Terrific Mother by Lorrie Moore

Terrific Mother Reviews

• 
  Sam Quixote

  For years I’ve heard the likes of Nick Hornby and David Sedaris gush over Lorrie Moore but, for no real reason beyond lethargy, I’ve never read anything by her. Having now read Terrific Mother, I can definitely see why she gets praised - this is a gem of a story!
  
  A woman accidentally kills a baby at a picnic, falls into a deep depression, hastily gets married, and sets off for a month-long academic retreat in Italy where she falls in love with a female masseuse - what a year for anyone to go through!
  
  I liked how quickly Moore dealt with the baby’s death right from the start. Some literary writers may dwell on a meaningful event for much too long, drowning the moment in self-indulgent, obfuscating prose for page after page; here it’s over in two long paragraphs. Which I think is a realistic and laudable approach to take - a lot of life’s defining moments happen very fast but the ripples of these moments continue to echo through time and memory.
  
  And that’s the case here because, though it’s rarely mentioned again after, the baby’s death hangs over the idyllic Italian break and you can sense it still haunts our protagonist Adrienne.
  
  All of which makes the story sound like a grim read but surprisingly it’s anything but! Moore’s dialogue is very loose, silly and amusing and the characters’ interactions are very playful. That balance between artistic prose and serious subject matter and light, almost jolly behaviour and tone impressed me the most. One of the lines about Adrienne’s husband Martin actually made me laugh:
  
  “Poor godless, raised-an-atheist-in-Ohio Martin. ‘On Christmas,’ he’d said to her once, ‘we used to go down to the Science Store and worship the Bunsen burners.’”
  
  It’s a testament to Moore’s talent that very little happens in the story but I was never too bored with it. And yet, if there’s one thing that keeps me from giving this one a perfect score, it’s that not enough did happen. The dinner scenes and massage sessions became a bit repetitive after a spell.
  
  Still, Terrific Mother is, well, terrific, and if you’re like me and haven’t tried Lorrie Moore but always meant to, this is as good a starting place as any to dip your toes into!
• 
  JimZ

  I thought this sucked goose eggs.
  
  I have the book from which this short story comes from. I read it many years ago and loved the collection overall. I can’t remember what my reaction was to this story…it was the last one in the collection. I loved the front cover of the collection, Birds of America. There were several different book covers for this one book, each cover with a different bird. I was crazy enough where I have two book jackets for one book. I can’t remember if I bought two books or what. I think I was carrying book collecting to extremes back in the day. Of course, not now…nope, not me! 😏
  
  The short story is about a woman who is in her mid thirties who is holding Sally Spearson’s baby and the bench she is sitting on breaks underneath her…and the baby ends up dead. Heavens to Betsy! 😧
  • “Adrienne went home shortly thereafter, after the hospital and the police reports. And did not leave her attic apartment for seven months, and there were fears, deep fears for her, on the part of Martin Porter, the man she had been dating, and on the part of almost everyone, including Sally Spearson, who phoned tearfully that she forgave her, that Adrienne might never come out.”
  
  Well, she comes out big time. Martin and she get married and take a trip to northern Italy, to a villa in the Alps set up for scholars and academic conferences.
  
  And that’s where the book falls flat for me—well actually there is 95% of the book to go from there, so it’s pretty much the whole story that is awash for me. The people she meets at the conference are all pretentious snobs…she is pretty much unlikable. I thought she would be grieving or depressed about the baby, and perhaps Lorrie Moore wrote it so that deep deep (really deep) down she was disturbed about the death, but I sure couldn’t tell from the inner dialogue between herself and herself, or the dialogue between herself and others at the conference. I thought the writing was pretentious too. This is from a big fan of Lorrie Moore. I need to read the collection again…I promise to…later this year. 😑
  
  This was part of set of short stories that Faber Publishing put out for its 90th anniversary. Given that somebody plucked this one story out of the 12 that comprise ‘Birds
• 
  Lotte

  The first page packs a punch. The rest of the story feels like it just kind of meanders along. It's expertly written and the story's aimlessness mirrors the main character's inner turmoil really well, but makes for a bit of a disappointing reading experience overall.
• 
  Paula Mota

  4,5*
  
  “You were married before?
  “Oh, yes.” She sighed. “I had one of those reahearsal marriages, you know, where your’re a feminist and train a guy, and then some other feminist comes along and gets the guy.
  
  Sempre tive a impressão de que iria gostar de Lorrie Moore e, por esta pequena amostra, creio que é realmente autora para mim. As suas observações são muito acutilantes, mas nota-se uma enorme sensibilidade na caracterização das personagens dentro dos seus pequenos/grandes dramas.
  
  “Poor godless, raised-an-atheist-in-Ohio Martin. “On Christmas,” he said to her once, “we used to go down to the Science Store and worship the Bunsen burners.”
  
• 
  Melki

  Even though I knew it was coming, the "accident" that starts Adrienne's downward spiral still knocked me for a loop, and made me gasp aloud. How does one resume one's life after such a horrific tragedy? And yet . . . life goes on, and Moore presents an interesting look at one woman's existence in the aftermath.
  
