Customer Reviews

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy: Confronting Motherhood, Womanhood & Selfhood in a Household of Boys

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

After reading this book, I felt I had bonded with every woman who has ever undertaken the task of raising sons. At once hilarious and poignant, Karin Kasdin expresses herself thoughtfully and eloquently, and touches on issues that affect all mothers of sons in the 90's. The love she holds for her three sons is palpable even as she scratches her head in confusion or mourns the daughter she will never have. This has become my gift of choice for all the women I know who are in the trenches of son-rearing. No advice, just good humor and warm pathos. The thank-yous I get are heartfelt. If you've ever loved anyone's son, don't deny yourself this truly delightful reading experience.

An amazing text of what it is like to be a mother to young boys. It is at turns hysterical, touching and frustrating just like parenthood. As a non-parent, I was completely taken with the book. Kasdin possesses a flair for a clever phrase and positions these gems within a wonderful narrative. A nice change of pace from the usual dreck that makes it on the Best Seller's List

I LOVE this book. As a mother of three boys I turn to this book when I am at my wits end and need to lighten up. The antics Karin's boys perform are so similar to the ones that my boys act out, I can't help but laugh...many times hysterically! It really helps me put things in perspective.

The trouble with raising boys in today's environment is that most grow up to be superpredators or Nintendo potatoes. Often both. Oh Boy, does it not have to be so! Karin Kasdin is like a Rosie O'Donnell for our time -- presenting us one woman's children (her own) who are neither caricatures nor abominations, but very human boys. We wait to see where she will go next. After Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh BOy, it's obvious that she could write anything from parenting guides to compelling comic theater.

I was impressed by all the good reviews and the blurb, but this book is pretty pointless and frustrating. The author doesn't recount any "lessons learned" other than, in her opinion, it is a foregone conclusion that boys will make disgusting noises, be overtly rude to everyone, have no appreciation for others, and be generally messy. She seems to give boys a "pass" due to their gender (the jovial way she describes her sons being abysmally rude to their father's boss, with NO consenquences, is jaw-dropping). Maybe the book is just supposed to be funny, but it failed for me on that level, too. I'm sorry I spent the money on it.