by Prudence Mackintosh
Every female who writes amusingly about her family is compared to Erma Bombeck. Okay, Mackintosh is younger, more sophisticated and just as insightful. The author of these light essays lives in Dallas with her lawyer husband and three small sons. "If you ever doubted original sin, or for a fleeting moment believed in the innate goodness of man, you missed my 4-year-old's birthday party," she begins one tale. The sneakers referred to in the title thunder not across a floor, but in the clothes dryer because the child will not wear any other shoes to school. " 'You stepped in a dog pie yesterday coming home from school, remember? So you can wear the red-and-blue ones today,' I say...'Oh, yeah,' he nods sarcastically, 'I guess you want me to look like a girl. Those are girl shoes and you know it.' " There are no jokes, no bright one-liners, just a series of funny little stories that ring absolutely true. (Doubleday, $9.95)
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