  From
  Birds of America
• 
  leilani coral ❥

  i didn't mind this book as i was very intrigued by the blurb and i felt that it was well written but overall i thought it was an okay read but not really my favourite
• 
  emily

  This was brilliantly written. It had everything I ever wanted in a short story like that. Vivid descriptions of the setting, bizarre dinner conversations, a twisted plot, and some sense of fuckery (not excluding the literal sense of that but I'm definitely referring to the more figurative sense of it).
  
  
  “Could you move?" he said irritably. "You're sitting on my groin."
  "Fine," she said, and climbed off.”
  
  I thought the narrative &/ the dialogues were so well written. I've never properly read Moore's work, and if I had, I surely don't recall liking it a lot, but this one proved otherwise. There's a lot of slightly odd conversations in the story but it's not done in an unpleasant way. It almost reminds me of lines in contemporary plays - esp. of the absurdist genre which I like.
  
  
  “Oh, yes." She sighed. "I had one of those rehearsal marriages, you know, where you're a feminist and train a guy, and then some other feminist comes along and gets the guy."
  
  "I don't know." Adrienne scowled. "I think there's something wrong with the words feminist and gets the guy being in the same sentence.”
  
  “But now you're with someone else."
  
  "Pre-taught. Self-cleaning. Batteries included."
  
  "Someone else trained him, and you stole him.”
  
  
  I've not read something that made me laugh in a while, and this one did. I'm tempted to give it a 5-star rating but there's something about it that feels a bit lacking that is holding me back. I don't mind the uncertain ending much, but I think it's the part where the tarot-reader is introduced. That did not make a lot of sense to me - I didn't think that it was a necessary addition as it does not add much to the plot/story. Also - Adrienne's husband did not feel 'human'/real enough for me. But in general - I thought it was an entertaining little story. I expected it to lean towards a sub-horror genre but it was nothing like what I'd imagined.
• 
  claire

  i was really excited to read this book, as the blurb seemed very interesting. It ended up being okay and a bit intriguing, but nothing special.
• 
  Alina

  Eh.
• 
  Marcus Hobson

  This is a great short story by Lorrie Moore in the Faber Stories series. I haven’t read anything by Lorrie Moore since then mid-90s, when I read
  Who Will Run The Frog Hospital?. This story was first published in 1998 in the collection ‘Birds of America’.
  
  This worked for me as a great story, because I loved the humour. Not that you would expect much humour after reading the first two pages, when thirty-five-year-old Adrienne has become a nervous holder of babies and although she is told she would make a great mother, she drops this particular baby which hits its head and dies. She retreats to her attic for seven months, and most of her vanishing friends think she may never emerge.
  
  Move forwards months or years, and Martin, the boyfriend who became her only friend, is now her husband. He is beautifully described thus: ‘He was divorced and worked as a research economist, though he looked more like a Scottish lumberjack – greying hair, red-flecked beard, a favorite flannel shirt in green and gold.’ and ‘He was a practical man. He often referred to the annual departmental cocktail party as “Standing Around Getting Paid.”’
  
  Martin is to attend a conference in Italy for scholars and academics. Adrienne can attend as a spouse and use the studios provided for painting or pottery. Here the humour begins. Every evening the residents move around the dining table, sitting next to different people, listening to their talk about frightful subjects. One has written six books on Chaucer. As Adrienne says later, ‘But six books on Chaucer? Why not, say, a Cat Stevens book?’ The spouses sometimes gather to discuss their own lives, when this wonderful exchange takes place:
  “You were married before?”
  “Oh, yes.” She sighed. “I had one of those rehearsal marriages, you know, where you’re a feminist and train a guy, then some other feminist comes along and gets the guy.”
  
  Adrienne learns of a masseuse in the village down the hill and finds herself strangely relaxed and unbuttoned by Ilke for Minnesota. It leads her to many revelations and to many wonderful phrases in the story like:
  ‘Her rage flapped awkwardly away like a duck.’
  
• 
  Lindsay

  The accident that happens within the first 2 pages really packs a punch. Even though the blurb says it is coming, it is so swift and blunt that you almost question if you read it right? Did that really happen? The rest of the story follows the main character's spiral into depression. Throughout this short story, not a lot actually happens. It is mainly concerned with the day to day details of a life that continues even after an event that makes it feel like it shouldn't. There is some really beautiful writing and even some humour, but reading this, I really felt I was in the character's head and could empathise with her descent into a dark place. I felt like I was going slowly mad. Really well written if a little surreal. Will definitely have to look into some of her other work.
• 
  Elle

  The first pages are intense, I loved it. ‘Are you one of the spouses?’ We get this phrase over and over, it’s repeated to us how a woman’s identity is broken down: mother and spouse.
  
  Yet the middle pages were tedious, a bit confused and kind of a drag - part of me hopes it was written this way to reflect her mindset as she pulls herself out from her depression and back into the real world.
  
  We finally come full circle as we return back to the issue: her guilt of accidentally killing a baby, she is given the forgiveness that she required (sadly, from her husband- the male validation drug continues to rule) to become human again - unfortunately we are left, as readers, with the uncertainty that her identity will be anything but an un-terrific mother and spouse.
  
