Idiots and Children

Award-winning author Diana Estill delivers twisted tales of past and present in this latest collection of humor essays. Having grown up with an absent-minded father and a mother who refused to wear—but nevertheless tried to sell—beauty products, Estill drolly recalls her childhood angst and confusion. Besides poking fun at herself and her kin, Estill unleashes tongue-in-cheek commentary on subjects such as populating Mars, finding the “fun” in funerals, cloning Neanderthals, and store gun policies. (“If you’re feeling unsafe enough to pack a shotgun for your trip to purchase pork rinds, then maybe you ought to stay home and shoot your own snacks.”) Travelogues about crossing the pond (“Looking for the Loo in London”) and commissioning a hot air balloon to fly across a desert (“Fatal Attractions”) offer witty vacation advice.