Interview with Beth Waltemath in Chapter 16 on October 3, 2011
Ann Hood's essay, "The Boy in the VW Bug" appeared in the August 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping
SheKnows guest post on LovingYou.com
Interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel by Karen Dunlap on June 26, 2011
Interview with the News & Observer by Adrienne Martin Johnson on June 22, 2011
Interview on NPR's "The State of Things" with Frank Stasio and contributors Suzanne Finnamore and Katie Herzog on June 22, 2011
Katie Herzog's essay "What We Know Now" on Salon on May 28, 2011
Advance praise for Crush:
"This fun, sometimes racy anthology collects 26 first-person tales of naïve romance. Laurie Stolarz's memorable "Consequently Yours" begins with her sixth-grade dream to "meet and marry John Cusack"; in "Giving Up the Ghost," a much less innocent Melissa Febos recalls a first date who "knew before we met that... I had been a sex worker, a heroin addict, and that I was a writer" and describes using eBay to dispose of the accoutrements of her past life as a dominatrix. Other standouts include Candyfreak author Steve Almond's hilarious "It Never Was, Not Really," Ann Hood's tender "The Boy in the White VW Bug," Lauren Oliver's poignant "Three Little Words," and David Levithan's soul-baring "Creative Writing." Gay or straight, teenage or 30-something, there's something here for everyone who's ever fallen desperately, foolishly in love."
–Publishers Weekly
"From the cringe-inducing juvenile crush to the passion and illusion of lust to the heartbreak of unrequited love, this buoyant, nostalgic anthology features 26 authors chronicling their experiences with that certain tugging of the heart and its impact on their lives. Jacquelyn Mitchard’s eloquent “What I Kept” recollects her first love with a neighborhood boy, later a Navy SEAL, and the evolution of a haunting connection. With “To Sir Anthony, with Love,” Daria Snadowsky hilariously confronts the compelling delusion of love, one that her 14-year-old self projects toward a notable thespian. In “It Never Was, Not Really,” Steve Almond pines for a college friend who increasingly distances herself from his advances. Ann Hood’s “The Boy in the White VW Bug” chronicles the path from adolescent crush to lifelong affection. In “The Subtle Art of Crush-Suffocating,” Joshua Mohr, then a young creative-writing teacher, considers the territory of the crush. The charming “Love, Illustrated,” recollects Melissa Walker’s ninth-grade fantasy notebook. Other tales by David Levithan, Jon Skovron, and Tara Bray Smith round out a heartfelt collection."
"This collection is as exhilarating and heartbreaking and unforgettable as first love, itself. I have a major crush on CRUSH—what a complex dreamboat of a book."
--Gayle Brandeis, author of My Life with the Lincolns and Delta Girls
"With humor, with courage, with sweet tender hearts, these twenty-six writers remind us of the infinite numbers of ways love can make us feel so alive yet so vulnerable."
--Diana Joseph, author of I'm Sorry You Feel That Way
“There are few rapturously high moments in everyday life, and the first raw feelings of being in love, in lust, in true and honest need of another person are the highest. With Crush, Nicki Richesin brings us some two dozen voices captured on that cusp, and the result is an exhilaration, a wonderful collection.”
--Ashley Warlick, author of The Summer After June and Seek the Living
"What's more captivating than a crush? An anthology on the subject. No reader should resist this chance to look into the secret, stirring heart of these great writers. Romantic bedevilment has never been more accessible or abundant. Like a lover reading a long-awaited mash note, you'll feel electricity screaming through your body as you consume every impassioned word."
--Lily Burana, author of I Love a Man in Uniform, Try, and Strip City
"Here's an anthology with something for everyone who has been in love, wants to be,
had it and lost it, wished for more and settled for less. It's a collection for those who
have loved unrequited, from afar or way up close. It's full of hope, pain, ugly truth,
and great beauty, sometimes all at once. Twenty six wonderful writers bring
all they are to the proceedings, and by the end, you'll be wishing for Volume 2."