• 
  nicky

  A strange book with a strange main character that reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant strangely. I am not sure who was strange though - was it she, were it all the others? I might have to re read this one because i’m not quite sure i got it, so to speak.
• 
  kkerswell

  Unique, incisive and darkly comedic but ultimately underwhelming because of a meandering structure, unsympathetic characters and a lack of direction.
• 
  Sofia White

  4.5⭐️ I throughly enjoyed this book, for how short it was it really packed a punch and I feel like it dealt with a lot in that space. I felt the female rage powering through it and that paired with the dry wit throughout the book made for a great pairing. I loved the idea of every day love, but also the small remarks, the scepticism, the mentioning of the use of money and education, just the whole thing. I thought it was a clever little book.
• 
  Bear Reads Books

  My first book in the Faber series, and was a dark and brooding treat about a woman trying to return to normal after a tragedy. Her isolation, when everyone is so understanding and present, felt very real.
• 
  thehalcyondaysofsummer

  Opening lines: ‘Although she had been around them her whole life, it was when she reached thirty-five that holding babies seemed to make her nervous- just at the beginning, a twinge of stage fright swinging up from the gut.’
• 
  Maalavika Hareesh

  Poor godless, raised-an-atheist-in-Ohio Martin. “On Christmas,” he’d said to her once, “we used to go down to the Science Store and worship the Bunsen burners.”
  strange, quite sad and equally funny. loved the witty dialogues here and there.
  
• 
  Cesc

  Absolutely love Moore’s writing style - it is so funny and quirky, but still has some interesting themes underneath it all. This was an enjoyable and charming short story about a woman dealing with life, essentially. Unlike a lot of short stories I’ve read, this felt like a resolved piece of work and was a pleasure to read.
• 
  Nashwa S

  The premise was a lot more interesting but I still enjoyed the novella!
• 
  Katy

  “She felt a little like she had just seen God, but also a little like she had just seen a hooker”. Beautiful.
• 
  Sam

  A perfect short story.
• 
  Devo

  Loved it! Wish it were longer!
• 
  helena

  im just gonna give it four stars and pretend i understood it
• 
  Weronika

  2,5
• 
  Janelle Bailey

  65: Terrific Mother by Lorrie Moore...really a short story first published in Birds of America in 1998, yet individually bound here. I believe I bought it in Paris or Rome in 2019, looking for something good published in English, as a souvenir.
  
  This was an interesting story, very darkly tragic in ways and very humorous in others. And it's too easy for that to go badly, that mix. It does not, for the most part here, go badly, though. You're welcome to borrow my copy and just read it for yourself to see.
• 
  Julia Benassi

  She had entered a puritanical decade, a demographic moment —whatever it was— when the best compliment you could get was, "You would make a terrific mother."
  
  Cuando me entierren, en mi tumba tiene que haber MÍNIMO un libro de Lorrie Moore. Lo dejo escrito acá para la posterioridad.
  
  (Y qué mujer, esto es solo un relato, una porción de lo que es su obra literaria. La rompe siempre.)
• 
  Dibz

  This story is my introduction to Lorrie Moore and I’m so glad I found her.
  
  Equally devastating and funny- it’s a brilliant short story.
• 
  Janki

  The story starts out with the interesting premise where Adrienne accidentally kills a friend’s baby, the suddenness and horror of which is described in pacy, frenetic prose. The deed is done in the blink of an eye and how that marks the timeline of her life into a ‘before event’ and an ‘after event’ period.
  
  Depression and a self indulgent guilt trip follows
  
  She reluctantly agrees to go on an academic retreat in Italy with someone she marries hastily, with not much choice or without putting too much thought into the matter, perhaps.
  
  For a subject matter so somber, it has surprisingly light hearted humor in the conversations. There is no tinge of heaviness or sympathy-seeking behaviour while she’s around people, in an effort to attain some semblance of normalcy.
  Take for instance, the sardonic remark by another spouse of an academician, when describing her own failed marriage- “I had one of those rehearsal marriages, you know, where you’re a feminist and train a guy, and some other feminist comes along and gets the guy”
  “Pre-taught. Self-cleaning. Batteries included” This made me really laugh. Also made me realise how I’ve been said ‘guy’ in someone else’s life.
  
  And then one that warmed the cockles of my heart - “Was there any love that wasn’t at bottom a grateful one”
  
  The later half is solely punctuated by her intensely personal experiences at a masseuse’s parlour and in moments of solitude. This is where it got obfuscating for me beyond a point.
  There are biblical references to marriage, death, poverty that seemed foreign, numerous allegories that she spins out of thin air. But then again, given the extraordinary circumstances, I could pardon these coping mechanisms.
  That said, she is emotionally removed throughout the whole process, leaving Martin (her husband) feeling unseen and taken for granted. Someone grappling with her own reality. And yet kind.
  
  I wasn’t satisfied with the end that felt rather abrupt and anticlimactic, at least in comparison to the compelling start.