25 Questions for a Jewish Mother

by Judy Gold, Kate Moira Ryan

"There's a little Jewish mother in every mother," as comedienne Judy Gold reveals in her achingly hilarious and poignant book For a Jewish girl who remembers the first book ever read to her as a child was the pop-up version of The Diary of Anne Frank , learning how to be a Jewish mother who wasnt a carbon copy of HER Jewish mother wasnt easy. Here, Emmy Awardwinning comedienne Judy Gold asks, "Are there any Jewish mothers out there like me, or are they all, G-d forbid, like my mother" In 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother , she incorporates her own adventures in Jewish motherdom and her memories of growing up Jewish in suburban New Jersey -- communicating with her mother by putting Ann Landers articles on the fridge ("Dear Ann, My mother wont let me walk alone to school and Im 16! Please help." "Dear Ann, The crossing guard drinks. Please help.") -- with the voices of the fifty other Jewish mothers, she and her co-author, Kathleen Moira Ryan, interviewed. They asked homemakers, lawyers, Holocaust survivors twenty-five questions, --Who's your favorite Jewish mother (Judy's is Barbra Streisand.)?
--How many times a day do you talk to your children or mother (for Judy, it's anywhere from one to the high double digits)?
--Are Jewish mothers really more paranoid (or, "Why do I have to write an entire itinerary with names, addresses, and phone numbers every time I leave the house")? And so on. The culmination of these extraordinary stories confirms that there is ultimately something strong, courageous, and loving in every Jewish mother -- a hopeful -- and very funny -- message to mothers and their children everywhere.

Genres: Jewish

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, like the live performance (derived from the book), is as powerful and poignant as it is funny. While her quest is specifically to delve into the lives of Jewish mothers and their experience of motherhood, for Gold it also is about her own negotiation of motherhood as both a Jew and a lesbian.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a little while to get into it, not because it was all that difficult to understand, but because the format of her asking questions, getting the answers, and recounting her own life was confusing to me at first.

But as I continued to read, I really began to enjoy this. It has parts that had me laugh out loud (well, she *is* a comedian), but those are countered with the solemn moments that balance the book.

I definitely recommend this.

[Suzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

You do not have to be Jewish or even a mother to enjoy stand-up comedian Judy Gold's very funny and poignant autobiography combined with a survey of Jewish moms. I laughed out loud many times.

[Liz Russo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very heartwarming

[Megan Nunyadambidness]

I came away from this book deeply saddened and craving Rugelach.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh out loud funny.

[Kieran · Rating 4 out of 5]

very sweet and sad and touching; of course hilarious.

[Davida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I thought it would be!