I Married My Mother-In-Law

by SIlverman, Ilena

• ISBN13: 9781594489099
• ISBN10: 1594489092
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-05
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover

Summary

In the tradition of The Bitch in the House, a provocative anthology of original essays about one of life's most complicated relationships. In-laws are the family members you inherit when you choose your spouse. They're the unavoidable human baggage attached to the person you love. It's a relationship that can be traumatic, harrowing, maddening, and hilarious-sometimes all at once. In I Married My Mother-in-law and Other Tales of In-laws We Can't Live With-and Can't Live Without, Ilena Silverman brings together seventeen writers who plumb their individual in-law experiences for extraordinary and unexpected wisdom about this uninvited and intense relationship. We hear from a variety of writers, including Michael Chabon, who writes movingly about what he learned from his ex-wife's father; Kathryn Harrison, whose relationship with her father-in-law was more rewarding and less complicated than the one she had with her own father; Martha McPhee, who explores the role that money plays in the in-law dynamic; Susan Straight, who recounts her experience as the first white woman who married into her husband's African-American family; and Ayelet Waldman, who ponders the competition between wives and mothers for the attention of their husbands/sons. By turns blunt and poignant, horrifying and touching, these essays are small mirrors that reflect some of the myriad aspects of this bewildering and complex relationship. Remarkable for both the quality of its prose and the scope of its emotional insight, I Married My Mother-in-lawis an unforgettable anthology about an inescapable family relationship. Contributors: Matt Bai Amy Bloom Michael Chabon Ta-Nehisi Coates Anthony Giardina Jonathan Goldstein Colin Harrison Kathryn Harrison Barbara Jones Tom Junod Karen Karbo Martha McPhee Peter Richmond Dani Shapiro Darcey Steinke Susan Straight Ayelet Waldman

Author Biography

Ilena Silverman is a story editor at The New York Times Magazine. She worked previously at GQ and Harper's magazines and is the co-editor of What Counts: The Complete Harper's Index.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
Ilena Silverman	1	(8)
I Married My Mother-in-law
Peter Richmond	9	(20)
Dividing the Man from His Mother
Ayelet Waldman	29	(14)
Longing for In-laws
Martha McPhee	43	(16)
Dead, Thank God
Amy Bloom	59	(6)
Her Father Under My Skin
Jonathan Goldstein	65	(16)
The Family Without Stories
Matt Bai	81	(16)
My Father-in-law, Briefly
Michael Chabon	97	(10)
The Deal with Nana
Colin Harrison	107	(26)
A Family You Can't Divorce
Susan Straight	133	(16)
My So-Called Jewish Life
Anthony Giardina	149	(20)
My Mother's Four Rules of Family Life
Mani Shapiro	169	(16)
Hot Head
Darcey Steinke	185	(14)
Keeping Vigil
Kathryn Harrison	199	(26)
The Fraternal Order of Unmarried Dads
Ta-Nehisi Coates	225	(14)
My In-laws Made Me Do It
Sarah Jenkins	239	(16)
Rough Dad, Redeployed
Barbara Jones	255	(16)
Keep It Simple, Stupid
Tom Junod	271	(34)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	305	(2)
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS	307