Amy's Answering Machine: Messages from Mom [Hardcover]

Amy Borkowsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2001

Does your mother call you in a panic when she hears a storm warning for your area? Does she act as though it's her duty to alert you to every health story she hears on the news? Have you ever been briefly out of contact with your mother only to find she has phoned friends, neighbours and even the hospital looking for you! This hilarious new book from AMY BORKOWSKY'S mother includes messages plus the stories behind them; additional messages never before released; emails in which Amy's fans share the most extreme calls from their own mothers; and tips on dealing with a mother who uses the phone cord as an umbilical cord. Thanks to AMY'S ANSWERING MACHINE, children of all ages can take comfort in knowing they don't suffer alone...and mothers can show their kids that, compared to Amy's mum, they're not that bad.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amy Borkowsky has been executive vice president, creative group head at a major New York advertising agency, where she won dozens of advertising awards, including five Clios, three Lions at the Cannes Festival, and an Emmy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books; First Edition edition (April 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743422287
• ISBN-13: 978-0743422284
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Calling all Moms (or Moms calling us), June 6, 2002

By 

Kirstin G. Larson (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amy's Answering Machine: Messages from Mom (Hardcover)

Amy Borkowsky recently was a guest on NPR Morning Edition, where she discussed the origins of this book and they played excerpts of some of Amy's Mom's wonderful words of wisdom. It was so funny I almost drove off the road because I was laughing so hard! I just had to have this book!
I looked high and low--checked all my local bookstores, but no one had it in stock. Finally, Amazon.com to the rescue, I got my hands on a copy.
It was a great read. Amy's commentary between the messages helps to convince the reader that Amy loves her mom, and adds a nice counterpoint and balance to the book.
This book (supposedly) is also available with an cd so you can actually HEAR the messages for yourself. Now, I wasn't able to find that edition of the book, but trust me, if you can find it, it is worth it! Since I had already heard Amy's mom on NPR, I read the book superimposing her voice in my head as I as I read the messages, which made it WAY funnier. I'm passing this book around to all my friends, it's a lot of fun!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The book is good, the CD is better, April 8, 2001

By 

Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amy's Answering Machine: Messages from Mom (Hardcover)

Anyone who has heard Amy Borowsky talk about her mother and her messages knows how funny those messages are. This is a very funny book, but something is lost in the transition to the written word. This book contains some of the funniest messages Amy's mom has left...but anyone who has heard the CD, or even snippets of the CD may be disappointed. The missing ingredient is her mother's voice, the tone and phrasing and concern in each message, the sincere and unselfconscious way Amy's mom imparts her advice and care.You can laugh yourself silly listening to that CD. The book is funny, the messages about the red bathrobe, the single Jewish guy in Alaska, underwire bras and metal detector at the airport, and the Jewish rye with suspicious origins. You can't help but laugh. There is a very witty dialogue in the book as Amy moves from catagory to catagory, "Why a mother is better than a guy", "If I still lived with my mother she would dress me", and "What's wrong with this bachelor?". It is funny and tender and insightful. A good book to give to a friend dealing with a mother giving regular ovary alerts. Better yet, buy the CD and give them both. (Amy's mom, I'm sorry I didn't give it five stars. Please don't call).

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Daughter and I loved it, May 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Amy's Answering Machine: Messages from Mom (Hardcover)

My daughter and I both read this book and were laughing so hard we had mascara running down our cheeks. We took turns reading the messages and, while my daughter claims they sound exactly like me, I really don?t think I?m that overprotective, but then we don?t always see ourselves objectively. The illustrations were really fun, my favorite being the one where Amy?s mother puts Amy?s picture on a milk carton after she?s ?missing? for an hour or so. My daughter especially got a kick out of Amy?s running commentary; for example, where Amy lists the reasons that a mother is better than a guy, the main one being that when a guy says he?s going to call, you never know if he?ll follow through, but with a mother, she?ll call come hell or high water. (I forget how Amy phrases it. I probably butchered her prose!) My only criticism, if there is one, is that unless you read the introduction that explains that ?Amila? is the mother?s nickname for ?Amy,? you might be confused as to whether her name is Amy or Amila. Okay, minor point, but I tend to be a stickler for details. All in all, though, this book is proof that truth is much funnier than fiction, and it makes great reading for yourself and would be a great gift for anyone who suffers through life with a mother whose love and good intentions can be somewhat suffocating yet, at least in this case, very entertaining.