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is installed, or keeping a fire going in "Stove", or the constant care that chicks need. At one point, a guest expresses envy of MacDonald and her husband, imagining that they live a life full of fresh air and beautiful scenery, whereupon MacDonald notes that while the guest had lounged in bed that morning, she and her husband had been up before sunrise working for several hours, and then again worked long into the night after the guest had gone to bed.
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From this "set-up", the book turns to anecdotal stories that rely upon the proverbial "fish out of water" tales that pit MacDonald against her situation and her surroundings, such as the struggle to keep up with the need for water, which needs to be hand carried from a pond to the house until a tank
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had been based on them, and that they had been identified in their community as the real-life versions of those characters, subjecting them to ridicule and humiliation. The family of Albert and
Susanna Bishop claimed they had been negatively portrayed as the Kettles. Their oldest son Edward and his
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beginning
February 6, 1951. MacDonald testified that the characters in her book were composite sketches of various people she had met. The defense produced evidence that the Bishop family had actually been trying to profit from the fame the book and movie had brought them, including testimony that
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MacDonald begins her book with a summary description of her childhood and family. Her father was a mining engineer, and moved frequently with his family throughout the West. Her mother's theory that a wife must support her husband in his career comes into play when the author marries a friend of
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has also been claimed to have "spawned a perception of
Washington as a land of eccentric country bumpkins like Ma and Pa Kettle." MacDonald's defenders point out that in the context of the 1940s, such stereotyping was far more acceptable. MacDonald faced two lawsuits over the book’s content (see
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her brother (Bob), who soon admits that his dream is to leave his current office job and start a chicken ranch . Knowing nothing about farming, but eager to support her husband, the author encourages the dream, but is unprepared for the primitive conditions that exist on the farm he purchases.
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MacDonald chronicles the gradual improvements to the primitive farmhouse, such as the arrival of electricity and running water. The neighbors and townspeople are also described in the book. The "Ma and Pa Kettle" characters are near neighbors to the MacDonalds.
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Although the book was a critical and popular success at publication, it has been criticized for its racist treatment of Native
Americans. In 2005, a literary critic examining MacDonald's body of work wrote, “Without overcoming or correcting the racism in
324:(a Seattle department store which had promoted and distributed the book) for total damages of $ 975,000, as sought by nine other members of the Bishop family ($ 100,000 each) and Raymond H. Johnson ($ 75,000), who claimed he had been portrayed as the
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cast in the roles of Ma and Pa Kettle. The film, loosely based on the book, was released in 1947. Main received an Oscar nomination for Best
Supporting Actress, and the film inspired nine subsequent
156:, she told stories of their tribulations, which greatly amused them. In the 1940s, MacDonald's older sister, Mary, strongly encouraged her to write a book about these experiences.
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received laudatory reviews and soon appeared on the best-seller list. The book was a blockbuster success, being reprinted on a nearly monthly basis for the next two years.
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A 15-minute daytime TV series based on the book aired on CBS from
September 3, 1951, to August 1, 1952. The program starred Bob Craven and
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below); plaintiffs did not prevail, although the judge indicated he felt they had shown that some of the claims of defamation had merit.
447:"'Egg And I' Bought for Colbert Film; International Pays $ 100,000 Down to Betty MacDonald – Three Openings Today of Local Origin".
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The Egg and I is the name of a breakfast restaurant with around 100 locations nationwide. The owners were inspired by the book.
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328:"Crowbar". The case was heard before a jury in Judge William J. Willkins' (who was also one of the presiding judges at the
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was reprinted in a short-run hardback edition in 1986 as well as reprinted under the Harper
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On
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wife Ilah Bishop filed the first lawsuit, which was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
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Fry, Donn. "Reharching `The Egg' – Demand Spurs
Publishers to Reissue Betty MacDonald's Classic."
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The second lawsuit was filed against MacDonald, publisher J. B. Lippincott
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has sold more than three million copies, and has been translated into 32 languages.
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Following the success of the book and film, lawsuits were filed by members of the
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about her adventures and travels as a young wife on a chicken farm on the
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Bishop, William Sr. (1833–1906) and Sally Bishop Williams (1840–1916)
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HistoryLink.org: The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
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son Walter Bishop had had his father Albert appear onstage at his
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679:"About – The Egg & I Restaurant :: Breakfast and Lunch"
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Recordings of the theme song from the film were made by
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William J. Wilkins and Eleanor Elford Cameron (1981).
509:(2nd ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 97–98.
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245:announced the purchase of the film rights for
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531:Lost Northwest book review: "The Egg and I"
478:(3rd ed.). New York: Penguin. p.
312:community. They claimed that characters in
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701:The Sword and the Gavel: An Autobiography
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655:"'Egg and I' Author Wins Suit".
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640:"'Egg and I' Author Wins Suit".
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