Miki B. (MikiOz) reviewed on + 43 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
If you are one of those people who enjoys the thrill of watching paint dry, then, by all means, pick up this book and read it. It really is THAT boring. And, as such, I think it's extremely insulting to the lives of the stay-at-home Moms it attempts to chronicle. (As a working mother myself, I can't claim personal insult, but I am insulted on behalf of all my SAHM friends.)
If you want to explore the inner life, the complex decisions, trade-offs, and compromises, mostly to professional self-development and financial gain, that SAHMs face, pick up a copy of "The Mommy Wars" instead. Yes, believe it or not, NON-FICTION is more interesting and exciting than reading this fictional account of 3 SAHMs in NYC wandering around crippled by their own inaction and self-pity.
In addition, there is very little talk about the JOY of stay-at-home motherhood and the benefits of choosing uninterrupted years raising your children over forays into the often brutal and harsh working world. The only happy character in the book is a woman whose banker husband provides an extremely cushy life for her and her twin sons. She is content in her beautiful apartment, SUV, and her worry-free life. Who WOULDN'T be? Is this a realistic picture of stay-at-home motherhood? It's definitely NOT representative.
Moreover, this one happy woman, who even adores her husband, also happens to be a brilliant mathmetician who goes on interviews and receives job offers all the time, but turns them down. So, the message is, as long as you have a rich, adoring husband and have a professional skill that can nail you a great-paying job any time you want, then personal and professional satisfaction come wrapped all in one in your cocoon of stay-at-home motherhood. Everyone else? You're just doomed to wander aimlessly, unhappily around, attempting to find your "calling," and, eventually, settling for an uninspiring, sometimes low-paying job to get out of the house and help your husband pay the bills.
According to this book, feminism really IS dead and gone.
If you want to explore the inner life, the complex decisions, trade-offs, and compromises, mostly to professional self-development and financial gain, that SAHMs face, pick up a copy of "The Mommy Wars" instead. Yes, believe it or not, NON-FICTION is more interesting and exciting than reading this fictional account of 3 SAHMs in NYC wandering around crippled by their own inaction and self-pity.
In addition, there is very little talk about the JOY of stay-at-home motherhood and the benefits of choosing uninterrupted years raising your children over forays into the often brutal and harsh working world. The only happy character in the book is a woman whose banker husband provides an extremely cushy life for her and her twin sons. She is content in her beautiful apartment, SUV, and her worry-free life. Who WOULDN'T be? Is this a realistic picture of stay-at-home motherhood? It's definitely NOT representative.
Moreover, this one happy woman, who even adores her husband, also happens to be a brilliant mathmetician who goes on interviews and receives job offers all the time, but turns them down. So, the message is, as long as you have a rich, adoring husband and have a professional skill that can nail you a great-paying job any time you want, then personal and professional satisfaction come wrapped all in one in your cocoon of stay-at-home motherhood. Everyone else? You're just doomed to wander aimlessly, unhappily around, attempting to find your "calling," and, eventually, settling for an uninspiring, sometimes low-paying job to get out of the house and help your husband pay the bills.
According to this book, feminism really IS dead and gone.
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