Product Description

Household Baggage is an entertaining collection of funny, poignant, and disarmingly candid essays written by Marna Krajeski, an Army wife of 20 years and mother of two children. Krajeski's lively prose targets the spectrum of challenges confronting today's military family, where marriage and motherhood endure significant tests from frequent moves, long separations, uncomfortable living quarters, and wartime deployments.

Household Baggage is perfect for the military spouse who functions in the vast gray area between surviving and thriving, and who always welcomes an extended hand, a sympathetic ear, and, especially, comic relief. Brides new to the service will find the light-hearted insights helpful, the more serious issues invaluable. Seasoned military wives will appreciate the common-ground experiences that unite them.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #463958 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 188 pages

Review
"Charming vignettes of military life." -- Jacey Eckhart, author of Homefront Club: The Hardheaded Woman's Guide to Raising a Military Family

"Fun, fresh, and fabulously honest, Household Baggage is a must-read for any military spouse." -- Alesia Holliday, author of E-mail to the Front

"It swings on a dime from hilarious to moving…." -- Karl Zinsmeister, author of Boots on the Ground and Dawn Over Baghdad

"Marna serves up a refreshing dose of reality-and humor!-for military spouses past and present." -- Sarah Smiley, syndicated columnist and author of Going Overboard: The Misadventures of a Military Wife

From the Publisher
Candid Stories, Laugh-Out-Loud Humor, and Indispensable Advice for Military Wives.

About the Author
Marna Krajeski has seen military life from all angles. She grew up as an Air Force brat, served five years on active duty in the Army, and has been a soldier‚s wife for 16 years. Moving her family nine times provided plenty of material for her articles about military life which have been published in Off Duty, Married to the Military magazine, American Baby, Army Times, and the Providence Journal. She has degrees in English from The College of William and Mary and Austin Peay State University. Krajeski also taught college writing courses. She and her husband Paul have two children, Elena and Stephen.

Customer Reviews

Excellent read for every Army Wife
I recently read Household Baggage - The Moving Life of a Solider's Wife by Marna A. Krajeski and I must say that I really loved it!

The book is a collection of short stories about her different experiances in the Army. I really related to this author- she is brutally honest and wrote about feelings that I myself have had, but were afraid to share. She made me realized that I am a normal Army wife with normal feelings, even if I don't have the smile slapped on my face every second of every day.

The book is divided into sections such as "Military" and "Moving" with short stories relating to each. The book is very well orgainized and every little story had a point. Her writing is very clever and I laughed through the whole thing! :) But don't think there isn't a serious side to the book. The story "It takes a long time to grow an old friend" was especially touching and I really related to this one. It was among my favorites in the book as I can really relate to the difficulty finding true friends as an Army wife moving around so much.

I really reccomend this book to all Army wives. It was a nice escape from books on 'more serious' subject matter, I guess I could say. It was lighthearted and a fast read. It even came complete with a Military Word glossary for all you newbies out there! :) I also like that this was "Army specific" and not just "Military generalized" as I have been finding these kinds of books hard to come by.

This is my life.....
Marna Krajeski is living my life! Or maybe I'm living hers. No matter -- she got it right.

This is a book that now stays permanently on my nightstand. I've probably read it completely three or four times, but I only read it straight through the first time. Now I just pick it up and read a chapter or two or three or four, selected at random, and skipping about through the book. It's perfect for that and I never tire of it. This one is light and easy and funny and fun; I recommend it.

Been There, Done That, Right On! Joan Brown
Krajeski has distilled the essence of life as a military wife into a tasty brew of moving and witty essays. It is just such stories that every woman "married to the military" craves to hear. Not only do the narratives reassure us that we're not alone in our feelings, they also point the way to survival. Those with no experience of the military will enjoy a great read and gain a new understanding of why and how so many serve our nation.