American Mom: Motherhood, Politics, and Humble Pie

An incredibly heart-warming story of a person and a family that manages to pull off what appears to be a rarity these days: living a real life, in spite of everything the cruel, real world of patriarchial American society throws at it. Blakely's story is interesting - even for a guy - because she is able to reflect so well on issues that must be of interest to anyone raising a family. She repeatedly points out where the primary blame for a deeply troubled society lies: not with the children, or the parents of those children, but with the attitudes, norms and expectations of that society. Blending this with an uplifting tale of a true survivor struggling through 18 years of raising two kids, she offers a hyper-realistic glimpse of what child-rearing is about for most of us: ups and downs, cookies, and anxieties, frustrations and guilt trips.

"American Mom" is a book that should be passed from Mom to Mom until every women who ever washed Cheerios off the floor for the seventeenth time this week has read it. It will make you laugh, cry, and shout "yes" as you live life with a woman who tried to do it all. Although she failed (big time), she survived, and lived (but just barely) to tell the tale. Do you know any women who try to take care of everybody and everything? Give them this book! It may not change their life, but it will make them laugh. You will never again stand and watch a child screaming in the checkout line at the grocery store without thinking of this book. Moms of the world, read this book, and UNITE!