''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' (New York: Doubleday, 1957) is a best-selling collection of humorous essays by American humorist and playwright Jean Kerr about suburban living and raising four boys. The essays do not have a plot or through-storyline, but the book sold so well it was adapted into a 1960 film starring

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

and

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

. The film was later adapted into a 1965-1967

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

starring Patricia Crowley and Mark Miller. Kerr followed up this book with two later best-selling collections, ''The Snake Has All the Lines'' and ''Penny Candy''.

Introduction

The introduction serves as yet another humorous essay, as Kerr describes how she came to be a writer.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies

Kerr begins the book with her take on parenting four small boys.

How to Be a Collector's Item

The trials and tribulations of an author who hopes her letters are being collected for future publication.

Greenwich, Anyone?

Kerr's take on the popular trend of writers moving to the country to reconnect with nature.

How to Decorate in One Easy Breakdown

Kerr gives her own helpful hints on how to redecorate on a budget.

Dogs That Have Known Me

The author's experiences with dogs, large and small, through the years.

The Kerr-Hilton

One of the principal sources for the later film, this essay tells how Kerr and her husband acquired their house in

Larchmont Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village is 6,453 as of the W ...

, New York, complete with gargoyles, secret panels, and a 24-bell carillon that played the duet from ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' at noon.

The Care and Feeding of Producers

How to survive getting a play produced.

One Half of Two on the Aisle

Musings from the self-proclaimed most experienced audience member in America.

Don Brown's Body

A parody of

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét ( ; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He wrote a book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'', published in 1928, for which he receive ...

's " John Brown's Body", which mixes in Mike Hammer and gangsters.

Toujours Tristesse

A take-off of Francoise Sagan's '' A Certain Smile''.

Snowflaketime

Kerr muses on the state of school productions of holiday shows through the years.

How to Get the Best of Your Children

Another essay on the joys of parenting.

Where Did You Put the Aspirin?

Again, Kerr muses on coping with children.

Aunt Jean's Marshmallow Fudge Diet

One of many essays Kerr wrote on the subject of diets and dieting.

Operation Operation

Kerr's take on hospital stays, doctors, nurses, and the need to insist on patients' rights.

Index

In yet another satirical jab, Kerr included an index in the book, but with only the page numbers from the original magazines in which the pieces appeared.

Reception

The book achieved the number one spot on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list in February, 1958. Kerr's "wryly observant style" reminded ''Washington Post'' critic Richard L. Coe of

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was best known for his gag cartoon, cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' an ...

E. B. White Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including ''Stuart Little'' (1945), ''Charlotte's Web'' (1952), and '' The Trumpet of the Swan'' ...

, and

Cornelia Otis Skinner Cornelia Otis Skinner (May 30, 1899 – July 9, 1979) was an American writer and actress. Biography Skinner was born on 30 May 1899 in Chicago, Illinois as the only child of actor Otis Skinner and actress Maud Durbin. After attending the all-gi ...

. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' noted

Adaptations

In 1960,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

released a film adapted from the book, directed by

Charles Walters Charles Powell Walters (November 17, 1911 – August 13, 1982) was an American Cinema of the United States, Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s. Early years Char ...

with a screenplay by

Isobel Lennart Isobel Lennart (May 18, 1915 – January 25, 1971) was an American screenwriter and playwright. She is best known for writing the book for the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Funny Girl (musical), Funny Girl'' which premiered in 1964, althou ...

. It starred

, Janis Paige,

Spring Byington Spring Dell Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971) was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of '' December Bride''. She was an MGM contract player who appeared in films from the ...

Richard Haydn Richard Haydn (10 March 1905 – 25 April 1985) was a British comedian. Early life George Richard Haydon was born in 1905 in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. After working as a music hall entertainer and overseer of a Jamaica, J ...

Patsy Kelly Patsy Kelly (born Bridget Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly; January 12, 1910 – September 24, 1981) was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of comedy shorts produced by Ha ...

, and

Jack Weston Jack Weston (born Morris Weinstein; August 21, 1924 – May 3, 1996) was an American actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1976 and a Tony Award in 1981. Career Weston, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, usually played comic roles in fi ...

. A storyline was created for the film, involving Day as Kate Robinson Mackay, a housewife married to Lawrence "Larry" Mackay (Niven), a newly hired

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

drama critic. In his first assignment, Larry must review a new show produced by his best friend, and he is forced to pan it. Meanwhile, a search for a new home for the family—who ultimately settle in the fictional rural town of Hooton—leaves Kate dealing with the kids, carpenters, decorators, and the new neighbors by herself. The film was in turn adapted as a television series that ran from 1965 to 1967 (58 half-hour episodes) starring Patricia Crowley and Mark Miller as Joan Nash, a newspaper columnist, and John Nash, a college professor, raising their four sons in fictional Ridgemont,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

References

External links

* * * —''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Please Don't Eat The Daisies 1957 books Comedy books Doubleday (publisher) books Essay collections Non-fiction books adapted into films

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