cover image Why Animals Sleep So Close to the Road: And Other Lies I Tell My Children

Why Animals Sleep So Close to the Road: And Other Lies I Tell My Children

Susan Brady Konig. Thomas Dunne Books, $22.95 (206pp) ISBN 978-0-312-33236-5

""Sure, sure, it's important to tell your kids the truth. Except when it's better to flat out lie,"" writes Konig, a former columnist for the New York Post, in her witty first book about the realities of being a modern-day mother. Filled with warm family anecdotes and belly laughs, the book deals with such universal subjects as living in cramped quarters, dealing with the demise of beloved pets (or unwanted roadside varmints) and overcoming the perils of house hunting, pregnancy and childbirth, to name a few. But the book's primary focus is on the struggle of balancing family life with working at home. (Readers will identify with Konig when she describes having to hide all the pens in her house from her son, who likes to write on furniture, and then not being able to find a pen when she needs one.) Despite its humorous tone, readers will often be touched by the more sensitive moments, like Konig's depiction of her two-year-old comforting the family's dying cat: ""My son had just learned how to be gentle with her. He'd go over to her spot by the heater and pet her so softly and say, 'Oh, key-kat.'"" No topic is too personal for Konig, who even includes details of her family's financial situation, but she always approaches these difficult subjects with good humor. Though this debut will hold particular interest for harried parents, even single women will be delighted by this amusing glimpse into American family life.