--Adriana Trigiani, author of the Big Stone Gap series and Brava, Valentine
"Crush will take you back to your first crush, while making you grateful to be (hopefully) past the stage where crushes are quite so tender, overwhelming and heartbreaking. An excellent collection that perfectly captures what it means to fall, and fall hard, for someone who may or may not be worthy of your affections."
--Rachel Kramer Bussel, author of Everything But
“Funny, bittersweet and true, I can't imagine anyone reading this collection and not finding something in it to love."
--Lynn Weingarten, author of Wherever Nina Lies and The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers
Thomas Beller’s essay “The Rights” on Babble on October 22, 2010
Review by Melissa Chianta on pg. 66 in the July/August 2010 issue of Mothering
Jessica Devoe Riley's review in Literary Mama, June 19, 2010
Interview on The View from the Bay with Mike Adamick and Robert Wilder on July 5, 2010
Review by Nick Owchar in Los Angeles Times Jacket Copy on June 18, 2010
Interview with Carla Bova in Here Magazine on June 18, 2010
Radio interview on WUNC The State of Things with contributors T. Colin Dodd, David G.W. Scott, and David Teague on June 16, 2010
Reviews by Lisa Belkin of Motherlode in the New York Times here and here, June 15, 2010
Featured as a classic Father’s Day gift in the June 2010 issue of Woman’s Day
Review by Martin Brady in BookPage, June 2010
Publishers Weekly review April 19, 2010
Library Journal review by Julianne J. Smith April 15, 2010
Parenting Pink review by Elizabeth Donovan April 15, 2010
Advance praise for What I Would Tell Her:
“Often heartbreaking, sometimes harrowing and consistently hilarious. What I Would Tell Her tells the world about the savagely beautiful bond between fathers and daughters, and it does so without a drop of saccharine or sap. Spectacularly achieved, and fascinating from the very first page.”
--Jason Roberts, author of A Sense of the World
“Reading these 28 remarkable essays made me rejoice in that special bond that fathers and daughters share. From Steve Almond's love for his Josie, to Daniel Raeburn's loss of his Irene, and Rob Spillman’s Isadora showing him new lessons about life and confidence, these essays will win over every father and all of their daughters.”
--Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of The Red Thread and The Knitting Circle
“The heart-whomping tenderness in these twenty-eight essays is startling enough to be called news. By turns thoughtful, hilarious, soulful and wry, What I Would Tell Her offers a direct line into the heart and soul of the Y chromosome-possessor we call father. This book brought me to my knees.”
--Karen Karbo, author of The Stuff of Life: A Daughter's Memoir
“‘A manthology!’ my husband exclaimed, reading over my shoulder. ‘A dadoir!’ Indeed. Whether your father-daughter business is holding on, letting go, rocking out, coaching, doting, or enduring the terrible, beautiful twinning of love and loss, there is something here for you.”
--Catherine Newman, author of Waiting for Birdy
“As a father of four, including two girls, what I would tell everyone is to read this anthology to understand a bit more what pleasure, fear, mystery, improvisation, and satisfaction there is in being a Dad to a daughter. This collection could have taught King Lear a thing or two.”
--Robert Mailer Anderson, author of Boonville
“In these wide variety of essays- some humorous, a couple quite tragic- I found so many different ways to be an engaged father, coming into your daughter's life at her birth, but also later for adoption and sometimes much later. With great candor, these writers bravely expose their inner lives.”
--Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Wit’s End and The Jane Austen Book Club
“What an amazing collection. The essays here are touching, funny, moving and inspiring -- sometimes all at once. What I Would Tell Her compiles a wide variety of voices, every one of them powerful, entertaining and often surprising in the way only such personal writing can be.”
--David Liss, author of The Devil’s Company and The Whiskey Rebels
“Andrea Richesin has assembled a terrific collection of essays by men who write with great wonder, humor, and abiding love for their daughters. Whether walking them through colic or coaching them on the soccer field, these writers –stay-at-home, non-custodial, adoptive, gay and straight dads, stepdads and grandfathers—offer fresh insights into the pleasures and pains of the father-daughter bond. What I Would Tell Her is an indispensable addition to the growing literature of fatherhood.”
