Having A Baby Can Be A Scream

by Joan Rivers, Frank Page (Illustrator), Morrison S. Levbarg (Introduction)

This book shares Joan Rivers comedic view of the fears and tribulations of being a first time mother.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction

139 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Joan Rivers (born Joan Sandra Molinsky) was an American comedian, actress, talk show host, businesswoman, and celebrity. She was known for her brash manner and loud, raspy voice with a heavy metropolitan New York accent. Rivers was the National Chairwoman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and is a board member of God's Love We Deliver. Like the ground-breaking Phyllis Diller, Rivers' act relied heavily on poking fun at herself. A typical Rivers joke about her unattractiveness: "I used to stand by the side of the road with a sign: 'Last girl before freeway.'"

Reviews

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read long, long ago, and completely forgotten. In fact, I confused this with the movie Rabbit Test and have always thought I read the novel the film was based on ... but since it doesn't exist, this must have been the Joan Rivers' book I read as a child, at least the subject matter is the same, so it tracks. Borrowed it from the Richmond Public Library, a beloved safe space as a child, where they knew me well enough to order books I wanted! How I miss them.

I met Ms. Rivers a few years later at Sea World, where during a bit of a dry spell she was their celebrity let's-feed-Shamu sort of guest. She was sitting behind us in the bleachers, and I told her I'd liked her book, but she didn't seem enthused about chatting with a strange child on the subject.

(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)

[Melodie Wendel-Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, and informative for first-timers. I just like Joan and was curious.

[Phoebe Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of her earlier books when she had crass er humor. Or maybe it was me 18 years her junior.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.