PositiveStar TribuneConsulting experts, authors and other mothers, Brooks uncovers some explanations for overblown parenting worries, including parents’ perceptions of what they can control, their horror at rare but headline-making tragedies, and their sense of being judged by other parents ... My one frustration is that Brooks underemphasizes the fact that it’s mostly mothers worrying about this stuff. She tends to refer to \'parents\' and \'mothers\' interchangeably, as if dads shared these burdens equally. Yet Brooks takes responsibility for providing most of the hypervigilance.
Sloane Crosley
RaveThe Minneapolis Star Tribune\"Her stories aren’t setups to punch lines, as if crafted by a standup comic. Because she writes essays and is funny, she gets compared to David Sedaris. But unlike Sedaris’, her anecdotes do not serve as loose frameworks for rollicking comedy. They’re more like, \'So this really weird thing happened.\' ... She shows little inclination to delve for deeper meanings. Whereas Sedaris’ humor often leads to some serious irony or epiphany, Crosley’s big themes are right there in their topics: death, illness, a ticking biological clock. In perhaps the most poignant essay, she meets a distant relative, a retired porn star who joined the industry looking for a girlfriend. He never found one. But so what if you don’t read Crosley’s essays for universal human truths? Read them because, when life is like a long drive on I-80 west of Omaha, you want a clever, funny friend along for the ride.\
Tom Perrotta
MixedThe Minneapolis Star Tribune\"Brendan is desperately apologetic and basically well-meaning. Given today’s campus battles with actual sexual assault, this episode carries political implications I’m not sure Perrotta intended. The narrative meanders, enlivened here and there with inventive scenes ... As sections shift among different characters’ points of view, getting into the heads of not just Eve and Brendan but even minor characters, Perrotta demonstrates his keen ability to channel varying perspectives. His ear for dialogue, as always, is pitch-perfect. Unfortunately, dramatic tension is minimal. People do this, and people do that. It’s wrapped up in a too tidy ending that, while not entirely unpredictable, is too disconnected from what has come before it. But Mrs. Fletcher is light and pleasant reading, and sometimes on a summer day, while sitting outdoors with a cool drink, that’s all you need.\
