Mother Said (Hardcover)

by Hal Sirowitz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The loving harping of the Jewish mother provides the background for this collection of Hal Sirowitz poems. His late mother--for whom the old Jewish proverb "God could not be everywhere so he made mothers" may well have been created--had an opinion on almost everything and wasn't bashful in offering them to her son. Such motherly wisdom as "don't stick your finger in the ketchup bottle" and "don't swim in the ocean while it's raining" give the collection punch. Sirowitz also addresses his love life in a number of poems.

Product Description
Before her death in December of 1993, Estelle Sirowitz ladled out the usual maternal advice--from wearing clean underwear (without holes), to believing in God, and keeping limbs inside windows of moving vehicles. The difference lay not in her delivery but in the recipient: her son Hal.

Nearly fourteen years ago Sirowitz began turning his mother's advice into poetry--never showing her exactly what came of her ranting and raving about a ketchup jar:

Deformed Finger

Don't stick your finger in the ketchup bottle,
Mother said. It might get stuck, &
then you'll have to wait for your father
to get home to pull it out. He
won't be happy to find a dirty fingernail
squirming in the ketchup that he's going to use
on his hamburger. He'll yank it out so hard
that for the rest of your life you won't
be able to wear a ring on that finger.
And if you ever get a girlfriend, &
you hold hands, she's bound to ask you
why one of your fingers is deformed,
& you'll be obligated to tell her how
you didn't listen to your mother, &
insisted on playing with the ketchup bottle,
& she'll get to thinking, he probably won't
listen to me either, & she'll push your hand away.

Since then Sirowitz has become a regular in New York City's downtown poetry scene, was awarded a residency at the MacDowell artists colony, performed live on MTV's "The Spoken Word: Unplugged," appeared on Public Television's "United States of Poetry" series, and received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to continue writing about his mother. No one, not even Estelle Sirowitz, could have predicted the incredible allure and success of his dead-pan delivery and dead-on depictions of a mother's words of doom:

from A Bum's Life

You're going to be a bum, Mother said,
if you're not one already, but you'll
soon find out that even a bum
has to work hard convincing people
that he's really poor. When it rains
you can't stand out there holding
an umbrella, & ask for money, but
you have to get wet, because the more
you drip, the more sympathy you'll get....

Like nursery rhymes for adults, the poems included in Mother Said are addictive.

Read them once and you'll have to read them twice. Hear Sirowitz read them, and you'll find yourself reciting them to your friends--mimicking as best you can his Queens accent and his dry delivery. Who knows, you may even find yourself reciting them to your own mother.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (April 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517704978
• ISBN-13: 978-0517704974
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #707,897 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively Hilarious Poetry, September 22, 2005

By	Hortensia Anderson "Hortensia Anderson" (nyc, ny, usa) - See all my reviews

The poetry of Hal Sirowitz is hilarious and accessible - not the serious trying-to-solve-the-mysteries-of-life familiar brand of "real poetry". But a Sirowitz poem does, in fact, address the quotidian issues that drive us crazy and in this respect, his poetry does help us deal with our problems. Each poem is carefully crafted - deceptively so. But just try writing one! A wonderful read - I have purchased several copies for friends both into poetry and not. All have been delighted.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gut wrenching laughter on almost every poem, March 14, 1999

By A Customer

The funniest compilation of motherisms I've seen; I loved this book and recommend it highly

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Also in Norwegian!, October 12, 1998

By A Customer

A young Norw. author called Erlend Loe found this book in New York, fell in love with it, translated it and made his publisher give it out in the matter of months. I do not know the figures, but it is selling really good here, along with the follow-up.I think this alone describes how great it is.