An Innocent, a Broad - Hardcover

Leary, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060527234 ISBN 13: 9780060527235

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2004

Synopsis

The wife of actor and comedian Denis Leary recounts her family's five-month stay in England due to the premature birth of their son, a period during which they gratefully received the services of Britain's National Health Service and her husband experienced a huge career break with the BBC.

About this title

Review:

Just 26 weeks into her first pregnancy, Ann Leary's water broke--as she was strolling along London's Oxford Street. An Innocent, A Broad is not so much a drama of her baby's survival as much as it is a chuckle-fest at the expense of both Ann's predicament and of the Brits in general, whose overwrought sense of propriety is mocked non-stop. As the wife of comedian Denis Leary, who was working for the BBC at the time, Anne is forbidden to return to the US and placed on total bed rest; she's pumped full of medication to prevent premature labour. In some of the book's funniest passages, she makes great efforts to prevent her many hospital roommates from discovering she's American, lest they suspect she's freeloading off the National Health Service. (Don't let the bad pun of the book's title put you off; Ann's sense of humour is often as biting and gritty as her husband's).

Despite the doctors' best efforts, baby Jack is born two weeks later, while Denis is back in the US working at comedy clubs (and trying to keep the couple from being evicted from their apartment). Jack is in relatively good shape, but Ann's mental state is at risk as sleep deprivation, anxiety and loneliness get the best of her. Among her postpartum goofs is befriending another woman whose baby is also in intensive care; she mistakes her for a slim, serene Earth Mother instead of the heroin addict she really is. Beware if you think this might seem a perfect gift for a pregnant woman; the belly laughs are constant and likely to cause any expectant woman's water to break. --Erica Jorgensen, Amazon.com

Review:

"Funny, irreverent, witty and wise.compulsively readable." -- Dani Shapiro

"Sharp and funny and snide and soulful. I'd hate her guts except that I want to be her best friend." -- Cynthia Kaplan, author of Why I'm Like This

"Fresh, heartfelt and hilarious...What a broad, what a mom--what a writer. I loved this book."--Michael J. Fox

"Belongs next to David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day and even Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court."--Ben Sherwood, author of The Man Who Ate The 747

"Witty, engaging ...a poignant story with sprinklings of good old American neuroticism."--Elle

"Funny, irreverent, witty and wise...compulsively readable."--Dani Shapiro

"Sharp and funny and snide and soulful... I'd hate her guts except that I want to be her best friend."--Cynthia Kaplan, author of Why I'm Like This

"Uplifting, heart-cheering, and-in the most warm and human way-very, very funny...."--Christina Bartolomeo, author of Cupid and Diana

Witty, engaging ...a poignant story with sprinklings of good old American neuroticism. --Elle"

Fresh, heartfelt and hilarious...What a broad, what a mom--what a writer. I loved this book. --Michael J. Fox"

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0060527234
• ISBN 13: 9780060527235
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 244