The Passion of the Hausfrau: Motherhood, Illuminated

This is one of the funniest books I have ever read about motherhood. I laughed so hard my husband kept asking me what as so funny. Her wit and dissection of the family unit are perfect. Nicole's drawings also add a lot of humor to the book. If you are in need of a good guffaw (who isn't?), "The Passion of the Hausfrau: Motherhood Illuminated" is the book for you. Christine [...]

I saw this book recommended on the Soulemama blog and promptly ordered it. I read it in about two days, which is a real accomplishment with 3 small babes! I can't say enough about this book... I couldn't stop laughing!!

This book is fantastic. I was already a fan of Chaison's 'zine, so this book serves as a kind of "best of" and a work of its own. I love that it takes the form of the 'hero's journey' and it is a must-read for all my mama friends.

The Passion of the Hausfrau takes the graphic novel medium to a new level. The text is cleverly interlaced with beautiful drawings that look straight out of an illuminated manuscript. The stories are hilarious, and by the end of the book, you really do understand that raising two kids (and writing a book about it) is a heroic task. My favorite scene though is the story of the maggots in the child's car seat. Buy it! Read it!

The Passion of the Hausfrau: Motherhood, Illuminated Let me just say this: You don't have to be a parent to love The Passion of the Hausfrau. I am not a mother, but Nicole Chaison's laugh-out-loud graphic memoir speaks to me, too. The book documents Chaison's life as a mother and lapsed writer as she delves into the deepest parts of herself and returns to the world a creator of art as well as children. I suppose it is true that my pets are my children. Just after I got The Passion of the Hausfrau, a new kitten came into my life. She was perfect in every way; except for the parasites. I plummeted to the depths of despair when the giardia and coccidia found their ways into my other two cats' gastrointestinal systems and I had to capture all three cats twice a day and force two syringes full of nasty medicine down their throats. And then I read the "Pestilence" segment from Chaison's "Road of Trials," in which our heroic Hausfrau faces a parasite of her own: lice. Just reading it made my life better. The next day, carrying my once feral cat by the scruff (so I wouldn't get scratched) into the "treatment room" (the bathroom), I thought, Okay, the Hausfrau has dealt with a pestilence just as terrible, if not more so--and she made it funny. Kinda put things into perspective. The book is funny. But it is also brilliant. Chaison has written (and illustrated!) perhaps the first work of literature that puts the experience of motherhood in the framework of the archetypal hero's journey. Using Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces as her guidebook, and medieval illuminated manuscripts as her inspiration, Chaison's journey--from Departure to Initiation to Transition to Return--is a feminist revelation. Moms are heroes, too! If you're a mother, or ever have been, or a father, or ever have been, or even if you've never been a parent at all, do yourself a favor and buy this book. It will make your life better. And it will warm the cockles of your heart.