Product Description

All men have mothers . . .

It's a truth that the newly unhyphenated Maisie Grey has learned the hard way. After getting rid of her mama's-boy husband, she happily settles down with her teenage son, Tommy. But she's still stuck with the hovering presence of her impossible mother-in-law, Tommy's grandmother, who refuses to exit the family stage gracefully.

Trying to keep it together with her own business and a new relationship with a man who still lives in—where else but?—his mother's house, Maisie struggles to learn from the MIL-from-hell. She vows that when Tommy brings someone home, she'll be loving, empathetic, and supportive. But then along comes completely unsuitable September Silva—with her too-short skirts, black nail polish, and stay-out-all-night attitude—who is forcing Maisie to take a flinty, clear-eyed new look at what it means to be a mother.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1046102 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-22
• Released on: 2008-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060831219
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Medwed (How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life) humorously if cursorily delves into a turbulent mother-in-law and daughter-in-law dynamic. Mrs. Pollock has always disdained Maisie, who was never good enough for her son, Rex, heir to the Pollock chicken pot pie fortune. But the two women's conflicts persist even after Rex and Maisie's divorce, as they clash over the raising of Maisie's teenage son, Tommy, who has himself acquired a less-than-ideal girlfriend. Meanwhile, Maisie's trying hard to get her organizing business, Factotum Inc., off the ground in the Boston area while employing another single mom locked in a custody battle with—you guessed it—her own ex-mother-in-law. Medwed adopts a breezy tone, substituting zingy one-liners (you can't pick battles with a battle-ax) for genuine reflection. A reader would need her own organizing service to keep track of Factotum's numerous eccentric clients, whose foibles are neither adequately developed nor sufficiently mined for comic potential. A frivolous, at times frantic, tone prevails, right down to the resolution of the novel's conflicts, which turn into happy endings faster than it takes to microwave a frozen pot pie. (May)
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From Booklist
Maisie has had it up to here with mothers, even if she is one. Specifically, it is her ex-mother-in-law who drives her berserk. Mother Pollock, doting parent or ranging lunatic—probably both—is controlling, manipulative, and overly possessive of her son (and grandson). Blame it on the pot pies—she sits on top of the Pollock family poultry fortune—and an unyielding sense of competition with other women. But Maisie is over it; in fact, she is happy with her life. Raising 16-year-old Tommy, she even intends to be gracious to his pierced, ragged girlfriend. Her business, Factotum Inc., keeps Maisie busy, and her clients provide amusing side characters, most notably Professor Seamus O’Toole, renowned expert on James Joyce at nearby Harvard. Always trying to save the world, Maisie hires Darlene, a young mother, out of pity but soon gets sucked into Darlene’s child-custody battle, against—who else?—a trashy mother-in-law. This zany, highly comical page-turner feels churned out at times, but Medwed, author of How Elizabeth Browning Saved My Life (2006), is a seasoned and lively storyteller. --Emily Cook

Review
I LOVED it. Maisie is a terrific character -- as is the magnificent September Silva and even the hideous Mrs. Pollock. I love the way the women stand up for themselves at the end -- and also the men. I love the way Maisie goes from being slightly wan and worried to a strong loving second-time mother. She is witty, warm and we trust her absolutely. I love Tommy and his eventual resolution. I loved the whole Darlene subplot. The lawyer scene is a tour de force. Really, it is a delightful novel, very true to the Mameve Medwed collection. It was a joy. I finished it wanting more.--Anita Shreve -- Anita Shreve, author

"The mother-in-law...Does she still have any power left after decades of pummeling? In Mameve Medwed’s new novel, ‘Of Men and Their Mothers,’ she certainly does. Ina Pollack, Maisie Grey’s loathsome ex-mother-in-law, can raise the reader’s pulse with a single phone call." -- New York Times Book Review

A book that's buoyed throughout by Medwed's nervy sense of humor...a thoroughly absorbing page turner...Medwed creates a vivid sense of pace, lampooning Harvard as the center of the known universe...Medwed has a great eye for physical detail...a deft prose stylist, she peppers her writing with zingy one-liners and memorable turns of phrase., She is especially adroit at crafting dialogue that keeps the narrative humming...this mother-in-law from Hades is an inspired comic creation...Medwed refuses to let the stereotypes stand. Her characters don't remain inside convenient little boxes. -- The Boston Sunday Globe, May 18, 2008

