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Mommies Who Drink: Sex, Drugs, and Other Distant Memories of an Ordinary Mom
by
Brett Paesel
For young single women, every night is Ladies' Night. For Brett Paesel and her friends, Friday happy hour is all they get--if they can wrangle a babysitter. Like most mommies, they support each other through pregnancies, sleep deprivation, and the need to talk about it all. Instead of meeting at the playground, they convene at the local watering hole while sipping Black an...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
July 31st 2007
by Warner Books
(first published January 1st 2006)
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Brett Paesel has written for Hip Mama and Brain, Child. She's smart, funny, and a wonderful writer to spend time with. I wish this book had been around when I was a new mom, because I felt a lot of the same sense of loss and bewilderment that Paesel describes, along with that same feeling of guilt at not being over the moon about my new baby and motherhood status.
The best thing about the book is that there's little back pedaling in effort to reassure readers that she loves her kids. It's always...more
The best thing about the book is that there's little back pedaling in effort to reassure readers that she loves her kids. It's always...more
I once told a friend, "I don't get an orgasm from cleaning my house." In fact, much of domestic life bores the !X&$@ out of me. Once a year, I get my Martha on, and do insanely involved Christmas crafts, and that is pretty much good enough to carry me another 12 months. And so it is not unlikely that I would pick up Mommies Who Drink, described as a polemic against modern mothering. The book is at times wry, touching, and spot-on (i.e., the fact that some of us are more apt to go to school m...more
Jan 03, 2008
Lora
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Yvonne, Lisa, Patty, Julie, Catherine, Nicole, Kellie, Tara, Julia
Seriously one of the funniest books I have ever read. I want to meet this woman. I'm not even a mom, but I was laughing out loud. It's not even cheesy / Paul Reiser parental observational humor - it's WAY better than that. So very funny. Loved it.
Not really sure how to rate this book. There were definitely parts that I enjoyed; I literally laughed out loud several times. But overall, I found it very reminiscent of Jenny McCarthy's books on pregnancy/motherhood so the idea seemed unoriginal and underwhelming. Paesel's efforts to be edgy and funny often came across as whiny and forced instead. There were several times when I just did not believe what she was writing; I thought to myself "that would never happen". But beneath all the fluff,...more
I found this memoir truly entertaining. Paesel’s raw honesty in regard to a very sensitive subject is refreshing. Not all mothers will “get” Paesel. Those mothers who are boxed in by social and familial constraints will find it difficult to allow themselves to admit that sometimes their children make them feel something other than bliss. The author cares little about what is socially acceptable to admit. Though you may not be able to identify with the specifics of Paesel’s situations or parental...more
Okay so the title might scare some mothers away, but not me! I actually purchased this as a book on cd for a Houston to Dallas trip. Brett Paesel had me cracking up on the road at times. Even though the title and even the first two chapters seemed a bit over the top, it really was a pretty good book (for moms who drink...not drunks!!) If you are not a parent it probably will not be as funny. If you are a perfect parent you probably will not like this book.
Note: If you do get the book on cd plea...more
Note: If you do get the book on cd plea...more
For young single women, every night is Ladies' Night. For Brett Paesel and her friends, Friday happy hour is all they get--if they can wrangle a babysitter. Like most mommies, they support each other through pregnancies, sleep deprivation, and the need to talk about it all. Instead of meeting at the playground, they convene at the local watering hole while sipping Black and Tans and flirting with the cute bartender. With a poignant voice and a fresh style that makes this memoir read like the bes...more
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I know, surprise, surprise - I would read a book entitled Mommies Who Drink. I got this from my soon-to-be sister-in-law, and I liked it very much. Even though I am still breastfeeding and can't actually drink (to drunkenness), it was good. At times a bit boring - but it did have the following line in it which I find worth the entire book "An overeater herself, she encourages complicity." And for some reason, the chapter about mothers dying just totally got me, and I started crying. Hello hormon...more
What a fun read! Although it is “laugh out loud” funny, it also deals with some of the serious issues of motherhood… mostly around feeling a loss of identity after you’ve become a “mommy”. This book is perfect for women, like myself, who left a career to raise her young kids, but struggles with the day to day life of being a mom.
It is the author’s memoirs and her antics are hilarious. It kind of reminds me of the book, “Hypocrite in a Puffy White Dress” … as if that author continued on to the “...more
It is the author’s memoirs and her antics are hilarious. It kind of reminds me of the book, “Hypocrite in a Puffy White Dress” … as if that author continued on to the “...more
technically, i have not read this book yet,i've been listening to it as a book on cd. it's one of the best i have listened to. brett is an actress so she reads well and she has a great voice. driving to work has been such a pleasure while listening to this. it is so funny. i ordered a copy from the book store and i want to read it as soon as i pick it up.
