The book\u2019s opening essay, \u201cBreakfast for Dinner,\u201d sets the tone for the rest of the work with its blend of childhood trauma, comedic storytelling, and poignant reflections. The essay opens with the inaugural family dinner in Staples\u2019 new home. In attendance with his wife and in-laws was the author\u2019s mother, who (with \u201cthe calm of an air traffic controller\u201d) told the story of how she deliberately killed her son\u2019s childhood cat. As readers discover after piecing together details from this and a dozen other essays, Staples no longer has a relationship with his mother (\u201cmy life is a lot better without her in it,\u201d he asserts). Though he hasn\u2019t spoken to her in years, she plays a central role throughout the book. Born in the 1960s, she\u2019s described as someone who carries \u201can air of perpetual discontent\u201d; every event \u201csomehow turns into proof of [her] own suffering.\u201d Per the author, this behavior made for a childhood characterized by uncertainty and a lack of stability. Staples writes that his mother could not hold down a job and that her relationship with his father was in constant flux. \u201cThe reconciling, separating again, semi-reconciling, and eventual divorce,\u201d he writes, \u201cdid far more damage to me psychologically than if they\u2019d made a clean break the first go-round.\u201d While not shying away from the trauma associated with his tumultuous upbringing (\u201cDuring those years, dinner was always a toss-up,\u201d he notes), the author highlights the humorous aspects of his childhood. Particularly hilarious is his account of his sexual education: His mother simply tossed him a book about sex (\u201cYou do the legwork!\u201d), while his father\u2014who ran a landscaping business during the day and loaded UPS trucks at night\u2014asked if he had ever seen a Penthouse magazine. Staples\u2019 affirmative reply was apparently sufficient, since his dad ended the conversation there, \u201cchecking another box in his brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Telling a quintessentially millennial coming-of-age story, the memoir effectively captures the ethos of 1990s adolescence as Staples describes early exposure to the internet, school-wide anti-drug campaigns featuring law enforcement rants about the perils of drugs, and a scheme to score free soundtracks from Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls from the Columbia House catalog. These humorous anecdotes help to balance the more serious commentary on parenthood as the essays lead to a conclusion that focuses on Staples\u2019 own children, Tommy and Emma, and his quest to provide them with the stability, protection, and guidance that his childhood often lacked. \u201cParenting isn\u2019t about getting it right all the time,\u201d the author touchingly writes. \u201cIt\u2019s about showing up. It\u2019s about enduring.\u201d A profoundly vulnerable memoir, the work acknowledges childhood pain without wallowing in it. The intimate text is complemented by the family photographs and original illustrations, created by Staples and his son with crayons and magazine cutouts, that introduce each chapter. A writer and comedian who\u2019s performed at venues throughout his home state of Massachusetts, Staples is a gifted storyteller who can make any tale\u2014from the mundane to the ridiculous\u2014both poignant and comical.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The book\u2019s opening essay, \u201cBreakfast for Dinner,\u201d sets the tone for the rest of the work with its blend of childhood trauma, comedic storytelling, and poignant reflections. The essay opens with the inaugural family dinner in Staples\u2019 new home. In attendance with his wife and in-laws was the author\u2019s mother, who (with \u201cthe calm of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}