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Why Is My Mother Getting A Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had To Ask (2009)

by Jancee Dunn(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0345501926 (ISBN13: 9780345501929)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Villard

review 1: Jancee Dunn's first memoir, But Enough About Me, was a collection of stories about rock and roll interviews and crazy nights in the city interspersed with reminiscences about her wholesome upbringing and goofy family. In Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?, the goofy family takes center stage, which I really liked. There might not be any shocking information about your favorite celebrity in this memoir, but Dunn's obvious love for her rather dorky parents (then again, doesn't everyone have dorky parents) and her two sisters shines brightly on every page.At the end of But Enough About Me, Dunn had met a boy. In Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?, they are married and navigating life together. He acts as a voice of reason when it comes to the craziness of her family, as they ... moreweigh in on every decision she ever makes.Dunn examines various aspects of her family life, like her father's obsession with sending her newspaper clippings warning her about every hidden danger in her home. It's silly, but she knows it's his way of saying " I love you". Personally, my father likes to print out Wikipedia entries, annotate them, scan them into computer (who showed my dad how to use a scanner?) and email them to me. So I can relate.Overall, this was a cute, fun read and not a bad way to spend a few hours. Dunn has a great voice and is not above making fun of herself, a must for this style of autobiography!
review 2: I genuinely enjoy reading Jancee Dunn. She's worked for Rolling Stone and O: The Oprah Magazine, she's been an MTV veejay and a Good Morning, America correspondent, and she's written one novel and two books of nonfiction - and yet her voice throughout remains down-to-earth and conversational.Her most recent book is a collection of memoir/essays concerning recent events in the lives of her family, who we first got to know in But Enough About Me. The Dunns have their quirks, but they're ordinary quirks, if that makes sense. Jancee, her sisters, and her parents have remained close geographically and emotionally, and they discuss everything - spouses just have to get used to that. Readers become part of those discussions, which may ring familiar if you also come from a close, chatty family. Jancee shares the clippings about random topics her recently retired parents send her in the mail; in my family it's more likely to be e-mails, but it's the same idea. She relates transcripts of her daily phone calls with her best friend, Julie. She talks about her fear of heights, her love for catalogs, her unexpected - and entirely welcome - pregnancy at the age of forty-one...and yes, accompanying her mother to get that tattoo. She doesn't overshare, but her writing is both intimate and humorous, and as a reader, she makes me feel entirely welcome too.Jancee Dunn's stories engage me, strike notes of familiarity, and make me chuckle in both recognition and appreciation of their humor. When I reviewed her first memoir, But Enough About Me, I said that I'd want to hang out with her, and I still do. less

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