--Caroline Grant, editor of Mama PhD: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life
“As the father of a daughter, I am so impressed at how effectively this book captures the wonders and complexities of the father-daughter relationship. Humor, tenderness, joy and sadness: all are in great abundance in this marvelous collection. What I Would Tell Her is a book all fathers and daughters should read.”
--Ron Rash, author of Serena
“Moms get all the sweets writing about the real loves of our lives-- our children. But in Nicki Richesin's exquisite collection about what fathers would tell their daughters, daddies lay bare their great hearts. So buy it for every father and grandfather you know...if there are any left after I have.”
--Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author The Deep End of the Ocean and No Time to Wave Goodbye
“A beautiful collection of fathers' singing of and to their great loves. Some essays funny, some somber and intense, but what unites them is emotional honesty and the vulnerability that demands. There is something to learn here for every woman who has a father, and every man privileged enough to play that role.”
--Mat Johnson, author of Hunting in Harlem and Drop
“You can find the whole world in this one book. Twenty-eight powerhouse writers prove again and again the immutable power of a father's love and the eloquence that comes when a heart speaks. These pieces are by turns touching, hilarious, painful, tragic and ultimately uplifting--a true gift to the reader. This collection is not just entertaining. It's important, probably even transformative.”
--Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Hideaway
“These writers -- some of the best of our generation -- have big stories to tell. They love their daughters, they protect their daughters, they let their daughters go. It's powerful material -- written with tenderness, compassion and great insight.”
--Ellen Sussman, author of Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex, Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave and On a Night Like This
“If you're expecting a syrupy, fairy tale collection of father-daughter essays, this is not it. The writing here is so raw and pure. Steve Almond made me laugh out loud, Richard Farrell made me bite my bottom lip and read fast. Daniel Raeburn's essay is one of the most poignant I've ever read. As a single mom whose ex walked out, I'm in awe of these devoted dads.”
--Rachel Sarah, author of Single Mom Seeking and founder of a blog by the same name
“Bursting at its covers with love and wisdom, What I Would Tell Her should be required reading for fathers and daughters. No book has ever made me feel happier, and more fortunate, to be a dad.”
--Will Allison, author of What You Have Left
“Reading What I Would Tell Her illuminates the love, loss, heartache, and hopes in stunning, sharp essays that are at turns comedic and touching. Most of all, these words are like the best conversations with my own dad; honest.”
--Emily Franklin, author of Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes and The Girls' Almanac
“With the help of some great writers, Nicki Richesin has managed to do what I thought was impossible: accurately and fully describe that life-changing, magical bond that exists between father and daughter. These essays are sweet and provocative. They will make you smile, cry and ponder that wonderfully bittersweet experience we call parenthood.”
--Ad Hudler, author of Man of the House: A Novel
Interview with Jennifer Massoni of Gentry Magazine, January 2010
Lylah M. Alphonse’s review in the The Boston Globe, August 29, 2009
Review by Maria Rowan for Hip Mama, July 21, 2009
Interview with Spencer Christian and Audrey Mansfield on ABC’s The View from the Bay, May 6, 2009
Reading with Anne Marie Feld and Ericka Lutz at Books, Inc. Opera Plaza in San Francisco on FORA.tv, May 7, 2009
Regan McMahon's review/interview in the San Francisco Chronicle, May 9, 2009
Review by Diane Stresing for The Plain Dealer May 4, 2009
Review by Rick Kleffel of The Agony Column
BookPage review by Rebecca Bain May 2009
Interview with Janine DeFao of Bay Area Parent May 2009
From Currents in Marin Magazine May 2009
Surrender, Dorothy Book Review by Rita Arens
Emily Franklin’s essay, “Say You, Say Me” appeared in the April 2009 issue of Parenting magazine.
