My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy

My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy
by Andrea Askowitz

My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $3.03
You Save: $11.92 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Andrea Askowitz
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-28
ISBN: 1573443158
Number of pages: 241
Publisher: Cleis Press

Book Reviews of My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy

Book Review: As Cranky, Foul-Mouthed, and Funny As She Wants To Be
Summary: 5 Stars

This book may have a rubber ducky on it and a baby born at the end of it, but beyond that, it has little to do with most parenting/pregnancy books, and the fact that Askowitz is single or a lesbian aren't, ultimately, what sets it apart so much as her outlook. She's supposed to be ecstatic; she split up with her long-term girlfriend and went through the rounds of picking out a sperm donor specifically so she could become the mom she's longed to be.

But she's not happy. At all. She misses her girlfriend fiercely, and is still dealing with the harrowing death of her lifelong friend. Both of these events, the breakup and the loss of her friend, form the backdrop to the growing life inside of her. Yet they don't stop Askowitz from being scathingly hilarious, sparing no one, including her siblings, parents, extended family, friends, exes, coworkers and Lesbian Camping. When talking about how her ex-girlfriend Kate gained 40 pounds while they were together, Askowitz doesn't hide her revulsion, and upon being asked "Would you want my body?" Askowitz replies "No, but it's perfect on you." Askowitz then wonders, "Why couldn't I have said nothing, or changed the subject?" It might be tough to take if your its recipient, but as a reader, Askowitz has taken her best moments and turned them into something that readers can laugh at.

Oh, and she also rightly calls Sex and the City on a particularly self-loathing moment, which Amazon probably won't let me repost (it has the "p" word in it). Prepare for a lot of profanity. Prepare to sometimes get sick of Askowitz's whining. Prepare to laugh uproariously at very simple but moments, like her reflections on one of her potential sperm donors: "5599's brother was diagnosed and treated for obsessive-compulsive disorder at 21. He wrote: `My brother's health is excellent. He's taking medication, and he's fine now.' His maternal grandmother drank herself to death at 45. He'd probably say she's fine now. He's out."

Sometimes it's hard to wonder just how those in her life put up with Askowitz's demands during her pregnancy, yet this is what makes powerful memoir: honesty. She doesn't sugarcoat her grouchiness or the intensity of labor. And perhaps the most vital story here isn't about Askowitz becoming a mother, but searching for acceptance from her family after feeling like the family freak after she came out as a teenager. The end is the tearjerker the rest of the book hasn't quite prepared you for, yet she still ends on a note so befitting this book, I'll just have to quote it: "Excuse me, Dana, that's my tit."

Askowtiz may have been miserable and lonely, but this book is full of humor, not the kind going for cheap easy laughs, but a very strongly Jewish, feminist, often righteous, lesbian brand of humor Askowitz was clearly born with. It's uncensored, full of dyke drama, told in sometimes brief diary snippets, with other asides into her childhood in Los Angeles. This memoir has roots, and will make you laugh as well as cry as it goes from childhood to death to birth and circles through the three. I'm glad Askowitz didn't try to soften any of her edges, because her sadness, flashes of anger, moments of self-pity and doubt coincide perfectly with her humor and faith in the future and her child. And you so don't need to be a lesbian or pregnant to enjoy it (though I'd imagine being either will make it an even better read).

Summary of My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy

In this memoir of her 40 weeks and five days in hell, Andrea Askowitz takes an unflinching look at her pregnant life from struggling with hormones to poor body image to a self imposed exile from family to take us on a ride through the turbulence of single lesbian motherhood. Along the way we meet her liberal parents as they struggle with their daughter's choices, the lover she longs to reconnect with who goes M.I.A. before the pregnancy, the friends who turn out to be no help at all and strangers who offer up some unlikely kindness. Andrea presents herself real, raw, impossibly cranky yet deeply touching with her self-deprecating dark sense of humor that will make you wince or better yet send you into uncontrollable fits of laughter

Memoirs Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Memoirs Books
Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century ImageKingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century
by Hunter S. Thompson
Penguin Books, Limited (UK); Published: 2008-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.11
Price in other shops: $22.00
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed ImageNever Have Your Dog Stuffed
by Alan Alda
Arrow Books; Published: 2007-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops: $11.00
The Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire, and Ambition ImageThe Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire, and Ambition
by John DeLucie, Graydon Carter
Ecco; Published: 2009-05-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.77
Price in other shops: $23.99
Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in One of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Units ImageBrotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in One of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Units
by Aaron Cohen, Douglas Century
Ecco; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.80
Price in other shops: $25.95
Not Lost Forever: My Story of Survival ImageNot Lost Forever: My Story of Survival
by Carmina Salcido, Steve Jackson
William Morrow; Published: 2009-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $25.99
Unlocked: The Life and Crimes of a Mafia Insider ImageUnlocked: The Life and Crimes of a Mafia Insider
by Louis Ferrante
Harper Perennial; Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops: $14.99
Writing Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacher ImageWriting Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacher
by William Zinsser
Harper; Published: 2009-05-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops: $22.99
Got the Life: My Journey of Addiction, Faith, Recovery, and Korn ImageGot the Life: My Journey of Addiction, Faith, Recovery, and Korn
by Fieldy
William Morrow; Published: 2009-03-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops: $26.99
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.) ImageAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)
by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.10
Price in other shops: $15.99
The Ride of My Life ImageThe Ride of My Life
by Mat Hoffman
It Books; Published: 2003-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.95
Similar Books and other products
The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians: Tips and Techniques from Conception Through Birth: How to Stay Sane and Take Care of Yourself ImageThe Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians: Tips and Techniques from Conception Through Birth: How to Stay Sane and Take Care of Yourself
by Rachel Pepper
Cleis Press; Published: 1999-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.75
Price in other shops: $14.95
Lesbian Couples: A Guide to Creating Healthy Relationships ImageLesbian Couples: A Guide to Creating Healthy Relationships
by Ph.D. D.Merilee Clunis, Ph.D. G. Dorsey Green
Seal Press; Published: 2004-12-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.18
Price in other shops: $16.95
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year ImageOperating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year
by Anne Lamott
Random House; Anchor; Published: 2005-03-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant ImageThe Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant
by Dan Savage
Plume; Published: 2000-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.47
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth ImageThe Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth
by Kim Toevs, Stephanie Brill
Alyson Books; Published: 2002-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $59.99
Mommy, Mama, and Me ImageMommy, Mama, and Me
by Lesléa Newman
Random House; Tricycle Press; Published: 2008-12-09; Board book; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops: $7.99
Times Two: Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made ImageTimes Two: Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made
by Kristen Henderson, Sarah Ellis
Free Press; Published: 2011-04-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $24.00
The Complete Lesbian and Gay Parenting Guide ImageThe Complete Lesbian and Gay Parenting Guide
by Arlene Istar Lev
Berkley Trade; Published: 2004-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.87
Price in other shops: $18.00
Confessions of the Other Mother: Non-Biological Lesbian Moms Tell All ImageConfessions of the Other Mother: Non-Biological Lesbian Moms Tell All
Beacon Press; Published: 2006-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians: How to Stay Sane and Care for Yourself from Pre-conception through Birth, 2nd Edition ImageThe Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians: How to Stay Sane and Care for Yourself from Pre-conception through Birth, 2nd Edition
by Rachel Pepper
Cleis Press; Published: 2005-09-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops: $17.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories