A review by bookfairy99
Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood's Messy Years, by Catherine Newman
3.0
This is such a sweet look at parenting through various ages and stages. It's clear that Newman absolutely adores her children and her life. She admits she's incredibly blessed and has a life that is, on the whole, amazingly good. And perhaps that's why the essays felt a little dull to me. So much happiness, so much love, so much... routine, normal, parenting stuff.
I was expecting more practical advice, perhaps, about how to hold on to your identity while raising small children. I really enjoyed the prologue and epilogue, with their "it gets better" themes, but I wanted more of that. More recognition that "this sh*t is hard, yo!" and that it's perfectly okay to both want to hold them forever and run away to Fiji.
I also found some of the essays repetitive. At one point they all started to echo one another. Which wasn't terrible, but it added to the overall unremarkable impression I had of the book as a whole.
I was expecting more practical advice, perhaps, about how to hold on to your identity while raising small children. I really enjoyed the prologue and epilogue, with their "it gets better" themes, but I wanted more of that. More recognition that "this sh*t is hard, yo!" and that it's perfectly okay to both want to hold them forever and run away to Fiji.
I also found some of the essays repetitive. At one point they all started to echo one another. Which wasn't terrible, but it added to the overall unremarkable impression I had of the book as a whole.