"This intimate collection of writing explores the complex relationship of mothers and daughters. In “The Mother Load,” Jacquelyn Mitchard, even as a grown woman and mother herself, feels “nothing truly bad can ever happen if my mother is around.” Joyce Maynard recalls “My Mother at Fifty” and talks about how her mother's decision to stay in an unhappy marriage because of her and her sister helped her through her own painful divorce. Tara Bray Smith, whose mother battled drug addiction, discusses grief, pain and acceptance in her essay “In the Offing”—“the wonderful thing about adulthood is realizing that we are all deficient, and after a certain point no one is accountable for that but ourselves.” The beauty of this collection, edited by Richesin (editor of The May Queen) is the realization that, despite mothers “good” and “bad,” suicidal, depressed, divorced, neglectful, all the women here remain hopeful—for themselves, their mothers and their own children, who they understand are undeniably shaped by all that has happened and can use this knowledge to face what lies ahead."
Advance praise for Because I Love Her:
“In our daughters' faces, we see different versions of ourselves: early hopes and dreams, years of self-discovery and hard work to chase after our goals, and the rich reality of the compromises, challenges and joys of being a woman and mother. This candid exploration of 'our daughters, ourselves' captures the unique frustrations and delights facing mothers and daughters today.”
--Leslie Morgan Steiner, Mommy Wars editor and author of Crazy Love
“This collection about one of the most complex relationships we have is so rich and varied that you’ll want to read the whole thing from start to finish and then dip into it again and again. The essays are, by turns, wry, funny, angry, forgiving, sad, joyous, and a great many of them are all of these things at once. The book is suffused with hope and punctuated by a fierce, fierce love.”
--Marisa de los Santos, New York Times bestselling author of Love Walked In and Belong To Me
“I was so impressed by Because I Love Her. Much of the honesty in these pages required real bravery from the writers. Some of these essays are hilarious, and some are tragic. They are all thoughtful and compulsively readable; I easily turned page after page, finding solace, understanding, and inspiration.”
--Laura Moriarty, author of The Center of Everything and The Rest of Her Life
“In Because I Love Her, Nicki Richesin brings together thirty-four women who venture unflinchingly into the mysterious, emotionally complex terrain of the mother-daughter relationship. Here there is humor, heartbreak, loss, and, above all, love. Intelligent, provocative, and deeply personal, this book will inspire you to call your mother, hug your daughter, and perhaps even reach a deeper understanding of the most important relationships in your life.”
--Michelle Richmond, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Fog and No One You Know
Reading Because I Love Her is like joining the best mother's support group in the world--only better, because you can do it on your own time and don't have to leave home. These wonderfully diverse essays are funny, sad and achingly familiar. Anyone who's ever been a parent or a child will recognize themselves in these revelations about the essential bond between mothers and daughters.
--Elizabeth Stuckey-French, author of Mermaids on the Moon and The First Paper Girl in Red Oak, Iowa
“One of the harsher realities about having a girl is coming face-to-face with how awful you sometimes were to your own mother--how disappointed you could be in her weaknesses, how judgmental of her outfits, how frustrated by her hovering. But, as the poignant essays in Because I Love Her demonstrate, gaining that insight and sympathy is one of the many gifts that come with raising a daughter."
--Jennifer Baumgardner, author of Look Both Ways and Abortion & Life
"Because we are all daughters of mothers, Because I Love Her is a necessary and most fizzy tonic."
--Suzanne Finnamore, author of Split: A Memoir of Divorce
“Because I Love Her is a rich collection that loosens the ties that bind. We all had mothers, and some of us have daughters - and no relationships are knottier. Or more joyful. These wonderful writers plunge fearlessly into those intimate ties, and emerge with insights, forgiveness and love renewed.”
-- Jane Ganahl, author of Naked on the Page: the Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife
"Because I Love Her is full of raw, heartfelt, priceless mother-daughter moments. Anyone who has ever had, been, battled with, feared, or loved a mother will cherish the stories in this book."
--Katie Crouch, author of Girls in Trucks