Playing House: Notes of a Reluctant Mother

“A fiercely, lyrically honest memoir.” –Kirkus Reviews “An extraordinary essay collection.. Her sheer bravado and willingness to lay every aspect of her personal life bare is a hallmark of her writing style, and it’s on full display in each of these pieces….A brilliant example of the resonant power of “women’s writing,” Slater’s emotional revelations will strike chords in readers unable to turn away from these difficult but sincere domestic truths. Slater’s candid collection has huge book-group appeal.” –Booklist

”…throughout these 18 essays, most of which map the difficult territory of family, sex, and aging, Slater’s voice is aggressively, even unsettlingly, candid.” –Boston Globe

“Slater weaves together a series of essays demonstrating that even the unprepared and initially unwilling may create a family life that does not go up in flames (except when fire actually does break out, in which case a redemptive moment can be seized). A marked lack of vanity permeates the author’s intensely personal yet universally resonant pieces, which cover everything from the indignities of a makeover to a wrenching decision to have an abortion.” –Library Journal, Best Books of 2013: Memoir

“The beauty of Lauren Slater’s prose is shocking… . Slater’s vision is, ultimately, one of unity and possibility.”–Claire Messud, Newsday

“Slater’s own zigzagging from devotion to resentment (and back) gives these essays their power. Who hasn’t felt the competing and incompatible yearnings to be a domestic goddess and at the same time an independent and self-fulfilled individual, free from the endless demands of children?”–Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe

Lauren Slater is a psychologist and writer. She is the author of Opening Skinner’s Box and Blue Beyond Blue, among other books. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

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