In Praise of Mothers: A Literary Anthology - Hardcover

This literary bouquet of 14 stories in honor of motherhood, which will arrive in bookstores in time for Mother's Day, presents a range of emotion far more inclusive and complex than featured in the average Hallmark card. Collected by Golden ( A Literary Christmas ; A Literary Feast ), the tales celebrate maternity in many forms, not hesitating to deal with the difficulties of family bonds. Stories by William Maxwell and Laurie Colwin chronicle the wonder of birth, describing how ordinary women become something extraordinary as mothers. Bertolt Brecht's "The Augsburg Chalk Circle" is a cunning retelling of the story of Solomon and the baby claimed by two mothers. Jane Goodall's detailed observations of two chimpanzees with very different nurturing styles bolsters her almost too pat thesis that the playful attentive mother produces successful, confident offspring but the aloof mother produces antisocial, fearful children. Tales by Louise Erdrich and David Leavitt present adults dealing with aging but courageous, even heroic mothers. Francine Prose's offering limns the bittersweet joys of single parenthood, while Charles Baxter and Alice Walker describe determined defenders and educators of their children, though possibly to the exasperation of same. All the tales are worthy of inclusion in nonthematic collections, and all remind the reader how moving and revelatory a short story can be. One cavil: the collection is heavily weighted toward English-speaking, white mothers, with only two pieces describing non-white women.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Not nearly as saccharine as its title forebodes, Golden's collection is a bounty of quality reading. There are stories by Frank O'Connor, Bertolt Brecht, Jane Goodall, and Alice Walker; Laurie Colwin writes about a new mother's anger and misery over a premature delivery and C-section, ending with her feeling as if "she had just robbed a bank and got away with it" when she can finally take her child home. In "Leap," by Louise Erdrich, a retired trapeze artist hangs by her feet from a gutter to bring her daughter to safety on a trampoline when their house is afire. Here are fabulous tales of extraordinary and mundane acts of heroism and affection, going way beyond the gooey sentiment of cooing infants and wisecracking pubescents so often portrayed as a mother's reality. Denise Perry Donavin