Humor, Family - Assorted Topics, Entertainment Biography, General & Miscellaneous Biography, Women's Biography, Comedy, Women's Biography
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Overview
“I took so long to assemble my lovely family. If only they would disappear.”
While Julia Sweeney is known as a talented comedienne and writer and performer of her one-woman shows, she is also a talented essayist. Happily for us, the past few years have provided her with some rich material. Julia adopted a Chinese girl named Mulan (“After the movie?”) and then, a few years later, married and moved from Los Angeles to Chicago. She writes about deciding to adopt her child, strollers, nannies (including the Chinese Pat), knitting, being adopted by a dog, The Food Network, and meeting Mr. Right through an email from a complete stranger who wrote, “Desperately Seeking Sweeney-in-Law.” She recounts how she explained the facts of life to nine-year-old Mulan, a story that became a wildly popular TED talk and YouTube video.
Some of the essays reveal Julia’s ability to find that essential thread of human connection, whether it’s with her mother-in-law, who candidly reveals a story that most people would keep a secret, or with an anonymous customer service rep during a late-night phone call. But no matter what the topic, Julia always writes with elegant precision, pinning her jokes with razor-sharp observations while articulating feelings that we all share.
Poignant, provocative, and wise, this is a funny, and at times powerful, memoir by a woman living her life with originality and intelligence.
Synopsis
Julia Sweeney, the delightful former cast member of Saturday Night Live, takes readers into the depths of her family in this hilarious and unique parenting book.“I took so long to assemble my lovely family. If only they would disappear.”
While Julia Sweeney is known as a talented comedienne and writer and performer of her one-woman shows, she is also a talented essayist. Happily for us, the past few years have provided her with some rich material. Julia adopted a Chinese girl named Mulan (“After the movie?”) and then, a few years later, married and moved from Los Angeles to Chicago. She writes about deciding to adopt her child, strollers, nannies (including the Chinese Pat), knitting, being adopted by a dog, The Food Network, and meeting Mr. Right through an email from a complete stranger who wrote, “Desperately Seeking Sweeney-in-Law.” She recounts how she explained the facts of life to nine-year-old Mulan, a story that became a wildly popular TED talk and YouTube video.
Some of the essays reveal Julia’s ability to find that essential thread of human connection, whether it’s with her mother-in-law, who candidly reveals a story that most people would keep a secret, or with an anonymous customer service rep during a late-night phone call. But no matter what the topic, Julia always writes with elegant precision, pinning her jokes with razor-sharp observations while articulating feelings that we all share.
Poignant, provocative, and wise, this is a funny, and at times powerful, memoir by a woman living her life with originality and intelligence.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Sweeney, former cast member of Saturday Night Live (1990-1994) and creator of the androgynous character "Pat", takes readers on an intimate and humorous journey through her satisfying and occasionally messy family life. Married and now living outside of Chicago, Sweeney depicts the tribulations of adopting a baby girl from China and her life as a single-mother. With timing true to her comedic roots, she meanders delightfully through past histories, recounting her years in Los Angeles, her twenty-five year high school reunion, and the assortment of men she dated. Sweeney tackles a myriad of touchy topics with candor and bigheartedness. Any subject is fair game. Whether describing the long search for the right nanny for her daughter, her intense dislike of big strollers which she describes as "super-wide, almost Hummer-like in their obnoxiousness, a veritable trailer for their precious cargo," or the death of her beloved brother, Sweeney plunges right in. "Okay. Let me stop this lightly comic, chatty memoir and brings things to a dead stop. Emphasis on dead. My brother Bill died yesterday." Sweeney's devilish sense of humor successfully makes the transition to the page, linking the scenes of her life as daughter, sister, wife, and mother into a delightful whole. (Apr.)Booklist
"Sweeney takes life’s quotidian rituals to hilarious heights."More
"A deep, candid, insightful, and emotional look at love, family, independence, and commitment....Reading it is like catching up through a long, soul-baring night with your funniest old friend."author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette
"What a gift! If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother is an intimate and hilarious book that will leave you resenting your mother less, hugging your children tighter, and glowing with gratitude that Julia Sweeney has put it all into words."author of Red Hook Road and Bad Mother
“Reading If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother gave me the delightful sensation of being Julia Sweeney’s best friend. I curled up in bed with this book and we shared secrets, swapped parenting fiascos and boyfriend dramas, complained about our mothers, laughed a lot, cried a little, and just generally had an awesome time. Write another book soon, Ms. Sweeney! Legions of your friends are waiting!”author of Cool, Calm, and Contentious
"I am hereby breaking my vow to not write any more blurbs because...it's Julia Sweeney! In my opinion, any new creative offering from Julia Sweeney, no matter what the medium, is a cause for celebration because she is such a spectacular combination of insightful, hilarious and honest. So, yay! A new book from Julia Sweeney! Drinks are on me!"Emma Thompson
"This is the sort of book that made me want to be the person who wrote it. Pithy, painful and very, very funny."Cindy Chupack
"What a delicious treat! Julia Sweeney is one of the truest, warmest, wittiest voices in the world today, and we're so lucky that she spent her precious alone-time (while her husband and daughter were away) writing a book that invites everyone into her heart and home."Kirkus Reviews
A funny look at being an adoptive parent. Former Saturday Night Live comedian Sweeney brings comic relief to yet another celebrity memoir on adopting and raising a family. After numerous unsuccessful relationships, the author decided she didn't need a man in order to have a child; she planned to adopt and find a husband later. She gathered her energy and applied to receive a Chinese girl, entering into motherhood much "like a golden retriever running after a ball." Sweeney was hooked on motherhood, but years later, when opportunity opened up an extended window of alone time--no child, no husband--the author was "giddy" with excitement. She reveled in the down time and spent her four weeks writing this memoir, which reminisces about her childhood, finding a suitable nanny during her daughter's childhood, her failed relationships and life as a working mother (the author has written several one-woman shows). Her thoughts swirled around the complexities of educating her daughter about human anatomy and sex: "it's like having a waste treatment plant right next to an amusement park. Terrible zoning….Like your nose and your mouth…they're both close to each other on your face, but you wouldn't stick a bean sprout up your nose." Sweeney also explores same-sex marriage, immigration, prejudices, death and dogs, and she pays homage to her own mother, aunts and friends who are parents, all the while wobbling on the tightrope of allowing her child to become her own person while influencing her in subtle but significant ways. Laugh-out-loud moments blended with honesty and despondency.Book Details
Published
April 2, 2013
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Pages
246
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781451674040