Click on image to buy from Amazon.Com
And you think your mom is too involved? Meet the mother of all mothers.
Adam Chester is the son of a very loving mom, who for almost 30 years has peppered his life with unsolicited advice, news updates, and opinions in the form of thousands of inappropriate, embarrassing, and utterly crazy letters. S’Mother is a hilarious memoir based on this correspondence showing the pathological extremes maternal instincts can take. Why is a grown woman so frantic that her adult son screw on his windows to keep out killer bees? And are adult trick-or-treaters really that much of a threat? Adam saved his mom’s letters as proof this all happened and reproduces many of them in the book. And now, with time, perspective, and plenty of therapy, he acknowledges and accepts the comedy of it all and is proud to share his story with you, if for no other reason than to make you feel better about your own mother.
About the Author
Adam Chester works as a professional composer and singer-songwriter who is employed as the official “surrogate Elton John.” (Adam sits in as Elton John, playing piano and singing while rehearsing his band for various appearances.) Based in Los Angeles, he is married and has two boys. His mom lives about 20 minutes away and still writes Adam at least four times a month.
2 books for Mother’s Day
The Washington Post Book Review – May 6, 2011 (Excerpt)
Moms come in different varieties. Soccer moms, those harried minivan owners ferrying their 2.5 kids to and from sporting events in the suburbs, reigned supreme in the 1990s. Hockey moms, the more northern and conservative cousins to soccer moms, achieved dominance around the time of the last presidential election. Amy Chua has made 2011 the Year of the Tiger Mom, a type that yells and bullies her children into becoming perfect offspring. And don’t forget about teen moms, helicopter moms and two moms — they’ve all achieved a moment of cultural ascendancy lately.
Now let’s consider the “Postal Mom.” That’s the label Adam Chester gives to Joan, the woman who gave him life, raised him as a single mom and then, after he moved away, s’mothered him with thousands of letters containing unsolicited and outrageous tidbits of advice. Example: “There’s a resistant form of gonorrhea going around — Use a condom.” Chester’s memoir is titled “S’Mother,” presumably because “Letters from a Nut” was already taken.
Chester’s mom drives him crazy, but she’ll have you convulsing with laughter. The book opens not with a letter from her but with a personal appearance. Chester was in that adolescent male minefield known as a middle school locker room after P.E. when all of a sudden he heard a familiar voice. “Adam . . . ? Adam. . .? Aaaaadaaaammmmm?”
“I remember at that moment she looked completely at peace with what she was about to do,” Chester writes of the impending horror. “The room settled down for one final peaceful moment as my mother stepped into the spotlight, clutched what looked to me like a bullhorn, and proclaimed, ‘You forgot to bring your sweater. It’s going to rain today!’ ” [Read the full article...]
Advertisement
Queen of Misfortune
A Lady Jane Grey Novel by Peter Carroll
Now Available As Paperback And Kindle Edition!
Queen Of Misfortune is the fictional story of Lady Jane Grey as told by her beloved tutor, John Aylmer. At the time of her execution a stranger is recorded to have assisted her when, blind folded, she lost her way upon the scaffold. Was it the same ‘stranger’ who was also recorded to have visited her when she was imprisoned in the Tower? Little is known of this unfortunate girl who was beheaded for treason in the 16th Century. She was only 16. She is omitted from the list of monarchs but was actually queen for nine days. Author Peter Carroll, in his novel, follows John Aylmer’s close relationship with Jane as her tutor and later, as she grows up, her lover. [More...]
Available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.
