"There's a little Jewish mother in every mother," as comedienne Judy Gold reveals in her achingly hilarious and poignant book
For a Jewish girl who remembers the first book ever read to her as a child was the pop-up version of The Diary of Anne Frank, learning how to be a Jewish mother who wasn't a carbon copy of HER Jewish mother wasn't easy. Here, Emmy Award-winning comedienne Judy Gold asks, "Are there any Jewish mothers out there like me, or are they all, G-d forbid, like my mother????"
In 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, she incorporates her own adventures in Jewish motherdom and her memories of growing up Jewish in suburban New Jersey -- communicating with her mother by putting Ann Landers articles on the fridge ("Dear Ann, My mother won't let me walk alone to school and I'm 16! Please help." "Dear Ann, The crossing guard drinks. Please help.") -- with the voices of the fifty other Jewish mothers, she and her co-author, Kathleen Moira Ryan, interviewed. They asked homemakers, lawyers, Holocaust survivors twenty-five questions, including:
--Who's your favorite Jewish mother? (Judy's is Barbra Streisand.) --How many times a day do you talk to your children or mother? (for Judy, it's anywhere from one to the high double digits) --Are Jewish mothers really more paranoid? (or, "Why do I have to write an entire itinerary with names, addresses, and phone numbers every time I leave the house?")
And so on. The culmination of these extraordinary stories confirms that there is ultimately something strong, courageous, and loving in every Jewish mother -- a hopeful -- and very funny -- message to mothers and their children everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Poignant, great beach read, and funny!:
Judy and Kate show a true respect for the women interviewed as well as a personal honesty and a lightheartedness toward themselves. Although I am not a mother (except of a loving fur child), I can relate to so many of the women interviewed and to the authors' feelings and neuroses. Here's hoping Judy's boys love her as much as she loves her own mom.
25 Questions for a Jewish Mother:
This is a funny, big hearted, sensitive, intelligent, straightforward look at so much more than you might guess from the title. I think I just ran out of superlatives, so read the book and enjoy!
A laugh on every page:
I am not even Jewish and I loved it. Everyone can appreciate this funny and heartwarming books about moms.
An entertaining read for mothers of all faiths:
From the minute I received this book in the mail, I could not put it down until I finished reading every hilarious chapter. Being a Jewish mother I did feel some guilt that I put my family on hold till I read the entire book. The anecdotes are poignant, touching and very entertaning all at the same time. I highly recommend this easy read to Jewish mothers and non Jewish mothers alike. In fact what a great Mothers Day gift, or Bat Mitzvah gift this would make!
