It Sucked and Then I Cried

Book No: 20
Title: It Sucked and Then I Cried
Author: Heather Armstrong
Genre: Memoir
Completed: 5/11/09
No. of Pages:
Rating: 3/5*****

I had never heard of Heather Armstrong prior to reading this book, I’ve never been to her blog and had no idea what dooce.com was. I do however enjoy books written by women who look at life with a lot of humor and a slightly skewed view of the world, Jen Lanacster, Laurie Notaro, and Chelsea Handler to name a few. So when I read the description of this book, a funny look at pregnancy, birth, motherhood and postpartum depression, all things I have dealt with, I felt sure it would be right my alley. In the end I was disappointed.

There are a number of good things in this book, some laugh out loud moments. Her descriptions of pregnancy and the alien inside your body were extremely funny and her depiction of labor was right on target. Heather’s love of her daughter shines through on every page and the lovely letters she writes to her throughout the book were very sweet and poignant.

There were a number of not so good things in this book too. For one thing it reads just like blog postings, which apparently is where many of the stories in this book originated. There were far too many descriptions of poop and boobs, and way, way too many CAPITAL LETTERS and I grew tired of feeling like I was being screamed at. The post partum depression seemed glossed over a bit, in that it didn’t seem so terrible at times, not worse than many people have dealt with and then suddenly she is in a mental hospital, where she spends four days and comes home all better. It seemed very rushed and although I felt her pain it seemed to happen in a blink of an eye.

I believe Ms. Armstrong has a talent for writing and taking on a subject like the difficulties of motherhood and making you read it and nod your head in agreement, even when she is being way over the top. I would like to see her write an actual book and not just a rehash of her blog entries. I also think that for those looking for a book on postpartum depression Brooke Shields book Down Came the Rain would be far more informative.