cover image Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind

Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind

Nicole Knepper. NAL, $15 trade paper (256p.) ISBN 978-0-451-41814-2

Knepper offers a collection of mostly funny, often irreverent essays on the umbrella subject of how to drink, swear, laugh, and love one's way through motherhood. The collection%E2%80%94derived from her eponymous blog %E2%80%94stalls at the beginning with an over-long introduction and an unfortunate chapter rehashing tired male-female battle lines concerning all things menstrual. Because they're nothing we haven't read before, the sections dealing with PMS, men's view of female friendship (and anatomy), and daily household struggles on the lines of dinner prep don't showcase Knepper's real gift for witty observation. She hits her stride relating one-off incidents, and uses a spice rack of approaches to her sundry domestically-focused topics. The almost absurdist tone of "Focus Girl" feels forced whereas the chapters in which Knepper invokes her son's point-of-view and pens a manic letter on lice on behalf of Everyschool Elementary's principal prove some of her funniest. Overall, Knepper's is an entertaining collection that many a parent may enjoy over a glass of wine (after the kids are in bed). (Apr.)