{"product_id":"a-mothers-tale-9780814213315","title":"A Mother's Tale","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1984, Phillip Lopate sat down with his mother, Frances, to listen to her life story. A strong, resilient, indomitable woman who lived through the major events of the twentieth century, she was orphaned in childhood, ran away and married young, and then reinvented herself as a mother, war factory worker, candy store owner, community organizer, clerk, actress, and singer. But paired with exciting anecdotes are the criticisms of the husband who couldn't satisfy her, the details of numerous affairs and sexual encounters, and, though she succeeded at many of her roles, accounts of how she always felt mistreated, taken advantage of. After the interviews, at a loss for what to do with the tapes, Lopate put them away. But thirty years later, after his mother had passed away, Lopate found himself drawn back to the recordings of this conversation. Thus begins a three-way conversation between a mother, his younger self, and the person he is today.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTrying to break open the family myths, rationalizations, and self-deceptions, \u003ci\u003eA Mother's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e is about family members who love each other but who can't seem to overcome their mutual mistrust. Though Phillip is sympathizing to a point, he cannot join her in her operatic displays of self-pity and how she blames his father for everything that went wrong. His detached, ironic character has been formed partly in response to her melodramatic one. The climax is an argument in which he tries to persuade her-using logic, of all things-that he really does love her, but is only partially successful, of course.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Mother's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e is about something primal and universal: the relationship between a mother and her child, the parent disappointed with the payback, the child, now fully grown, judgmental. The humor is in the details.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Phillip Lopate\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ohio State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/15\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 196\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.93lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.20w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780814213315\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/31\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/06\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePhillip Lopate is a central figure in the resurgence of the American essay, both through his best-selling anthology \u003ci\u003eThe Art of the Personal Essay\u003c\/i\u003e and his collections, \u003ci\u003eBachelorhood, Against Joie de Vivre, Portrait of My Body, Portrait Inside My Head \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eTo Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction\u003c\/i\u003e. He directs the nonfiction MFA program at Columbia University, where he is Professor of Writing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ohio State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":40180668301427,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_f0b10a6c-faff-411a-9d0c-6b8b8049595c.jpg?v=1655471706","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/a-mothers-tale-9780814213315","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}