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Hell Is Other Parents: And Other Tales of Maternal Combustion
by
Deborah Copaken Kogan (Goodreads Author)
Deborah Copaken Kogan was a photojournalist in some of the world's hottest war zones--Afghanistan, Israel, Romania. Her bestselling memoir of those years, Shutterbabe, examined her life on the edge with humor, forthrightness, and a keen sense of the absurd. But now, a working mother in Manhattan, Kogan is learning what stress is really all about. Thrust among perhaps the m...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
August 18th 2009
by Voice
(first published August 1st 2009)
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Interesting voice, but ultimately kind of insubstantial: it does not shed any light, nor is it funny. (To be fair, there are a few amusing turns of phrase.) It is just sort of a hodgepodge (albeit interesting) of anecdotes and musings. The title implies/states that meddlesome "other" parents calling one another out for differing styles is the "hell." However, she is guilty of it, too: she makes it clear what she finds objectionable in other parenting styles. And although s...more
another collection of humorous essays from a new york city mom. think ayun halliday. why do i love these kinds of books so much, when i am not a mom & i live in kansas? i don't know. this isn't the finest specimen of the genre (it felt somewhat truncated & most of the stories were about the author's children in a weird kind of not-your-story-to-tell way--i think these kinds of books grapple with tricky territory once the kids are old enough to be making their own paths in the world in significan...more
I really enjoyed the opening of this book. In fact, I enjoyed the entire book, but it felt pretty disorganized. My brain goes off on tangents, so I can appreciate others who are quirky like that. However, I guess it had to do with my expectations based on the title and the opening of the book, which I loved. (It starts with a scene between her, her undersized 4 year old daughter, and a stranger who steps over the line. I expected the story to be more about parenting a child with a disability, or...more
This book started out very strong for me with the author's first essay but a few of the longer ones in the middle frustrated me because I thought the collection consisted of reflections on parenting. But the essay entitled "Screwing in the Marital Bed" resonated with me although I am divorced now. The author reflects on what makes for a successful marriage relationship and her thoughts can be translated into any relationhip. "This is something I love about my husband: he can turn ...more
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You know, even though I've finished reading this book, I think I'm going to continue to carry a copy around just to SCARE PEOPLE. The title is big, bold and black on a bright yellow background, and that alone might give your average, nosy, unasked-for-advice-giving mom pause. I think this author is hiLARious, she's my kind of girl, and I loved her writing style.
I agree with other reviewers, the implication is that this will be a book full of funny essays of judgmental parents the author ha...more
I agree with other reviewers, the implication is that this will be a book full of funny essays of judgmental parents the author ha...more
This book started out as I expected--stories of other parents pushing their opinions onto the author that I could completely relate to; however, it then seemed to become a social commentary for other things like health care & day care options.
She talked of how we needed to get out of the rut of thinking being home was best for our children, then complained that nanny care was $750/week and she can't afford NOT to work. Hmmm, Our income is less than $750/week, and I stay home. In fa...more
She talked of how we needed to get out of the rut of thinking being home was best for our children, then complained that nanny care was $750/week and she can't afford NOT to work. Hmmm, Our income is less than $750/week, and I stay home. In fa...more
This book made me laugh repeatedly, which is always a good sign. I felt like the author was my alter ego -- I wanted to go to Harvard (although I didn't apply), I went into journalism and always thought being a war correspondent was the highest level to work toward (another dream I didn't follow through on), and other various similarities.
Hell is a short, easy read, great for picking up whenever I had a few spare minutes. I may not be a Manhattan mom, but the pangs of parenthood are a universal...more
Hell is a short, easy read, great for picking up whenever I had a few spare minutes. I may not be a Manhattan mom, but the pangs of parenthood are a universal...more
The problem with books of humorous essays is that they are so uneven. The first few in this book were great. I enjoyed the author's adventures in mothering. They were well-written, clever, funny. But the last three I really didn't care for. I think it was the change of focus. The first stories focused on being a parent. The last three mostly were about her: her life in college, her life and lovers in Paris, her relationship with her husband. They were more introspectively serious, and I just did...more
Really disappointing. I think Kogan used this book as an opportunity to get back at every parent who has ever pissed her off and every former friend with whom she needs to settle a score. These stories are not about those frustrating moments in parenting that we can all laugh at or nod along with. These are personal incidents, unique to Kogan's privileged life, that really have no bearing on anyone else's experience.
