Book Review and Giveaway: Mumentous by Amy J. Schultz

5 September 2023 by Melissa

About the book, Mumentous
(Original Photos and Mostly-True Stories about Football, Glue Guns, Moms, and a Supersized High School Tradition That Was Born Deep in the Heart of Texas)

Genre: Nonfiction / Photo-Driven Memoir / Women’s History / Pop Culture / Texana
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Page Count: 178 pages
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
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The closest you’ll ever get to seeing someone actually wear their heart on their sleeve is in Texas, every fall, at the local high school homecoming game.

They’re called homecoming mums. They are as bodacious as football, as irresistible as a juicy rumor, and as deep as a momma’s love. Over a hundred years ago when the custom began, mum was short for chrysanthemum, a typical corsage that boys gave to girls before taking them to the big football game. But through the decades, mum went from a simple abbreviation to a complicated shorthand for an eye-popping tradition that’s as ingrained in the culture as it is confounding to outsiders.

Through her original photography and collection of stories from across and beyond the Lone Star State, Amy J. Schultz takes us deep in the heart of mum country. You’ll meet kids who wear them, parents who buy them, and critics who decry them as just another example of consumerism gone wild. But mostly, you’ll discover that just like every ritual which stands the test of time, someone is keeping the tradition alive. Someone like Mom.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon │ Powell’s Books │ Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble │ Target | Goodreads

About the author, Amy J. Schultz

Amy J. Schultz is an author and award-winning photographer who explores unique aspects of modern culture that hide in plain sight. When she isn’t talking about homecoming mums, Amy is writing, taking photos, working on other creative projects, traveling, snort-laughing, or vacuuming up dog fur.

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My Thoughts

I’m not a parent and I didn’t attend high school in Texas, so I’m very much not in the target audience for Amy J. Schultz’s new photo-memoir Mumentous, and yet, reading it I found myself laughing, crying, and finding new appreciation for my own mother, who never had to help me make anything like a homecoming mum, but sewed costumes for plays and Halloween, showed up with cupcakes whenever I had a school function that required them, chaperoned our orchestra tours, and drove me (and my friends) to numerous lessons, rehearsals, and other activities during my adolescence, all while working full-time.

But I digress.

In this book, author Schultz is celebrating the Texas tradition of homecoming mums, and while chrysanthemums are commonly used in homecoming mums throughout the country, everything really is bigger in Texas, and they’ve gone way – WAY – beyond simple floral corsages. But it isn’t the actual mums that’s the most fascinating part of this book. Rather it’s the glimpses into young love, awkward first relationships, family traditions, school traditions, and the power of mothers to pull off seemingly impossible tasks with poise, graciousness, and no small amount of glitter that really make this collection of photos and stories sing.

One thing that stood out for me was the idea that these homecoming mums are exchanges between the two young people attending the game – and the dance afterward – together. One partner, usually a girl, receives a homecoming mum corsage (and that is a very loose term for an ornament that can have the same diameter as a pizza) while the other, typically a boy, receives a decorated garter to wear on their sleeve. It’s the exchange part that really moved me. On one level, it’s a competition to see who can be the most creative, but on the other, it’s instilling a sense of etiquette and fairness in young people in a very practical way.

Another theme I appreciated was the author’s description of crafting parties as bonding sessions. Imagine groups of girls getting together to decorate those garters for their escorts, or decorating corsages for each other for said escorts to present. In a world where girls and young women are set up to compete with each other, I liked that this tradition was subtly infusing these Texas teenagers with a sense of sisterhood.

Perhaps the anecdote that reaches “peak Texas” is the chapter titled “Guns for Mums,” which relates an exchange of a different sort (no, no one was wounded in the writing of this book). I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s funny, heartwarming, and so incredibly specific to Texas that I both laughed and shook my head while reading it.

Overall, this is a fantastic collection of memories, anecdotes, and shared traditions, with tons of photos to really help the reader understand what homecoming mums really are, and how homecoming moms so often save the day. It’s the kind of book you can read in spurts, but at only 178 pages, it’s easy enough to zip through the whole thing very quickly.

I hope the author continues to write. Her style is breezy and accessible, and I thoroughly enjoyed this trip down -er – Mumery Lane.

Goes well with: either pizza and Shiner Bock or quiche and mimosas. You pick.

