Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Because I Said So: 33 Mothers Write About Children, Sex, Men, Aging, Faith, Race, and Themselves
by
Kate Moses ,
Kate Moses
The challenges facing mothers in the twenty-first century go well beyond tantrum control and potty training. Camille Peri and Kate Moses, the founding editors of Salon.com's "Mothers Who Think" column and the subsequent anthology of the same name, have once again compiled a selection of intimate and fiercely honest essays on the profound issues that affect women and their...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
December 27th 2005
by Harper Perennial
(first published April 12th 2005)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
342)
a collection of essays on being a mother. this is in fact the second anthology generated by salon.com's defunct "mothers who think" column. can't pretend that i am crazy about the "mothers who think" moniker. doesn't that imply that there are also mothers (presumably, not salon.com readers) that don't think? while that may be true, it seems unnecessarily judgmental & dichotic, as do more than a few of these essays. i don't think the contributors necessarily intend to come across as smug know...more
I am really enjoying this book and recommend it to all mothers (parents) honest accounts of the joys and frustration of parenting - my daughter is 24 but it is still relevant - is bringing back memories - making me laugh and at times giving me a little PTSD - I think that so often we (women) are afraid to admit that we are challenged by our children - that we feel we have to say the kids are great and we love every minute of it - for me this was not true - I love and adore my daughter - but at t...more
Honestly, I haven't finished this book yet and I probably won't for a while. What I have read has generally been very entertaining. There are some wonderful essays, a couple of which I can identify with. There are, however, MANY esssays about divorced families and I can not relate to those at all. The one essay that touched me most was Mariane Pearl's "On Giving Hope". Silly me didn't realize this was Daniel Pearl's wife right away, but halfway through, it clicked and reading her story of how sh...more
I had a hard time putting this book down. I think I was captivated because it was very honest, from-the-heart words. Even though the women came from all different walks of life (sorry for the cliche!), there was a common thread as they considered their roles as women and wives and mothers. I came away grateful for my sweet husband and for the gift of these three children, who I am trying desperately to raise well. The last story, written by a 40-year-old woman who had lost a pregnancy and was fo...more
Really enjoyed these essays on current motherhood. It took me about 5 months to read this, as I would read a few essays, then read another book, but one of the few essay compilations that I read in the given order. Particularly resonant with me was the essay "Boys! Give me Boys!" as I am currently the parent of two young boys, and many of my peers are parents only to sons.
Anyone who is a mother (or parent) will enjoy this collection of short stories. I enjoyed the short story aspect because it is summer, but it was wonderful to hear about so many different types of relationships that women have with their children. It seemed after reading this book I was bringing it up in conversations many times.
I really like reading essays by mothers describing some part of their lives, especially when they're living lives so remote from mine. That's part of why I like "Brain, Child" magazine so much. Reading these essays, I got to think a lot of things I'd never have thought on my own.
Supremely excellent collection. I enjoyed most all of these slices of life from intelligent, interesting mothers. I particularly enjoyed the story of Denise Minor, "There's No Being Sad Here" which is a piercingly accurate story of growing up alongside an autistic son, as well as the wry "Material Girls" from Margaret Talbot, a commentary on the American Girls craze. "Harry Potter and Divorce Among the Muggles" "Why I Can Never Go Back to the French Laundry" (where I am clearly destined to eat,...more
Oct 15, 2007
Jessica
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
mothers or non-mothers who are glad to be child-free!
For some reason I am always drawn to these essay collection books - about all subjects. I think they are going to be so interesting and great and they are usually OK. Because I Said So is a collection of essays by women about being mothers. Even though I don't have kids and don't really plan on having kids, I am still fascinated by these kind of stories. I think if you are a mother you would probably enjoy this because you could relate to the authors, but non-mothers can enjoy it too. Sometimes...more
Aug 18, 2007
MichelleMarie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
if you like essays about mothers, daughters, friends and wives
I don't usually read a lot of essay books but I really enjoyed this one. (well worth the one dollar I paid for it) If you ever read it I have madea list of the essays that I thought are worth reading and the ones that are a MUST READ. ask me for it! There were some interesting things about life and loss and mother/teenager relationships and about surrogacy, and some definatly well written ones about race and diversity. I will for sure pick this one up to read again. I think I enjoyed it most bec...more
It was what I expected it to be.
Short stories - though I'm not usually a fan of short stories (I feel like by the time I get interested/care...it ends). First story about a Pakistani girl who is unmarried and has a child....men of her mosque put her on trial for not conforming to many muslin dictates. Second story is about the struggles of a blended family...and the third about the history and phenomenon of The American Girl dolls (very interesting). Some of the stories are very good/well written and others not so much.
I listened to an interview with Ayelet Waldman (who wrote an essay in this book) on the May 5, 2009 NPR Fresh Air podcast. It was a captivating interview (can I say that--do I sound like a podcast critic?).
OK, Waldman's interview was way more interesting than her essay. My favorites were: Two Heads Are Better Than Three (Mary Roach), Harry Potter and Divorce Among the Muggles (Constance Matthiessen) and No Blame (Rosellen Brown).
OK, Waldman's interview was way more interesting than her essay. My favorites were: Two Heads Are Better Than Three (Mary Roach), Harry Potter and Divorce Among the Muggles (Constance Matthiessen) and No Blame (Rosellen Brown).
I initially picked this book up to read my friend Connie's essay "Divorce Among the Muggles." But then I kept reading, and found many delightful ponderings on modern motherhood. I didn't find all of them completely plausible (Ayelet Waldman I think was being deliberately provocative) but I read them all. I especially enjoyed the essay from those authors whose life experiences differed from my own.
Meh.
Great collection of essays. Some are quite poetic in style, others prosaic but all have Motherhood and its issues and rewards as a partial theme. I quite enjoyed them all even when I couldn't relate to all of their stories.
This was a bookclub choice.
I was expecting something funny or enlightening, but it was just mini-memoirs. It didn't do much for me.
I was expecting something funny or enlightening, but it was just mini-memoirs. It didn't do much for me.
Absolute sanctuary is what any mother will find herein, as well as inspiration, encouragement, and a lot of laughs.
A diverse collection of maternal perspective, in easy-to-divvy essays. This was great bedtime reading.
This is the brainiest book of mom essays I ever read.
Compelling essay, but definitely not a quick read.
May 20, 2013
Melissa
is currently reading it
May 13, 2013
Jenny
marked it as to-read
May 03, 2013
Melanie
marked it as to-read
Apr 19, 2013
Lua
marked it as to-read
Apr 16, 2013
Megan
marked it as to-read
Apr 09, 2013
Jocelyn Stitt
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
foundations-of-mothering-studies,
anthology
Mar 23, 2013
Katie
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| because i said so | 1 | 2 | Mar 05, 2008 03:45pm |
Nov 29, 2007 04:27am