Category: A Memoir

Top Pick! Katie's YA Hot Spot: Review of Ketchup is a Vegetable by Robin O'Bryant

12/03/2012

Every so often a book comes along that really speaks to you, gets you at a gut level that most books cannot. The wonderful thing about Ketchup is a Vegetable by Robin O'Bryant is that not only did this book really “get me”, but it made me snicker non-stop for over two hundred pages. This memoir focuses on Robin and her misadventures as a mother and wife. Let the hilarity ensue.

In one scene Robin recounts the road trip from Hell. With three daughters ages five and under, one an infant, Robin's family sets off on a five hour drive. Below is a short excerpt of the story that left me rolling.

“At this point, my dearly beloved was standing on the side of the road, shirtless, Emma was wearing nothing but a pull-up and a frown, and I had wiped the Big Berthas out once again to feed Sadie. I could feel a great red neck joke brewing, but he (her husband) doesn't normally enjoy my humor in times of crisis, so I kept my mouth shut.”

Any mom who's taken a road trip knows that the worst events possible can and do happen. Robin's trip made me have flashbacks of a family Florida road trip where my husband projectile vomited into a beef jerky container. Nothing's more hilarious than car trips and regurgitation.

Robin's humor is so effortless and real I found myself envious at many points. Humor is an advanced skill and many authors try and fail. This book is hilarious without being over the top. At one point she discusses killing flies that had swarmed on her windowsill.

“I grabbed a bottle of air freshener and took my stand at the window in very much the same way Scarlett O'Hara faced those Yanks, I'm sure. I sprayed furiously while I held my breath and watched as a measly four flies met their Maker. This was pathetic. Scarlett would be so ashamed.”

The best part of O'Bryant's book is that she makes it okay to make mistakes as a mother. We all put so much pressure on ourselves. We all want to be Joan Clever mixed with Angelina Jolie, but we can't. O'Bryant helps mothers everywhere commiserate, laugh at themselves and learn to love the mother you are, not the mother you should be.

Bottom line, mothers, buy this book, make sure all sharp objects are safely stowed, lock yourself in the bathroom and enjoy.

You can find Robin O'Bryant on her blog.
You can find the book here.

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Top Pick! ABs Newbies: Review of Praise of Motherhood by Phil Jourdan

04/09/2012

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TITLE: Praise of Motherhood

AUTHOR: Phil Jourdan

PUBLISHER: Zer0 Books (imprint of John Hunt Publishing)

GENRE: Memoir

PAGES: 125

THE RUNDOWN

Praise of Motherhood is a memoir about the life and death of Phil Jourdan’s mother, who stood by him throughout his tumultuous childhood. As much as the book is about his mother, it is about him: the hallucinations and violent urges that hospitalized him and defined his youth. To me, the book is a psychological study. On the one hand, we have a well-read, analytical narrator who seems to have his wits about him. On the other hand, we have a psychotic young man who simultaneously hates and loves his mother. The reader must ask, how can these two people be the same?

There is a self-indulgent quality to the prose in Praise of Motherhood that is so honest in its presentation that I, the reader, assumed the same tendencies. I read the book at a frenzied pace and had to fight to put it down. The book is unusual and intoxicating, with an intentional lack of attention to time or reality. The narrator, Phil Jourdan, is so unreliable in his storytelling that I wanted to label it a novel, not a memoir. And yet, it read unlike any novel or memoir I have ever read.

Praise of Motherhood lacks the ABC plotline that defines mainstream books. Other than some tangents that were slightly longer than necessary, the lack of direction in Praise of Motherhood didn’t slow me down. I would describe the contents of the book as philosophy, not story. Phil Jourdan is well-read, citing Freud, Oedipus, Kafka and other great minds, challenging their thoughts and applying his own. His writing is introspective and honest and there are more than a few gems sprinkled throughout the text. With his spellbinding stream-of-thought narrative, which revolves around the life and death of his mother, Phil manages to gain my respect despite the fact that I acknowledge his experiences as unreliable at best.

THE RECOMMENDATION

Readers who enjoyed The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath will eat up Phil Jourdan’s book. It is not a light read, but it is a quick one. Something that you will devour in a short period of time and digest for years to come. If you are looking for a new perspective, a dark twist on reality, pick up Phil Jourdan’s book. Additionally, anyone with a close friend or family member who is suffering from mental trauma or psychosis may gain some understanding of their loved one’s predicament by reading Praise of Motherhood. There are some mature moments which may not be suitable for a younger audience.

Find Phil on Facebook
Visit Phil's blog, Slothrop

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Kimberly's Chaotic Corner: Review of Tales From Tavanti by Rebecca Bricker

01/02/2012

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Name: Tales From Tavanti: An American Woman’s Mid-Life Adventures In Italy
Author: Rebecca Bricker
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 337
Publisher: Self-published

When her only son left for college, Rebecca Bricker went out the door after him. She sold her home, sold most of her possessions and bought a ticket to Italy. Tales From Tavanti is the memoirs of a single, middle-aged woman who throws caution to the wind and follows her dream.

While is admirable that Ms. Bricker moved to Italy where she knew no one, rented an apartment on Via Tavanti street in Florence, I would classify this work of memoirs as a diary, not a novel.

Having no real purpose except to experience Italy, meet a few men, and write a book about her adventures, Tales From Tavanti has far too many characters and way too many places for a reader to find any real connection.

As in any book, non-fiction or fiction, the reader will always judge the characters. We don’t like the protagonist because he’s mean or unfeeling, or we feel deeply connected to a caring person who is abused. When the main character is you, then you have just opened yourself up to be judged. This is a chance the writer takes.

As a mother and a daughter of aging parents, I found it difficult to identify with Ms. Bricker. With her only son leaving the nest for his first year in college, a mother rapidly declining with Alzheimer’s disease, and father having a difficult time making decisions, it seemed untimely to pick up and leave the country for a year.

Even more disturbing was Ms. Bricker’s affair with a good-looking, charming Italian. The drama weaved in and out of the story reading more like a teenager looking for love in all the wrong places than an experienced, middle-aged woman.

Yet another issue with this book is honesty. I didn’t ‘feel’ gut-level honesty. If honesty isn’t a writer’s sixth sense, the work is not believable. I wanted to identify with the pain of saying good-bye to a home of some 20 years, the fear of leaving a son, still a teenager who is leaving home for the first time, the pain of watching the slow death of a parent with Alzheimer’s. Overall, the adventure seemed an escape from the hardships each of us face somewhere in our lifetime. In reality, however, there is no real escape.

Ms. Bricker’s credentials states she is a freelance writer and has written for People’s Magazine. She has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, but for what reason is not stated.

I did not give Tales From Tavanti a rating as I do not feel it is a novel, but a diary Ms. Bricker’s friends and family would enjoy.

Visit Rebecca's website

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