Maisie has had it up to here with mothers, even if she is one. Specifically, it is her ex-mother-in-law who drives her berserk. Mother Pollock, doting parent or ranging lunatic-probably both-is controlling, manipulative, and overly possessive of her son (and grandson). Blame it on the pot pies-she sits on top of the Pollock family poultry fortune-and an unyielding sense of competition with other women. But Maisie is over it; in fact, she is happy with her life. Raising 16-year-old Tommy, she even intends to be gracious to his pierced, ragged girlfriend. Her business, Factotum Inc., keeps Maisie busy, and her clients provide amusing side characters, most notably Professor Seamus O'Toole, renowned expert on James Joyce at nearby Harvard. Always try ing to save the world, Maisie hires Darlene, a young mother, out of pity but soon gets sucked into Darlene's child-custody battle, against-who else?-a trashy mother-in-law. {A} zany, highly comical page-turner... Medwed... is a seasoned and lively storyteller -- Booklist

Mothers, from the overbearing to the overly accommodating, interact more or less successfully with their sons in this fifth novel from Medwed (How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life ). Maisie Grey, the divorced mother of a teenage son, Tommy, strives to be nothing like her ex-mother-in-law, Ina, whose controlling and narcissistic ways contributed to the demise of Maisie's marriage. Maisie also runs her own company, Factotum, which provides personal-assistant services for her clients, many of whom are eccentric professors from one of the many universities in the Cambridge, MA, area where she lives. When Tommy returns home from his summer with his father, Maisie finds her mothering skills put to the test, as he has brought home his vegan goth girlfriend, September, who has just been kicked out of her house. Even though she doesn't like September, she allows the girl to move into Tommy's room because of memories of her mother-in-law's disapproval. As Maisie becomes the catalyst for change in the household, her own life changes for the better. Quirky characters keep this drama of relationships in their many forms interesting. A quick and satisfying read; recommended for all public libraries.-Karen Core, Detroit P.L. -- Library Journal March 15 2008

The mother-in-law, that staple of stand-up comedy routines. Does she still have any power left after decades of pummeling? In Mameve Medwed's new novel, "Of Men and Their Mothers," she certainly does. Ina Pollock, Maisie Grey's loathsome ex-mother-in-law, can raise the reader's pulse with a single phone call... As Medwed's narrator, Maisie is great at chattily spooling things along. ("About my job," she begins one chapter. "But, first, let me backtrack to high school.") The book is crammed with nice touches like Ina's potpie business, which sells, among other things, the Drumstick Bangers and Mash, the Turkey Trot and the Wings à la King... lively writing. -- New York Times Book Review, July 20, 2008

Customer Reviews

Cozy and sharp
It always makes me nervous to read a new novel by a writer whose books I already know and like. What if the new one isn't as good? But it's so wonderful when the book IS as good as the others -- and this one is. It's about a woman named Maisie Pollock and her relationships with a piggish overbearing (but believable) ex-mother-in-law, her son's rude waifish girlfriend, a young mother embroiled in a custody battle with HER horrible mother-in-law, and a new man who may or may not be overly tied to his dead mother's apron strings. The writing is somehow both cozy and sharp. It's very funny -- the kind of comedy that looks easy but must take incredible skill to write, and that makes you wince and laugh at the same time. It's about big things -- anxiety, resentment, fear, romantic attraction -- and the nutty small ways we try to hide our feelings, or channel them into socially "correct" behavior. The biggest thing of all is motherhood, and the perennial question about when do you speak up and when do you keep your mouth shut. As with all of her earlier books, reading this gave me a huge amount of pleasure and a lot to think about.

Another Fine Comic Novel
Amid all the horrors and stresses of contemporary life, how wonderful to find a writer whose grasp of those tensions is pointed and profound, but who is able to render up her perceptions in such a benign and funny way. I have read all five of Mameve Medwed's novels, and each one is a skillfully composed comic delight. Of Men and Their Mothers is full of vivid, even Dickensian characters, and its observations about life in Cambridge, Somerville, and present-day America are richly rewarding. Simultaneously amusing and illuminating, the novel will whet your appetite for Medwed's earlier four books. Let's hope there is soon a sixth novel as well.

Didn't work for me
After seeing several excellent reviews I had high expectations of this book. It's a "bit instant soup" for my likes... main character struggles finally finds love and all is perfect in the end. Not enough substance for me to find interesting.