"Orlean's high spirits and intelligence give her book the feeling of a good Saturday-night conversation. Her chapters are like beginnings of suspenseful novels." --USA Today
"Delightful . . . Entertaining and interesting . . . A pleasant reminder of how we are at once united by certain of our national customs yet divided by the individual or tribal ways in which we celebrate them." --Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
"Amusing and informative . . . Orlean has a nearly unerring ear and eye for the pithy and the illuminating." --David Finkle, Chicago Tribune
"I can't think of a better way to spend Saturday night than staying home and reading this book." --Entertainment Weekly
"An unusual and entertaining cultural profile . . . with the drollness of her prose, the sharpness of her ear and eye, and her breadth of curiosity . . . Enlightening." --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times
"Orlean, a quirky curator of modern cultural behavior . . . has documented those few hours so near and dear to every working-weeker. . . . A slide show shot in vivid Americana." --Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe