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May 04, 2009

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Comments

Felicia

What about "Bastard Out of Carolina"?

Mary

What about "Sybil" which is based on a true story.
And "Mommy Dearest" I don't think either one of them were up for "Mother of the Year" award.

Roberta King

Thanks for the list with your interesting commentary. I want to read the ones I haven't from this list now. Cheers! :)

Yam Erez

How about Marylin Monroe's mom? Isn't there a book about her? Also, how about Joan Crawford as portrayed in Mommy Dearest?

Queenoid

Rather than Vivi from the Ya Ya Sisterhood, check her out in Little Altars Everywhere. That's what she was furious about in the Ya Ya Sisterhood. Drunk, abusive, with some hints of incest. Yipes!

Inconstant Reader

If you don't mind genre fiction, there's a terrible, horrible mother in Tanith Lee's "The Silver Metal Lover." Long time since I've read it, so I can't recall her name, but it's no wonder her daughter falls in love with a robot.

Nefret Gee

Vivi basically a good mother? Read "Little Altars Everywhere" - the original Vivi story. The character is a child-abusing, child-molesting, child-abandoning, combative alcoholic with a "borderline personality" mental illness. I couldn't stand the way "Ya Ya Sisterhood" made excuses for this pathetic mother.

worldwidetiara

Oh, I have to agree with MarMar - Ingrid Magnussen from White Oleander. And as chilling as she was to read about, I have to admit that Michelle Pfeiffer's movie performance was darn good - she is not my favorite actress. I loved the line where she was criticising the daughter's "goth look" and her daughter came right back with "This is the cost of being your daughter, Mother - looking and feeling like this..." Great, great terrible mother....! Fabulous survivor of a daughter!

Peggy Larvey

I want to take exception to your use of the word "psychotic" to describe a couple of these mothers. While it may be that in the author's mind, these people are mentally ill, that is not stated and psycotic does not describe what these characters are doing to their children. I want your readers to understand that psychosis is a condition most often seen in people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and includes hearing voices, delusions, hallucinations, extreme anxiety, paranoia. People experiencing psychosis are not evil or even capable of the kind of hateful behavior that these wicked characters exhibit. In fact, people who are mentally ill deserve all the kindness in the world because they are in a living hell, not able to trust the interpretations of reality that their own minds produce. Psychotic does not equal hateful meaness.

Lucy

Sybil anyone? Now that's quite a read.

K

How about Sybil's mother? No wonder the poor girl developed multiple personalities! The scariest part is that it's based on a true story.

charles horton

What about Mama on the Waterboy? She was pretty bad until she came around.

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