Afterbirth: Stories You Won't Read in a Parenting Magazine [Hardcover]

Dani Klein Modisett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2009

Afterbirth is about what parenting is really like: full of inappropriate impulses, unbelievable frustrations, and idiotic situations. It’s about how life for some parents changes for the worse after their kids are born. Or so it feels. It’s about how not every threeyear- old is charming and delightful and about how sometimes when your kid is having a tantrum, you have to stifle the impulse to round-house him. And Afterbirth is funny—the participants are some of the best comic writers and performers today, turning their attention very close to home and sparing no one, particularly themselves. The thirty-five pieces include:

• Caroline Aaron on what it feels like when the kid moves out of the house (“The New Parenting Paradigm”)
• Christie Mellor on why it’s dangerous to tell people what you really think about being a mommy (“Yahooey”)
• Joan Rater on parenting the unexpected (“Attachment Adoption”)
• Neil Pollack on unforeseeable and unreasonable parental rage (“The Tennis Pro”)
• Matt Weiner on trying not to parent violently like his father did (“Go Easy on the Old Man”)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With humor rather than earnestness, Afterbirth plumbs the emotional and diaper-filled depths of procreation...the pieces here skewer the fantasties of parenthood and do it with hilarious candor."--Los Angeles Times

 

"This brutally honest (and often hilarious) collection is a refreshing take on the hardest job in the world."--Daily Candy Kids

 

"A collection of very candid and funny essays by parents that celebrate how life changes--for better and for worse--once that bundle of joy enters their lives."--www.teachmorelovemore.org

 

"Afterbirth is about what parenting is really like: full of inappropriate impulses, unbelievable frustrations, and idiotic situations...and Afterbirth is funny--the participants are some of the best comic writers and performers today, turning their attention very close to home and sparing no one, particularly themselves."--Women's Fiction Reviews, http://womensfictionreviews.blogspot.com

 

"These non-fiction confessionals shoot from the hip about the way kids will change your life...It's some funny reading when you need a break from all that child-proofing."--The Awesome List, joyhog.com

 

"I laughed my vicarious a__ off...Taking turns being irreverent and hilarious, the essays are not exactly "bad parenting" so much as they are aww, crap, no she DIDN'T" tales...that sound vaguely familiar. Except eminently more fabulous."--www.babble.com

 

"A relatable dose of reality. Afterbirth: Stories You Won’t Read in a Parenting Magazine is a collection of essays based on Dani Klein Modisett’s popular live show of the same name. Hollywood types, from Sex and the City writer Cindy Chupack to Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, contribute personal takes on parenting. First family vacations, fertility, fear and father-daughter bonding are just a few of the topics tackled in this collection of personal stories."--UrbanBaby.com

 

"Oh, I would have given one student-loan-payment-priced maternity dress for some of this what-have-I-done angst captured in print!"--Brain.Child

About the Author

DANI KLEIN MODISETT is the creator/producer/director of the live show ”Afterbirth,” which runs twelve times a year in Los Angeles and New York City. She is also an actress and comic who contributes to Momlogic.com, and has taught comedy at UCLA for ten years. She lives in Los Angeles, with her husband and two sons.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312567146
• ISBN-13: 978-0312567149
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There Is Life Afterbirth, April 30, 2009

By 

Stefanie Taylor "Author of 'Sippy Cups Are No... (Encino, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Afterbirth: Stories You Won't Read in a Parenting Magazine (Hardcover)

I've read about a million parenting books, essay collections etc. so I opened this book feeling ever-so-slightly jaded. "Does anyone have anything new to say about parenting?" I wondered to myself. Well, apparently yes. Starting from the introduction, I was hooked. These unabashedly honest stories (as the book says "Stories you won't read in a parenting magazine) run the gamut from tear jerkers like Joan Rater's (Grey's Anatomy) recounting of her less than ideal adoption of a baby from China who had a severe attachment disorder to stories that will make you smile like Andrew McCarthy's battle with his overpriced Bugaboo stroller. This book is packed with name brand writers and each of their tales packs a punch, often unexpected, always rewarding. I highly recommend this one to new and seasoned parents. Even if you, like me, thought you wouldn't be buying any more parenting books.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For people who think parenting is difficult, funny, and the best thing to do, May 27, 2009

By 

Tammy Whynotte (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afterbirth: Stories You Won't Read in a Parenting Magazine (Hardcover)

My partner bought this book for me after hearing about it on the radio. I laughed out loud while reading every essay in this book. I have read so much! And this book is one of the only ones that I really identified with-- humor and grace and humanity. I would recommend it for any new parent with a story to tell and a good sense of humor-- the essays are short and sweet and therefore perfect for reading while breastfeeding, or sitting in the other room while you take a little breather from your crying baby. I'm buying 2 today for friends and passing my copy around to whoever will read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT laugh, but like all great comedy, it crosses some lines, October 27, 2011

By 

HaileyPeden - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Afterbirth: Stories You Won't Read in a Parenting Magazine (Hardcover)

I definitely laughed out loud with this book and I read it pretty quickly because of how entertaining it is. Some parts did make me cringe and there were a couple parts I wish I could wash off of my brain. However, all good comedy typically crosses a line here or there. And it always makes you feel like a better parent when you can think to yourself... "at least formula has never reminded me of cocaine."