Never Sit If You Can Dance - by Jo Giese (Paperback)

About the Book

"Babe was no goodie two-shoes: she drank, danced, and stayed up very late. She favored colorful clothes, liked giving parties, adored her husband, and always told her daughter, "Never sit if you can dance." When readers finish this book, they'll want to give their mother a hug and dance into Mother's Day and beyond"--

Book Synopsis

An Amazon Bestseller
Jo's mother, Babe, liked to drink, dance, and stay up very late. When the husband she adored went on sales calls, she waited for him in the parking lot, embroidering pillowcases. Jo grew up thinking that the last thing she wanted was to be like her mother. Then it dawned on her that her own happiness was derived in large part from lessons Babe had taught her. Her mother might have had tomato aspic and stewed rhubarb in her fridge, while Jo had organic kale and almond milk in hers, but in more important ways they were much closer in spirit than Jo had once thought.

At a turbulent time in America, Never Sit If You Can Dance offers uplifting lessons in old-fashioned civility that will ring true with mothers, daughters, and their families. Told with lighthearted good humor, it's a charming tale of the way things used to be--and probably still should be.

Review Quotes

"This engaging tribute should ring a bittersweet bell with many baby boomers whose aging parents are dying." --Kirkus Reviews "Tender, pithy, and steeped in respect, Never Sit if You Can Dance is a light-filled biographical work." --Foreword Reviews "This book is a jewel. Never has a mother-daughter memoir seemed so fresh and entertaining. Everyone will wish they'd had a mother named Babe." --Carolyn See, author of Making a Literary Life and Mothers, Daughters "Stories about life, about love, about family. When she was younger, Jo didn't understand her mother. When she was older, she realized how smart, how special her mother was. You choose the heroine. I choose both." --Ilene Beckerman, author of Love, Loss, and What I Wore "This snappy mother-daughter memoir brings old-fashioned lessons to life with a clever and modern twist. The book sounds a lingering grace note that brings relief from our warp-speed techno world--and forces us to savor every moment. Kudos to Jo Giese!" --Linda Gray Sexton, author of Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton "You could read this short book on one plane flight--and leave with the satisfying feeling you have been traveling with a delightful, memorable companion." --Rena Pederson, author of The Burma Spring "'Babe' is a life-embracing role model for anyone seeking to make their days dance with love and joy." --Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of A Woman of Independent Means "Told in breezy anecdotes, this loving tribute to Babe and her lifelong zest for squeezing pleasure from just about everything, is heartwarming and entertaining. I was grateful to have read it!" --Carol Saline, author of Mothers and Daughters "We all need a Babe in our lives! Lucky for Jo Giese having her's and lucky for us that she's sharing her with us in this uplifting romp through one woman's well-lived life. You'll laugh, you'll cry and then you'll want to read it all over again just to get a little more Babe." --Nancy Spiller, author of Compromise Cake: Lessons Learned from my Mother's Recipe Box "From arm wrestling to thank you notes, this breezy tribute from a feminist to her old-fashioned mom celebrates both civility and love." --Leslie Lehr, author of What A Mother Knows "The reader will leave this charming book with the sound of Babe's raucous laughter in mind. . . Babe Giese was a character, and one anyone should be pleased to get to know." --New York Journal of Books "Like her mother, the daughter jumps off the pages as the kind of person you want to be best friends with. Amazing woman. Amazing daughter. Highly recommended reading." --The Malibu Times "Never Sit If You Can Dance: Lessons From My Mother is a memoir that should be shared between all mothers and daughters. . . a simply outstanding piece that grabs attention from its first few lines and never lets go." --Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Jo Giese is an award-winning radio journalist, author, teacher, community activist, and former TV reporter. As a special correspondent, she was part of the Peabody Award-winning team at Marketplace, the most popular business program in America. At Marketplace she won an EMMA for Exceptional Radio Story from the National Women's Political Caucus and a GRACIE from the Foundation of American Women in Radio. She has contributed to Ira Glass's This American Life. The author of A Woman's Path and The Good Food Compendium, Giese has written for scores of publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Vogue, LA Weekly, European Travel & Life, BARK, Montana Outdoors, and The Malibu Times. She lives in Southern California and Bozeman, Montana, with her husband, Ed Warren.