Is That The Shirt You're Wearing?: A Memoir in Essays

by Kristen Hansen Brakeman

Overview

The humorous essays in the memoir, Is That The Shirt You’re Wearing?, a 2018 Thurber Prize Semi-Finalist, are woven together by journal entries from two summers in the author’s life when absolutely everything happened.

The essays address a diverse range of topics, from Brakeman hating being called “Ma’am” (and proposing a wonderful alternative), to accidentally teaching her seven year old daughter to swear; from discovering the perils of shopping in the loud and stinky Hollister store, to being scolded by a Very Important Singer. Each essay is introduced by a journal entry that provides a humorous or poignant (yet always very relatable) update on the lives of her husband, three daughters, and elderly, yet still guilt-inducing mom. The journal entries emphasize the cyclical nature of life, and trace the author’s bumpy transformation from chronic planner to one who discovers the joy of living in the moment before she runs out of moments.

This is not a mommy blogger whining about her kids. Instead it’s a slice-of-life of a typical American family, a chronicle of the ups and downs of modern life. Readers of Brakeman’s previously published essays have compared her writing to that of Nora Ephron. Though the humor is often wry in tone, ultimately people will find this collection to be life affirming.

When not writing, mothering, daughter-ing, or wife-ing, Brakeman works behind-the-scenes on variety television shows. Also, she is a nice person and eats her vegetables.

PS. She lies about the vegetables.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780997400946
Publisher:	Tidal Press
Publication date:	05/01/2017
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Kristen Hansen Brakeman has been published in the Huffington Post, The New York Times, Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, The Washington Post, Working Mother Magazine, and The Mid; and I'm featured in a new collection, Martinis & Motherhood.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK ONE: Summer of My Discontent Yearbooks Should Be Buried in a Deep, Deep Hole Don't Call Me Ma'am Teaching My Daughter to Swear The Oregon Caves: Two Hours of Terror, A Lifetime of Pain I Chat, You Chat Buddy, You Complete Me The Heightist Amongst Us Too Saggy for the SAG Awards You Will Buy My Cookies Sample Day in a Mom's Summer "Vacation" My Dreamy Boyfriend The Bad, Awful, Horrible News My Madonna Story My Husband Had Prostate Cancer And All I Got Was This Stupid T-shirt Mother Versus Nature Sharp Like Knives Is That The Shirt You're Wearing? Grandpa Your Vitamin Water Angers Me Lake Inferior Take Me Out of the Wretched Softball Game Lunch With Two Joans I Wish I Knew You, Dead Person Don't Dye Alone Hollister Hell BOOK TWO: Summer of Please Don't End Babies . . . Eeh Gluten Free Drop out 10 Ways to Annoy Your Kids Things Left Behind How MUMPS Like Me Ruined Facebook Don't Hate Me Because I Can't Hear You We Can't Let The Duck-Faced Women Win A Jury of My Peers Not Another Slumber Party Chopper Lives . . . And Lives . . . And Lives Parenting Tips The Experts Won't Tell You It's Just A Damn Chair (A Damn Comfy Chair) Health Hazards You Can't Ignore The Healing Power of the Gay Softball Moms The New Bizarre Online Security Questions It Was Only Five Dollars Sorry I'm Thin and Irksome Laundry and College in 7 Easy Steps Chopper Part Three: In Which His Reign Of Terror Finally Ends You Toy With Me Facebook Parent Group Gone Wrong You Will Meet A Handsome Stranger

Editorial Reviews

“Apparently, Brakeman lives in the cushions of our couch, for how else does she latch onto the universal truths of our lives like this? The secret: Her life is our life. Only funnier. This new book belongs on the shelf between Bombeck and Barry.” - Chris Erskine, Los Angeles Times

"Like [Erma] Bombeck, feigning no pretense, Brakeman celebrates the highs, the lows, and the many places in-between as a sandwich generation mom of teens and an aging mother. Brakeman’s writing is at once smart, sharp and poignant…. [and] like Bombeck, Brakeman has the ability to make us laugh, even in the toughest times." Liesl Testwuide for The Huffington Post

"I love Kristen's essays - she never fails to make me laugh!" - Kit Hoover, Co-host of Access Hollywood Live

"Kristen makes me laugh, but more importantly, has me feeling I'm not alone. Is That The Shirt You're Wearing? helps me cope with the daily drama of being a mother of three." - Michelle Tuzee, Co-anchor, ABC 7, Los Angeles

"Kristen Brakeman's writing makes me laugh, makes me cry and makes me think. For me, and lots of women who read and relate to Brakeman, that's a perfect trifecta. She taps into women's lives with a sharp eye and a sharp wit. Her slice-of-life essays deliver on all counts." - Lian Dolan, Co-host/Creator of Satellite Sisters and LA Times bestselling author "Brakeman's delicious essays feel so true that you start off thinking, Yep, I know that feeling. But then you laugh or cry and end up saying, Hey, I never thought of it that way!" - Amy Goldman Koss, author

From the Publisher