From a typical suburban upbringing, Beth Lisick moves into adulthood to live an atypical life. Everybody into the Pool is a collection of short story essays that follow Beth through her TV-addicted childhood, to her summer "job" of getting a suntan that leads to her election as homecoming princess, to living in a drug-infested slum, writing a cyber column on alternative culture.

Using wry humor, Lisick lets the reader into her life and gives us a glimpse of the road less traveled. Even though she has more unusual experiences than most - trying out being a lesbian, a sewage pipe bursting in her semi-condemned apartment building, traveling with a punk rock band - Lisick still manages to buy and take care of a home, get married, and have a child.

The funny moments and the author's highly readable prose make the stories easier to read, but humor and unusual situations can only carry things so far. It's difficult to relate to an author whose exploits are so far out of my scope of living. The hilarious tales of her childhood helped me to develop an affinity for her, but her adulthood almost reads like fiction.

Everybody into the Pool is engaging and definitely entertaining. It's a quick read and a worthwhile way to spend time--if only for the value of gazing into another person's life and seeing that no matter what, we're not all that different despite our varied experiences.