My friend S loaned me this book with some trepidation, since she is always hounding me to hurry up and make a baby already. Lamott is frank about the dark side of mothering -- single mothering, in her case. You know, the fatigue, the frustration, the confusion; the moments when you contemplate selling the baby, or maybe just throwing it out the window. S feared such dark humor would scare me off. She didn't have to fear. I'd be highly suspicious of a book that painted a sunny, cheerful portrait of motherhood. I'd know there was a dark side somewhere, and it would be worse not to know what it was.