I could have written this book! Only I can't put my feelings into words- but she nailed it. A great review of the mental struggles of life choices between being a mom and being a career woman. At times I thought this book a little whiney (pregnancy, childbirth) but the rest of it, she got it right on! I am NOT ALONE!

The author had this uncanny way of verbalizing how I had been feeling at the time. Also...the main character reminded me a lot of Courtney.

I found it really hard to sympathize with Fox during most of this book. Her life is pretty darn good compared with 89% of women around the world. Plus, I'm all about equal gender rights but I'm far from a feminist; I don't feel oppressed or like the world is against me because I'm a woman.

With that said, I did enjoy this book for two reasons: I related to her life in Texas (I moved here from the East Coast not long ago) and her difficulty relating to other moms. I, too, have to search long and hard to find mom friends who still have a sense of self... who aren't totally wrapped up in their kids' lives.

All in all, this was a decent book, but I think it might be an even better read for moms who have actually lost said self. It might be a wake up call.

I alternated between wanting to slap the author and thinking she was brilliant...Somehow I don't think I'm going to be the type of mom who's fulfilled by going to Gymboree with my baby.

Maybe I've read too many of these, (and this one was written a while ago, so it's probably not fair to compare it to the recent influx of these type of books) but this one seemed particularly whiny and annoying. I wanted to like it, because I really should relate. Much like Eat, Pray, Love...it just left me cold. And it's petty, but really...if your parents financed your Harvard education please stop repeatedly referring to yourself as "middle class."

This review is based on the fact that I could not make it past the first chapter. I enjoy memoirs by mothers but I enjoy them if they are witty and humorous. This book did not deliever the humor or wit that I've grown to love in mommy memoirs.

This is a cliche story of an average mother's life. Maybe that is why people are drawn to the book because they can relate to the humdrum of daily life. I don't want cliche. I want to be offered a different and fresh perspective of motherhood that I didn't think about before. This book covers the basics. Childbirth is painful, motherhood is not what we had expected, husbands don't get what it's like to be us. Blah. Blah. Blah. BFD. The book wasn't edgy enough for me. I don't necessarily want tragedy and struggle but I don't want to read about what I can go find at the nearest lame mommy group either.

Maybe the book does get better. I don't know. All I know is that I couldn't get past the first chapter and that is where my bias comes from.

Dispatches from a not-so-perfect life by Faulkner Fox is her account of how her life changed when she had children. I really appreciate her honesty in how much she struggled with cutting back on work and missing it, but feeling guilty when she was working, and all the frustration of having small children. I appreciate her honesty even more because I don't think I want to have children and she doesn't glamorize it at all. In fact she was admittedly very unhappy for the first few years of her children's lives. She also talks about how hard it is to evenly divide home and child care with a spouse who is the "primary breadwinner" and how even harder it was for her to meet other mother-friends that she could really connect with. This is a funny and extremely honest account of one woman's years with young children.

Fascinating glimpse of gender roles and expectations you may not have otherwise noticed even if you thought you bore some feminist tendencies. Very thought-provoking. I really appreciate being able to share in the author's journey.

Sometimes annoying, sometimes interesting book concerning feminism and family by another self-centered and privileged memoirist. I related to some of the concepts but others lost me-- the idea that Gymboree is a tool of the man... the irresistible compulsion to be judgmental of the parenting choices of others... Maybe I'm lucky but I haven't experienced a crisis of self with motherhood either; if anything, I feel a greater sense of self and pride in my individuality than before. Sure I have less time for myself now but I would've wasted it watching Rock of Love anyway.

One of the better mommy memoirs. Written by a feminist struggling to keep her sense of self. No advice, just her personal observations. I found it highly relate-able and inspiring, except the part were she really only gets to feeling normal after both kids are verbal. But at least she gets to a good place, so that makes it hopeful. And, she doesn't have nannies or a rich husband like so many of the other authors I've read.

Let's start out with the good. The author has the coolest name ever. I would love to be named Faulkner Fox.

And then there's the book. Have you ever wanted to stab an author? This was my first time in wanting to commit homicide. I know, I should have just put the book down; it would have done wonders for my blood pressure.

I couldn't stand her tone - it was whiny, it was annoying, it was overprivileged, it was completely ungracious, it was petty. I don't need to hear her two birthing stories over 50 pages, like she's the only woman who has ever given birth. I really want to smack this woman.

But she has a cool name.

Kind of a rough read, because she is having such a hard time throughout most of the book, struggling with issues that in a certain way don't have any answer -- how feminism and motherhood and co-parenting work in our culture. She's a smart woman, but was all that suffering really necessary?