Stay-At-Work Mom - by Liz Astrof (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"The parenting genre is never going to be the same" (Jancee Dunn, author of How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids) after this candid and hilarious collection of essays on motherhood from the award-winning television comedy writer and producer of 2 Broke Girls and The King of Queens, who swears she loves her kids--when she's not hiding from them.

Some women feel that motherhood is a calling and their purpose on earth. They somehow manage to make pregnancy look effortless, bring out the beauty in a screaming child, and keep the back seat of their cars as spotless as their kitchens.

And then there are women like Liz Astrof--who originally had children because "everyone else was."

In this blunt and side-splittingly funny book of essays (previously published as Don't Wait Up), Liz Astrof embraces the realities of motherhood (and womanhood) that no one ever talks about: like needing to hide from your kids in your closet, your car, or a yoga class on the other side of town, letting them eat candy for dinner because you just can't deal, to the sheer terror of failing them or at the very least losing them in a mall. And sometimes, many times, wondering if the whole parenting thing wasn't for you.

Perfect for fans of Let's Pretend This Never Happened and I Heart My Little A-Holes, Stay-At-Work Mom is a soul-baring and honest look at parenting and relationships for moms who realize that motherhood doesn't have to be your entire life--just an amazing part of it.

Review Quotes

"[Astrof's] love for her family shines through as she offers a brutally honest look at motherhood, marriage and work, rarely losing her sense of humor even while totally exasperated. . . [She] is gorgeously shameless, honest and funny, and manages to be insightful and poignant at the same time."
--The New York Post

"[Stay-at-Work Mom] is a funny, fascinating memoir of mothering that will definitely keep readers up way past their bedtime, laughing and sometimes crying page after page."
--BookPage

"A hilarious and heartfelt essay collection... sidesplitting. Though Astrof's collection is often trenchant in its look at her own difficult childhood, it is also permeated with a sense of love for her kids, and is sure to resonate deeply."
--Publishers Weekly

"An exceptionally funny and charismatic voice... Her [Liz Astrof's] candid essays in [Stay-at-Work Mom] address life's ordeals with acerbic wit, but never reduce her experiences to a laugh track... Written with a sharp pen and an open heart, Astrof's work is heartbreakingly poignant and funny as hell."
--Shelf Awareness

"Astrof is like the hilarious, did-she-really-just-say-that friend you would kill to have at school pickup--the one that makes you explode in gleeful, scandalized laughter. She goes there--and the parenting genre is never going to be the same."
--Jancee Dunn, author of How Not to Hate Your Husband After Having Kids

"I found this book utterly disturbing. Not because of Liz's unique take on motherhood, a self-proclaimed Stay-at-Work Mom, but because in a million years I will never write anything this funny. And that is unacceptable."
--Emmy Award-winning actor Jack Burditt

"Liz Astrof is wickedly funny, which is an overused term, but I feel should be solely reserved for Liz. She lets you into her life and doesn't try to sugarcoat it. It's unflinchingly honest and so effortlessly hilarious. I can't tell if Liz is insane or not, which, I swear, is a compliment."
--Justin Halpern, New York Times bestselling author of Sh*t My Dad Says

"No one makes me laugh harder than Liz Astrof. This book is the best combination of her biting humor, self-deprecating wit, and so so so much heart. It had me in tears from page one. This is a must-read memoir for anyone who has a mother or is a mother or knows a mother. Even if you can spell 'mother.'"
--Emmy Award-nominated actress and comedian Molly Shannon

"Raw, bold, heartbreaking, ridiculously funny, and wildly inappropriate--I would expect nothing less from Liz Astrof. As someone who's seen the inside of her diaper bag--I can tell you, the stories are all true."
--Actress Whitney Cummings

"Refreshingly honest and hilarious! Astrof says out loud what so many parents are afraid to admit."
--Karen Alpert, New York Times bestselling author of I Heart My Little A-Holes

"So funny, so relatable, just... genius."
--Emmy Award-winning actress and television host Sara Gilbert

"Successful comedy writer and television producer Astrof has put together a forthright, laugh-out-loud collection of essays that lets you in on a little of what makes her shows like 2 Broke Girls or The King of Queens so much fun. . . Hilarious and, of course, as well written as any good sitcom episode, [Stay-at-Work Mom] is a great read for all the moms who also aren't quite sure what to make of motherhood, and for anyone else who likes a laugh."
--Booklist

"The author delivers one punchline after another... Droll wit and profundity swirl together in a revealing memoir from a successful comedy writer."
--Kirkus Reviews