Customer Reviews

Cracked at Birth: One Madcap Mom's Thoughts on Motherhood, Marriage And Burnt Meatloaf

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some lives were just made to be made fun of. Some lives are so wacky, so silly, so undeniably cracked up, you just can't help but chuckle. Kathryn S. Mahoney is living one of those lives.

Kathryn Mahoney, who thinks she was CRACKED AT BIRTH, takes time to sit back and good naturedly marvel at the absurdity in her life. And, like the next door neighbor who keeps us in stitches with her zany tales, Mahoney shares the absurdity with us - one laughable story at a time.

CRACKED AT BIRTH is a collection of Mahoney's essays from her humor column, "Sunny Side Up," which has been running in six newspapers published by Nashoba Publishing of Devens, MA, since 2001. In this lighthearted essay collection, Mahoney tackles such hilarities as:

*Attempting yoga with children in the house

*The feeling of being invisible

*How to make your husband leave the room

*Household mishaps

*Valentine's Day romance failures

Mahoney seems to have mastered the art of being funny without being too sarcastic. Her style is refreshing and fun, and nearly all of her essays end with a feeling that, given the choice of any other life and family on the planet, she'd still choose the life and family she has. Her essays are warm and endearing, with just enough silly thrown in to make them irresistible.

While CRACKED AT BIRTH is consistent - none of her essays are weak or boring - Mahoney's funniest work revolves around her husband and the relationship between the two of them. Far be it from Mahoney to engage in man-bashing - she'd rather lovingly poke fun at the things that make her hubby so adorably male. This slant on love, marriage, and romance is a refreshing style for all those women who adore their hubbies but sometimes just can't help but shake their heads and chuckle over something they've said or done. Mahoney should follow CRACKED AT BIRTH with another humor book ("Cracked at Marriage," perhaps?) filled with nothing but marriage and romance-related essays.

Make no mistake, however; CRACKED AT BIRTH points out the sunnier side of so much more than love and marriage. Mahoney has no qualms ribbing her kids, her mother, even herself! It is this quality that gives her work tantalizing breadth.

Good for a light read and perfect for the bookshelf of any aspiring humorist, Kathryn S. Mahoney's CRACKED AT BIRTH will tickle your funny bone and maybe even make you look at your own cracked life in a little sunnier light.

Kathryn Mahoney relays humourous tales of the everyday joys of family living by sharing her real life experiences, adventures and dreams. A fun and enjoyable must read for anyone who would like to excape their own family reality and enter into another's "cracked" sense of seeing the lighter side of things.

From The Rebel Housewife to One Madcap Mom...I felt an instant kinship with Kathryn Mahoney. She writes fast-paced, clever essays on universal truths and embarrassing secrets of motherhood -- and the lady is funny. From totally relate-able riffs on Reality TV, modern-day children's birthday parties, and our eerily number-ized society to WYSIWYG Woman (which I whole-heartedly support!), CRACKED AT BIRTH offers fantastic diversion and out-loud laughs to overwhelmed Moms everywhere -- CRACKED AT BIRTH would be a great gift to those women in your life.

-- Sherri Caldwell, Humor Columnist & Reviewer,

Co-Author, The Rebel Housewife Rules: To Heck With Domestic Bliss!

Kathy was funny in high school and she has gotten funnier! She is a modern Erma Bombeck. My husband picked up the book and started chuckling as he began to read. We need to keep a sense of humor in the midst of the chaos of family life. Kathy has a knack for putting the adventures into words that we all can relate to and laugh at. A great read for Moms (and Dads too!)who are trying to maintain their sanity through the ups and downs of everyday life in the trenches.

This book is just great... true to life stories with a humorous twist! A good read when traveling for any parent!

A friend gave this to me as a "baby #3 gift". It was so nice to just sit and laugh about all the craziness of motherhood. It's nice to know I'm not alone!

This amazingly funny book of Kathryn Mahoney really takes the cake for all comedic books I have read. This is a must-read for people of all ages.

Kathryn Mahoney has a great look on life. I am a father of a baby girl and have yet to experience many of the things that this book gets into, but every time something happens in my house I ask, "How would Kathryn look at this". Her take on situations are a riot and the short "thoughts" that she's spelt out in this book are a must read for anyone about to go through raising a child, currently dealing with the terrible twos, or looking back at how fast time flies.

This book is a must-read for all moms! It had me laughing and reading passages out loud to my husband. Kathyrn Mahoney's humorous tales of motherhood and family life make you realize that the key to survival is laughter.