The Big Rumpus: A Mother's Tale from the Trenches

Twenty years ago a woman named Erma Bombeck brought the suburban family out of the closet—dust bunnies and all. Her honest, hilarious accounts of family life, where the “grass is always greener over the septic tank,” became more than mere books; they became a philosophy. Ayun Halliday is a new generations urban Bombeck. Creator of the wildly popular parenting zine The East Village Inky, Hallidays words and line drawings describe the quirks and everyday travails of a young urban family, warts and all. Honest in her parenting foibles and fixed in her opinions on public breast-feeding and the perfect Halloween costume, Hallidays wry observations on daily life validate the complex, absurd wondrousness that is the life of the unpaid caregiver. Reflecting on her daughters third thumb, declawing the cat, and debating her sons circumcision, she writes: “My family has a highly complex relationship to amputation.” On appropriate knowledge for children: “All Inky wants to talk about is the murder of John Lennon. I think its my fault.” On lice: “Head lice were outed on the childrens program Arthur this year in an effort to de-stigmatize the problem. I guess Im glad that lice have hit the mainstream, though whats next for Arthur and his pals? Heroin addiction?” On family holidays: “Danged if it isnt true—you really cannot recreate the Christmases of your childhood. I cant even recreate the Christmases of my teens.” It is in the details that The Big Rumpus will delight. Halliday manages to capture a voice that so many of todays parents hear in their own heads, in a way that is absolutely unique yet familiar. The Big Rumpus marks the debut of a major new talent who has formulated a whole new set of “operating instructions” for todays families.