American Mom: Motherhood, Politics, and Humble Pie [Hardcover]

Mary Kay Blakely (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 1994

Blakely's warm, candid, touching, fiercely loving account of raising two sons will strike a chord with parents in this age of post-nuclear, extended families.--Publishers Weekly, starred; "Witty and piercing."--Newsweek.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Blakely's warm, candid, touching, fiercely loving account of raising two sons will strike a chord with parents in this age of post-nuclear, extended families. As a feminist and a civil rights and green activist in conservative Fort Wayne, Ind., she transmitted her values to Ryan and Darren, who were born in 1974 and 1975, respectively. The part-time jobs of Blakely, a high-school dean and later a journalist, and her city-planner husband, Howard, made their life together an ever-changing crazy quilt; disputes over money and responsibility led to a bitter, protracted divorce after a decade of marriage. She relocated to Connecticut with her live-in lover, Larry, who was not a family man; their break-up after six years left her a single working mother whose ex-husband paid no child support. With fresh insights honed by feminist scholarship, Blakely (Wake Me When It's Over) writes beautifully of coping with her sons' earliest years, teenage rebellion, the need for parents to impart sex education, motherhood as an exercise in constantly letting go and the empty-nest syndrome. 40,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Aside from the great Murphy Brown debate, motherhood and politics are rarely mentioned in the same sentence. Cultural reporter Blakely has woven these two subjects into an interesting collection of thoughts and reminiscences. Beginning with recollections of her own mother, Blakely explores her own mothering experiences, showing how the political climate of the Seventies influenced her children's upbringing, her divorce, and the decision of her sons to take turns living with their father. With numerous magazine articles to her credit, Blakely brings both good writing and good instincts to this book. A thought-provoking example of the personal as political, this is recommended for most public libraries. [Excerpted in Ms. and Parenting magazines.-Ed.]-Priscilla Davis Dann, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., South Euclid, Ohi.
--Priscilla Davis Dann, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., South Euclid, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 291 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1st edition (January 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565120523
• ISBN-13: 978-1565120525
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,280,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read - Even for Dads, December 30, 2000

By 

L. Blackmore (Norwich, VT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: American Mom: Motherhood, Politics, and Humble Pie (Hardcover)

An incredibly heart-warming story of a person and a family that manages to pull off what appears to be a rarity these days: living a real life, in spite of everything the cruel, real world of patriarchial American society throws at it.

Blakely's story is interesting - even for a guy - because she is able to reflect so well on issues that must be of interest to anyone raising a family. She repeatedly points out where the primary blame for a deeply troubled society lies: not with the children, or the parents of those children, but with the attitudes, norms and expectations of that society. Blending this with an uplifting tale of a true survivor struggling through 18 years of raising two kids, she offers a hyper-realistic glimpse of what child-rearing is about for most of us: ups and downs, cookies, and anxieties, frustrations and guilt trips.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "American Mom" is a "must-read" for all Moms., February 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: American Mom Motherhood Politics and Humble Pie (Paperback)

"American Mom" is a book that should be passed from Mom to Mom until every women who ever washed Cheerios off the floor for the seventeenth time this week has read it. It will make you laugh, cry, and shout "yes" as you live life with a woman who tried to do it all.

Although she failed (big time), she survived, and lived (but just barely) to tell the tale.

Do you know any women who try to take care of everybody and everything? Give them this book! It may not change their life, but it will make them laugh.

You will never again stand and watch a child screaming in the checkout line at the grocery store without thinking of this book. Moms of the world, read this book, and UNITE!