The author admits that she still craves "a stranger to fuck me blind in a parking lot after loading me up on margaritas and Thai stick". She also crave blow and other things that I guess I cant really relate to having never experienced that lifestyle beofre my children. Maybe thats why I didnt connect with this book like I thought I would. I read Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay: And Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom and really liked that book along these same lines. This book, not so mu...more
Funny, heart-wrenching and brutally honest, Mommies Who Drink is an unflinching look at motherhood Brett Paesel style. It was scary how much of this I could relate to (although some of it not at all). I wish I could join her Friday Happy Hour.
Author is a bit self indulgent, and I found myself more annoyed with her angst than feeling empathy for her. NOT the laugh out loud book it was advertized to be, but entertaining if you are on an 8 hour flight to Germany.
Jul 20, 2009
Deanna
is currently reading it
I picked this up off my friend Michele's bookshelf - hmmmm, what are you trying to tell me, Michele? Compelling concept and perfect reading for the weekend my husband and little one travel to the grandparents...
Recommended by my firend Wendy, I was in tears (from laughter) by page 2. It is a great book start to finish. The author's life and mine are very diferent but I could imagine that to which I could not relate.
Entertaining. I love how Brett wraps each of her chapters. She has a knack for reeling you in through a good closing. I took a writing course that she teaches at the Writing Pad in DTLA and really enjoyed it.
SOOO laugh outloud funny !!! You have to be ok with some "bad" language (cursing).
Brett is a very funny lady. Wish she'd write another book...perhaps about raising the boys as the are growing.
Brett is a very funny lady. Wish she'd write another book...perhaps about raising the boys as the are growing.
Aug 14, 2012
Wendi
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Wendi by:
mommies
Shelves:
biography,
audiobooks
Listened to audio version. Very funny. I could relate. Just from the title I was hooked. Some slow parts but a good listen. Lots of laughing loudly and spewing if eating or drinking simultaneously.
If you liked Jen Lancaster (who doesn’t?) then you might try Mommies Who Drink by Brett Paesel. It’s got a similar, coarse sense of humor that’s just this side of hilarious.
Brett Paesel is so refreshingly frank, profane and uninhibited. She is the anti-June Cleaver -- in the best possible way. Loved this book - it's like going to happy hour!
Paesel is an actor who lives in LA. She's about my age, and the book is billed as a memoir. I have to read books like this, it's a compulsion. On the surface the author and I have only age and having bred in common. I kept feeling that way through the first half of the book, and admit to rolling my eyes more than once. Somehow though, Paesel's vulnerability started to win me over, and by the last chapter, in which I shared her feelings exactly, I was right in her corner. I applaud any mother who...more
I guess I'm not really the target audience for this book. I can empathize with the feeling that the world somehow mutates women from normal people into weird, crunchy "moms" with no life, but not with some of the attitudes.
The opening scene where she and her other friends try to plan a night out with limo, alcohol and cocaine but get thwarted by their calenders (playdates needing sleep beforehand) is no doubt meant to be funny but felt very awkward and forced to me. I kept reading, hoping the B...more
The opening scene where she and her other friends try to plan a night out with limo, alcohol and cocaine but get thwarted by their calenders (playdates needing sleep beforehand) is no doubt meant to be funny but felt very awkward and forced to me. I kept reading, hoping the B...more
This book was great!!! Finally the truth comes out about how us mothers really feel. This book got me back into reading....well, that and no cable.
I read this at a time in my life where the storyline of a new mom with preschool age children was fitting. Many opportunities to laugh out loud.
Inappropriate, sad at times, but always hilarious. Reading this book in public will lead to embarrassing bouts of laughter!
This was so funny, and I loved the author's voice and observations. I'm not a mother (or an aspiring mother) but I thoroughly enjoyed this.
I wanted to hate it based on the title, but instead found it mostly agreeable and easy to relate to.
Uhh...not what i expected. Had some laugh out loud funny stuff, some poignant moments, and a bunch of raunchy stuff. some of her stories I could relate to and some I just couldn't - she didn't seem so ordinary to me. My impression of Brett as I read the book was that she is a shallow, self absorbed, Hollywood type in a marriage that probably won't last too much longer. But the last chapter left me feeling hopeful for her. And i think I liked the interview with her at the end the best of all. She...more
Loved this book,author is hysterical but tells a truth about mothering that few mothers admit to...
Pretty cute, but not quite as funny as laurie notaro. Still love her best!
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