Giveaway

TWO WINNERS:

First Prize: signed hardback copy + enamel pin; Second Prize: eBook + enamel pin

(US only; ends midnight, CST, 9/8/23)

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Book Spotlight with Guest Post and Giveaway: “So Sorry for Your Loss” by Dina Gachman

2 May 2023 by Melissa

About the book, “So Sorry for Your Loss”

Cover: “So Sorry for Your Loss”

Genre: Grief & Bereavement / Love & Loss / Parenting & Relationships
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Page Count: 240 pages
Publication Date: April 11, 2023
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A heartfelt exploration about what it means to process grief, by a bestselling author and journalist whose experience with two devastating losses inspired her to bring comfort and understanding to others.

Since losing her mother to cancer in 2018 and her sister to alcoholism less than three years later, author and journalist Dina Gachman has dedicated herself to understanding what it means to grieve, healing after loss, and the ways we stay connected to those we miss. Through a mix of personal storytelling, reporting, and insight from experts and even moments of humor, Gachman gives readers a fresh take on grief and bereavement—whether the loss is a family member, beloved pet, or a romantic relationship. No one wants to join the grief club, since membership comes with zero perks, but So Sorry for Your Loss will make that initiation just a little less painful.

In the spirit of Elizabeth Kubler Ross books like On Grief and Grieving, or C.S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed, So Sorry for Your Loss is the perfect gift for someone who is grieving. With her blend of personal experiences, expert advice, and just a little bit of humor, Gachman has provided a compassionate and compelling resource for anyone looking for grief books.

Praise for this book:

“Gachman perceptively puts words to the uncomfortable realities of loss…and deconstructs its social myths, helping readers feel less alone. Those facing loss will find solace here.” —Publishers Weekly
“So Sorry for Your Loss is a monument to the work of remembering and a testament to the immutable love of family and the grief that forever changes us.” —Lauren Hough, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing
“So Sorry for Your Loss is a meditation on loss that reminds us how to go on living.” —Deirdre Fagan, author of Find a Place for Me and The Grief Eaters

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Goodreads

About the author, Dina Gachman

Author Photo Gachman credit Jessica Comiskey

Dina Gachman

Dina Gachman is a Pulitzer Center Grantee and a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Vox, Texas Monthly, and more. She’s a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, and the author of Brokenomics: 50 Ways to Live the Dream on a Dime. She lives near Austin, Texas, with her husband and son. Photo credit Jessica Comiskey.

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Interview with author Dina Gachman

What was the hardest part of writing “So Sorry for Your Loss”?

Since it’s a book about grief, I guess I can honestly say—everything. Intentionally going deeper into my own pain over losing my mom and sister Jackie, day after day, was tough. There were plenty of ugly cries at my desk over the course of eight months. I also interviewed so many people about their personal losses for the book, whether it was losing a parent, a child, a pet. They were so vulnerable and lovely, and hearing their stories was healing, but also emotional of course. There were plenty of weeks where I would get to Friday and think, “I am done with grief for the week. Time to zone out and watch Iron Chef.”

Do you have any research rabbit-hole stories?

I love a good research rabbit hole. I have no clue why or how I found it, but I discovered this old tradition and superstition called “telling the bees” where people would have to tell a bee hive that someone had died. If they didn’t, more death would occur or bad luck would come. There are paintings and poems about this tradition, and I found it so odd but also beautiful. When Queen Elizabeth II died, I read that this tradition was still happening, which surprised me. If I had a beehive, I would probably keep that tradition alive.

Do you have any writing pet peeves?

Using too many exclamation marks, which is something I used to do. They can work occasionally, but I try to go back and strip as many of them away as I can when I’m revising my work. It’s a cheap way to get a response or a laugh. One thing I learned from an editor on a book I was ghostwriting was that I was relying on too many parentheses, so I try to strip those away too. Besides that, don’t try too hard. Being subtle is an art, and Joan Didion was the queen of that skill.

What projects are you working on now?

I’m ghostwriting two new books and always pitching and writing stories. I wrote a story I am thrilled about for a magazine called Mother Tongue which is my first attempt at any sort of investigative journalism, and I loved it. I’m hooked. It’s about uncovering the truth about my great aunt, who committed arson in Fort Worth in the 1940s because her husband was abusive. It’s a wild ride. I’m also brainstorming my third book idea, which relates to the story about my great aunt.