No comments about It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It/ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN.

No comments about All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten [UNABRIDGED] (Audio CD).

5 comments about What On Earth Have I Done?: Stories, Observations, and Affirmations.

1. Robert Fulghum has long been one of my favorite authors . . . ever
   since he came out with ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED
   IN KINDERGARTEN, I've made it a point to get everything he has
   written.
   
   They each contain essays that look at everyday situations in a
   way that will delight you and, also, make you think . . . his latest, WHAT
   ON EARTH HAVE I DONE? is no
   exception.
   
   Fulghum begins by telling of an experience he had when he
   heard a mother asking a variation of the book's title question
   of her son: "Billy, what on Earth have you done?" . . . he then
   realized that his mother had asked the same question, and he
   then asked his own children, who no doubt have asked
   their kids.
   
   Yet as he finds out, the answer is never easy and almost
   always surprising . . . in one of the best passages of the
   book, he describes an encounter he had with a particular
   store's employee . . . when something was not ready when
   promised, he didn't get upset; rather, he played a game
   to see if the person could come up with a really creative
   excuse as to why this happened.
   
   This playfulness is described via several other encounters
   that Fulghum has as he moves among Seattle, Utah and
   Crete . . . for example:
   
   * There's a tailor shop on Queen Anne Avenue. Sign in the window
   says ALTERATIONS AND REPAIRS FOR MEN AND WOMEN. The
   tailor is standing in the doorway. I stop. "I'd like to get altered and
   repaired," I say.
   
   She looks at me cautiously. Goes inside. Closes the door.
   
   Not a player.
   
   I also liked this other approach he describes:
   * A friend of mine simply waves and smiles at people he doesn't
   know.
   
   More often than not, they wave and smile back.
   
   Or ask, "Do I know you?" and he responds, "No, but you could."
   
   As to what it (life) all means, Fulghum perhaps sums it up best
   with this tidbit:
   
   * The old man looked mildly outraged and fell into high-gear Greek
   again with his son. The son was apologetic. "Pardon me, but my
   father says that it is a lie that Americans have everything. You
   have no sheep, no goats, no trees, no oil, no vines, no wine, not
   even chickens. He asks, 'What kind of life is that?' He says, 'No
   wonder you don't sing or dance or recite poetry very often.' He
   is dismayed."
   
   If you'd like to become less dismayed, buy WHAT ON EARTH
   HAVE I DONE? for the upcoming holiday season . . . it will
   make an ideal gift for just about anybody on your list . . . yet
   make sure you treat yourself, too, with your very own copy.



2. Once again Fulghum has demonstrated his innate ability to observe life as it unfolds. I love reading his books because he could relate to the ordinary and make it funny. I particularly like the first chapter on Mother Questions when he mentioned, "Most of the time a kid doesn't think about what he's doing or why. That is the privilege of childhood." Then he mentioned about the perks of seniority in chapter 22 as he gorged on sweets in the aftermath of Halloween, "I do not eat candy around them because their mother is around. I take the candy surplus, as a favor to their parents, and eat it alone whenever I want."
   Classic Fulghum.



3. This book had me laughing, crying, and thinking. All the ways I find a book enjoyable, memorable, and that I need on my shelf to share. The idea of optimism in a world of increasing pessimism lightened my day. Seeing the good in life instead of always looking for the bad, even if it takes using your imagination to find that good. We all have different views on the world around us. I happen to like Mr. Fulghum's. What fun he would be as a Dad, Grandpa, friend!



4. Fans of Robert Fulghum know him as storyteller with a keen eye for observing the fine details of the world around him. His stories often find deep spiritual or philosophical meaning in the most unusual sources, and his sense of humor and wonder make many of his stories very funny as well. This book returns to the form that made his early books so successful: a collection of short essays, some funny, others thoughtful, but all with Fulghum's unique take the world. For long-time readers of his work, this is a welcome return to the stories we love, and new readers should enjoy this introduction to Fulghum's world. The book starts with some powerfully thoughtful essays, which initially made me think that this was going to be a more serious work than some of his others, but there is plenty of light-hearted humor here as well. If Fulghum has any message, it is that life is too short not to be enjoyed, and it is certainly clear that this is how he tries to live his life.



5. Robert Fulghum continues to be a light in the dark. His comedic style of writing, while still making a point, is nothing short of uplifting. I would highly recommend this and all of his titles.

3 comments about All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Fifteenth Anniversary Edition Reconsidered, Revised, & Expanded With Twenty-Five New Essays.

1. ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN
   by Robert Fulghum is a collection of essays that reflect the author's thoughts on life, death and a whole lot of other subjects in-between.

   So when I saw the 15th Anniversary Edition I naturally had to get hold of and then devour it . . . and am glad I did . . . it's GREAT!

   It is also quite different . . . or as the subtitle indicates, it is "reconsidered, revised, and expanded with 25 new essays."

   I liked all the new entries, but also got a kick out of revisiting the old ones . . . it was like being with friends I haven't seen before.

   Fulghum is that kind of author . . . once you read him, you'll
   want to get everything else he has written: IT WAS ON FIRE
   WHEN I LAY DOWN ON IT, UH-OH and MAYBE (MAYBE
   NOT) . . . you won't be disappointed in any of these, nor with
   his latest work either.

   There were several memorable passages in the 15th Edition that
   I had not come across before; among them:

   * "And so then what happened?"

   An urgent question out of the bedtime darkness, asked by my children, when they and I were young. Just when I thought I had slam-dunked a story-ending-just when I was certain the children were safely in the arms of the sandman--a small, sleepy voice would plead, "So, then what happened?" And no matter what I replied, the plea went on, "Please, please, Daddy--tell the rest of the story."

   In cranky desperation, I would resort to apocalypse: "Suddenly a
   comet hit the earth and blew everything to pieces."

   Silence. "What happened to the pieces?"

   "It doesn't matter. Everybody died a horrible death, especially
   all the little children who were not asleep." I also tried, "The father sold all the children who would not go to sleep to a passing gypsy who ground them into sausage meat. The first children to be ground up were those who would not stop asking questions."

   Go ahead, shame me. But it worked. Most of the time. On reflection, I suspect such gory endings were what they really liked most. Perhaps it was a scheme to see just how far I would go--to see how crazed their father really was.

   Now I am dealing with grandchildren who have the same restless
   minds. I am wilier now than I used to be. To the inevitable request for more, I reply, "Only your father knows the rest of the story. Ask him to finish it when you get home."

   * Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret
   weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a
   crisis developed, we would launch one first--before we tried
   anything else. It would explode high in the air--explode softly--and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth--boxes of Crayolas. And we shouldn't go cheap either--not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the word with imagination instead
   of death. A child who touched one wouldn't have his hand blown off.

   * I recall an old Sufi story of a good man who was granted one
   wish by God. The man said he would like to go about doing good
   without knowing about it. God granted his wish. And then God
   decided that it was such a good idea, he would grant that wish to
   all human beings.

   And so it has been to this day.




2. This is a classic. I had the original and Robert Fulghum expands on the ideas in this revised edition. This is the audio version, read by the author, so it's like he's talking personally to you. A thoroughly enjoyable listen.



3. I read and lost the first publication of this neat little book, so my only legal option was to buy another copy. However, this one has many improvements. The large type I got used to real fast and it did make the delightful text easier to read. The "rest of the story" updates only made the book better. Since nearly all of the "chapters" are not longer than three pages the book is easy to read either at one setting or just whenever you have a little time. And while many of the stories are entertainingly funny, others are poignant and gives one some cause for pause from a hectic life to think about the subtile real values which often go unnoticed.