Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me
A Novelby Karen Karbo
BloomsburyUSA, 288 pp., $23.95
“Motherhood is for women what war is for men,” writes Karen Karbo. Though she is referring to labor, the observation is true for the larger task of motherhood. The conditions — sleep deprivation, sickness, and an unpredictable foe — mirror those of war. The stakes — creating a human being who will help save this planet from the selfish choices of his or her ancestors — rate up there with making the world safe for democracy. In her new novel, Karbo, author of The Diamond Lane and Trespassers Welcome Here, takes on not only motherhood, marriage, and friendship, but also such burning questions as: Should regular people bother to mix with the upper class? (Probably not.) Can mothers ever become productive human beings again? (Maybe.) And: Can women love watching basketball as much as men? (Yes!). Karbo’s tale is about two women making their way with babies (a six-month-old, one on the way) and men (a computer game-addicted husband, a spoiled actor lover) and careers (filmmaking and gardening). Unlike real life, with weighty decisions and gnarly consequences, Karbo’s world rolls on from chuckle to hoot without slowing down. This “romp” confirms that a lot of smart women are having babies and trying to figure it out by writing about it (Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions, Salon’s “Women Who Think” column, and our own Marion Winik’s The Lunchbox Chronicles). I would like to drink wine with Karen Karbo and hear more of her take on this crazy war. A beach read for those who have babies who sleep. (Lucky you.)
This article appears in August 18 • 2000.