I'm not from Maine... but I got here as soon as I could. Six years ago, a family from Florida fell in love with "the way life should be," and although they've never seen a moose, the Smileys intend to stay. Because say what you will about the cold winters and the messy mud season, there is no other place to raise a kid than in the great state of Maine. Got Here As Soon As I Could is a collection of syndicated columnist Sarah Smiley's most-loved columns about raising a family in Maine. In these 100 essays, readers will laugh, cry and nod their head "yes" as they remember a time when all of America was as simple and beautiful as it still is today in Vacationland.
If you ever wonder what childhood might look like if we only let kids enjoy it the way we did, instead of imagining all the terrible things that could happen if we let them loose, Smiley's got the answer. It's in your hands, in every sense. -- Lenore Skenazy, founder of the book, blog and movement Free-Range Kids Endorsements from her other books: "...often funny and always humane, an unexpected voice in a world long defined by ironclad rules and abhorrence of emotion" - New York Times Magazine "Uplifting" - O, The Oprah Magazine "Sarah Smiley is all heart...She's honest to a fault, filled with self-doubt, and frequently, perilously, vulnerable. And many people will see her as a hero for being so frank about it." - USA Today "...forthright and honest, funny and smart." - The New York Times "Her honest nature, quick wit and endearing personality make her a highly sought-after representative of the military spouse community." - Military Spouse Magazine "both a joy and an inspiration..." - Sue Halpern, author of A DOG WALKS INTO A NURSING HOME "[The] stories range from heartbreaking to hilarious." - Maine Magazine "Sarah Smiley writes in such a very intimate and frank style that the reader feels like a fly on the wall...Her humor is quiet and wry, and at times she is painfully honest." - BookReporter.com "Smiley is so painfully honest that readers who've been there are likely to feel that old familiar hot flush of hysteria." - The Virginian-Pilot "...an Erma Bombeck for the military-wife set...[Smiley's] prose is simple and straightforward, and her humor is clever." - Publishers Weekly "You can't help but be moved" - Carol Leifer, former writer for Seinfeld "Most eloquent when writing about the joys and challenges of parenthood...Yet, not afraid to take the military to task for its shortcomings." - Military.com "...not afraid to question the tight-lipped culture she inhabits..." - Philadelphia City Paper "disarming candor" - BookReporter.com "You will find yourself smiling and chuckling to yourself as you read."- Des Moines Register "It is that wry take on the life...that Smiley does best" - New York Times Magazine "Laugh-out-loud humor and poignant honesty" - The Florida Times-Union "Smiley has the knack of turning the ordinary, and not-so-ordinary travails into an absorbing narrative. [She] writes with the kind of three-beer honesty that seems both amusing and brave at the same time." - Frank Cerabino, columnist, The Palm Beach Post
