need of constant repair, and days that ran from four in the morning to nine at night, the MacDonalds had barely a moment to put their feet up and relax. And then came the children. Yet through every trial and pitfall—through chaos and catastrophe—this indomitable family somehow, mercifully, never lost its sense of humor.

A beloved literary treasure for more than half a century, Betty MacDonald’s The Egg and I is a heartwarming and uproarious account of adventure and survival on an American frontier.

“A work of real comic genius. . . . A wonderful, funny, warm, honest book, and, to use a much overused word, a classic.” —Michael Korda, author of Country Matters

“Anyone who has ever struggled with a farm or even with a small garden will especially enjoy this breezy autobiography . . . [S]prightly, diverting, and excellent entertainment. The whole book crackles with the innocent deviltry of acorns hitting the roof-tops.” —Saturday Review of Literature