Accidentally on Purpose: The True Tale of a Happy Single Mother (Paperback)
Description
At thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never—not in a million years—on her own. When she finds herself unexpectedly expecting, she plunges into the greatest adventure of her life. With humor, insight, and compelling honesty, Pols reveals what it means to compromise in the name of love and to find joy in an accidental life, suddenly brimming with purpose.
About the Author
Mary F. Pols is a longtime movie critic and freelance journalist based in northern California. She has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Self, and Gourmet, and her film criticism appears regularly online at MSN and Time. A former Knight Fellow at Stanford, she is an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Praise for Accidentally on Purpose: The True Tale of a Happy Single Mother…
âeoe[Pols writes] with humor and grace. . . . Itâe(TM)s rare to find such honesty, even in an account so personal. Grade: A-âe
-Entertainment Weekly
âeoeHer writing is mesmerizing and lyrical. I laughed and cried and shook my head at some of her choices, but I rooted for her and her son the whole way.âe
-Minneapolis Star Tribune
âeoeSharp, witty and slightly self-deprecating, she alternates clever, camera-ready one-liners with intense self-revelations about parents, children, love and familyâe¦.âe
-San Francisco Chronicle
âeoeMuch as Polsâe(TM)s story resembles the Judd Apatow movie, it is distinct in its heartfelt description of a woman who has come up against the edge of youth and expectation.âe
-Cookie Magazine
âeoeItâe(TM)s funny, intimate, wise, and real, and we get to root for fortysomething Mary, her twentysomething coparent, Matt, and their little son, Dolan, now four.âe
-Elle
âeoeAmid joy and heartbreak, Pols grows from a self-absorbed and judgmental whiner into a self-aware adult and loving mother. Itâe(TM)s her transformation that makes this memoir an unforgettable read.âe
-Diablo Magazine
âeoeMs. Pols is a charming and insightful storyteller, and her memoir is both engrossing and endearing ...âe
-New York Observer
âeoeâe¦ a well-written, emotionally honest memoir of Polsâe(TM) journey to motherhood and increased maturityâe¦. She details with wit and humor her efforts to juggle her many challengesâe¦âe
-BookPage
âeoe...far transcends its particulars...thoughtful, funny and sexy...a delightful meditation on partnership, desire, fulfillment...âe
-Peggy Orenstein, bestselling author of Schoolgirls and Waiting for Daisy
âeoeCandid and unaffected, Pols provides an important lesson about not being willing to compromise herself, and that being brave can bring the richest rewards.âe
-Publishers Weekly
âeoe... [A] touching, funny, and brutally honest story...[Pols] is opinionated, vulnerable, droll, tenacious, acerbic, loyal...real.âe
-Kate Moses, author of Because I Said So: 33 Mothers Write About Children, Sex, Men, Aging, Faith, Race & Themselves
âeoeBay Area film critic Pols chronicles her unexpected pregnancy and journey into not-quite-single motherhoodâe¦.A page-turner by someone who stopped waiting for Mr. Perfect.âe
-Kirkus Reviews
âeoeAstutely witty...will grip you to the very last page. This is a feminist tale for our age.âe
-Heidi Julavits, author of The Uses of Enchantment