taylornowandthen's review
4.0
I've begun to recognize [a:Mameve Medwed|158395|Mameve Medwed|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1204922243p2/158395.jpg]'s interesting and yes, sexy style of writing. Needless to say I loved this book, maybe even a little more than [b:Mail|585856|Mail|Mameve Medwed|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176042383s/585856.jpg|1561326]. Great ending as well. Not every author can write a great ending. This is an author who can. She had me from the start.
larabobara's review
4.0
Before I talk about Mameve Medwed’s writing, I must first announce that I love her name. I love reading it and saying it (even though I’m not sure if I’m pronouncing it correctly) and I even love reading it and saying it backwards. Come on, try it! Dewdem Evemam. Mameve Medwed. Dewdem Evemam. Mameve Medwed. Isn’t it fun?
Oh, stop looking at me like I’m a circus freak.
Ooh! I just went to her website, where she has kindly explained how to pronounce her name. I love her even more now.
I don’t just love her name, though - I love her writing as well. It’s downright delightful. Seriously. The two books of hers that I’ve read - How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life (which I read last year) and Of Men and Their Mothers (which I just finished two nights ago) - are whimsical and breezy without sacrificing their intelligence, and both books were an absolute joy to read.
Of Men and Their Mothers is the story of Maisie Grey, whose name makes me want to sing that Mairzy Doats song. Maisie is the divorced mother of a teenage son, with a bitchy ex-mother-in-law who also happens to reign over a chicken pot pie empire, a spineless ex-husband who didn’t even stand up to his mother to kick her out of the delivery room when Maisie was giving birth to their child (Can you imagine? If I ever had to hear my mother-in-law’s voice saying, “Oh! I can see the head!”, I think I would die), and a toilet that straddles two towns. Of course, that’s not all.
Peppered throughout the book are reminders, as the title indicates, of the unique and often frustrating nature of the mother-son relationship. Not having brothers left me pretty unaware of the complexity of this phenomenon until I married Rob - the only son (hell, only CHILD) of a single mom - and started seeing it up close and personal, so it was particularly interesting to read about other mother-son relationships and think about all the different flavors they come in. Maisie introduces us to the nobody’s-good-enough-for-my-son mom and the i’ve-never-been-able-to-have-sex-in-my-dead-mother’s-house son, while at the same time she learns how to have a healthier, more normal relationship with her own son. And his unkempt girlfriend.
Of Men and Their Mothers is like a champagne picnic with a good friend on a soft spring day.
Mmm, champagne….
Oh, stop looking at me like I’m a circus freak.
Ooh! I just went to her website, where she has kindly explained how to pronounce her name. I love her even more now.
I don’t just love her name, though - I love her writing as well. It’s downright delightful. Seriously. The two books of hers that I’ve read - How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life (which I read last year) and Of Men and Their Mothers (which I just finished two nights ago) - are whimsical and breezy without sacrificing their intelligence, and both books were an absolute joy to read.
Of Men and Their Mothers is the story of Maisie Grey, whose name makes me want to sing that Mairzy Doats song. Maisie is the divorced mother of a teenage son, with a bitchy ex-mother-in-law who also happens to reign over a chicken pot pie empire, a spineless ex-husband who didn’t even stand up to his mother to kick her out of the delivery room when Maisie was giving birth to their child (Can you imagine? If I ever had to hear my mother-in-law’s voice saying, “Oh! I can see the head!”, I think I would die), and a toilet that straddles two towns. Of course, that’s not all.
Peppered throughout the book are reminders, as the title indicates, of the unique and often frustrating nature of the mother-son relationship. Not having brothers left me pretty unaware of the complexity of this phenomenon until I married Rob - the only son (hell, only CHILD) of a single mom - and started seeing it up close and personal, so it was particularly interesting to read about other mother-son relationships and think about all the different flavors they come in. Maisie introduces us to the nobody’s-good-enough-for-my-son mom and the i’ve-never-been-able-to-have-sex-in-my-dead-mother’s-house son, while at the same time she learns how to have a healthier, more normal relationship with her own son. And his unkempt girlfriend.
Of Men and Their Mothers is like a champagne picnic with a good friend on a soft spring day.
Mmm, champagne….
valdez's review
3.0
Interesting books about how mothers idealize their sons. The main character has been divorced for a few years, but is still bullied by her ex mother-in-law.
When the main character's teen-aged son starts dating a girl that gives her pause, she decides not to do unto this girl what her MIL did to her.
When the main character's teen-aged son starts dating a girl that gives her pause, she decides not to do unto this girl what her MIL did to her.
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