Mad because a parent chose to involve the school in a conflict he...more
Mad because a parent chose to involve the school in a conflict he...more
Nothing substantial, as another reviewer said. I read it here and there while relaxing after work when I needed to give my mind a rest. Fluff, maybe a couple cute stories, but not much else. I was also a little irritated at the complaints of their lifestyle...the author must realize that being a writer and having a past as a photographer abroad are the dreams of many people. I'd gladly live in a cramped NYC apartment if it meant I could pursue my artistic interests as a career.
This is a collection of essays from a well-educated, mama of three in NYC. Even as a mom in SF, let me say, NYC seems to be quite a different place to parent. The essays contained some highlights, but they weren't all so much about parenting, or about interactions with other parents. I really wasn't very interested in the author's former relationships or her son's acting career. It was a fun and quick enough read, but I'm not compelled to sing its praises.
I had high hopes for this, but I wasn't that shocked by the rich parent stories. I did like the surprise that her son played adolescent Spock in Star Trek and all their interactions with J.J. Abrams (!!)
P.S. I have no idea why so many of my reads lately are linked with Star Trek. It is not intentional.
P.S. I have no idea why so many of my reads lately are linked with Star Trek. It is not intentional.
Don't think too much of the author, but liked the beginning essays because they brought up parenting conflicts. I wondered what I would do in the same situation as the author. The book was worth reading, if only to get me to think about how I would want to deal with other parents, teachers, etc.
This is a collection of essays that are an insightful and funny look into the pressures of parenting. The author paints several scenarios to which any parent could definitely relate. Not all of the essays are funny- some are quite touching and personal. I applaud the author for her sincerity!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it entertaining and warm as the author relates her memoirs into short stories. I did think the book was going to be only about other parents and the trials we face as parents dealing with other parents rather than insights into her family, exes and marital bed. This is Not a bad thing, just a commentary.
I picked this up because it was the closest thing to my chair while I was waiting for my sister at the library. It turned out to be way funnier than I thought it would be. The story about the parent who humiliated her daughter's friend because the friend accused her daughter of humping a lemming cracked me up. I might not actually finish it, though. ...AND I didn't finish it! It turned into more of a memoir, not so funny. Oh well.
I love love love reading about other relatively sane parents in the messy world of parenthood today. While I'm not an urban mom, a lot of the issues are the same--stupid parents are all the same across the country--and this book shows allthis with humor and insight.
I think the fact that I read this whole book in less than a day says a lot. I loved Kogan's style of writing, and her approach to parenthood. I hope that I can be as flexible a mother as she is.
Cute but the middle kind of got bogged down when her son was doing Star Trek. Maybe if I was a Trekkie I would have found it more amusing. OK and cute overall.
Not sure where this book came from (Anna maybe?). I rated this book as just ok. Readable but not as fun and snarky as Three Martini Playdate.
I read this book for a book discussion that I thought the author would be presenting--alas she did not show after canceling and rescheduling. I did find the book entertaining and found myself reading it every chance I got. I agree with others--I wished there were more stories that I could relate to about other parents but I did enjoy her stories.
Some are genuinely funny, like Adolescent vulcan and la vie en explose, but I quit reading it when it got raunchy in her Harvard life.
Yikes. Loved the title, but not the book. There were some promising moments at first and I kept hoping it would get better, but no.
I'm not sure how much I would have liked this if I were not a parent, but I found several of the stories quite amusing.
I read half of the essays in this book and bagged it. It is extremely negative and not all that funny. I find real life encounters with other parents to be much more "entertaining" (in both good and bad ways) than the anecdotes in this book. These stories aren't even touching; they are pompous and catty.
Excellent short stories. This woman leads an interesting life.
Sounds like a fun read! Can't wait to get it from the library.
Ehhh... it was ok. Her writing is very solid ... but I wonder why New Yorkers always act like their New York lives are totally universal to the rest of us. There were a couple places where I nodded (notably in the first essay) but ... I think she projects a lot of disapproval from other people that isn't there, and probably a disproportionate amount of interest from those same onlookers. Or maybe not -- I'm not in her shoes (her shoes seem pretty glam). Still, I did not feel engaged in her "...more
Mildly entertaining, esp. for parents.
quite funny if a little rambling.
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Deborah Copaken Kogan began her writing career as a teenager, scribbling essays and book reviews for Seventeen magazine. After college, where she wrote and photographed for the school newspaper, she moved to Paris, France, where she worked, over the course of the next four years, as an award-winning photojournalist, covering conflicts in areas such as Afghanistan, Romania, Israel, Zimbabwe, and th...more
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