Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I got this book as a Mother's day present and finished it in two days. That is no small feat considering I have two kids under 2.5. I could relate to so much of it! There were moments when I laughed so hard I woke the sleeping baby on my lap. By the end of the book I was in tears. This is definitely a must-read for every mom. Ayun Halliday is incredibly articulate and honest in sharing her observations and experiences of motherhood.
Rating:
Summary: Funny & True
Review: I read this book right after giving birth to my first child and it was SO GREAT to have Ayun's voice telling the truth and making it funny. Her children are great characters, her drawings are hilarious, and I'd recommend this book to anyone who has a family.
Rating: 
Summary: OK... not what I expected.
Review: I thought this book would be more along the lines of the "Girlfriend guides", by Vicki Iovine, but basically it was one mothers story of having and raising her two children. This author seems likable enough, but I just didn't really relate. She seemed more bohemian than my friends and I. And being a "suburbanite", I also couldn't really relate to her way of life in the city. If you're an artsy type, and live and work in the arts, then you'd probably find this book more interesting. Ayun Halliday also writes in kind of a disjointed sort of way, alot like a run-on sentence. This made it hard for me to follow at times. Overall, this book was amusing enough, but definately not a great read for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, this tome!
Review: It is rare that a book so squarely centered in the personal is written without contrivance, egomania or grandstanding. Ms. Halliday writes a book here that is honest and welcoming, inclusive and generous, written with clarity and precision. I, for one (my husband for two), am honored she would bring forth such a treasure.I don't find the comparison to Bombeck accurate, as Halliday doesn't have the same raucous energy on the page. She has a lyrical style and grace in her documentation that evokes Neruda, Cade Bambara, Wright, de Beauvoir or Joyce. This is an exceptional work for anyone who loves to read, and most expecially mothers -- of any parenting philosophy. Three unreserved thumbs up!
Rating:
Summary: Hoorah for Ms. Halliday! Tell it like it is, girl.
Review: It's so great to see women authors opening the Pandora box that is motherhood, and breaking the silence. The Big Rumpus is a quick, light read that illuminates the travails of motherhood with uncommon wit and candor. The Zygote Chronicles, by Suzanne Finnamore, is another must-read in this genre -- not as fluffy and sweet, but just as hilarious and startlingly poignant as well. I also, of course, liked Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott -- the gold standard.
Rating:
Summary: Telling it like it is!
Review: Kudos to Ayun Halliday for writing a book 'from the trenches' of motherhood! Our culture is filled with messages about parenting and mothering that are, quite frankly, way off the mark. "The Big Rumpus" is a fun, funny, creative and well written book. Beyond that, its a way for us mothers to unite in our struggle to blast stereotypes and get down to the business of reality. The stories and anecdotes from the book are as funny as they are insightful. They serve to remind us that we don't need to feel isolated as mothers. We all feel frustrated and bored with our jobs as parents at some time or another even though we love our children more than anything! I highly recommend this book to mothers and fathers, and anyone who is thinking of becoming a mother or a father in the future.
Rating:
Summary: I want more RUMPUS!
Review: Okay, I've read something like 20 books about parenting but I related to none of them. They all embraced scrapbooking, stenciling, etc. and I thought 'Who does this?' Then I read The Big Rumpus, a refreshing look at life from a real mother's perspective. Halliday is an intelligent woman who does endless mom tasks, struggles with philosophies of motherhood, and (YAY) nurses her babes while figuring out how to get around NYC. She says things that I've thought but never dared say - (Sigh) I'm not alone! If you are a mom, want to be a mom, care for children, or want to read about a cool woman's adventures in the big city, read this book. If you nurse, have an intact son, co-sleep, wear your baby, and/or know how to laugh at yourself, buy this book. If you are 30-something and want to remember high school, read this book. If you love or hate the holidays, read this book. Heck, I think anyone will find this book touching, funny and just plain entertaining. Buy this book, you'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Hip Mom from the village
Review: People have been reproducing since the beginning of time. They've been writing about it since the beginning of the written word. What Ayun Holliday offers us is the point of view of a hip mom from the East Villlage who has a sense of humor about herself.Moms don't get labeled "hip" very often. Hipsters don't often have such a great sense of humor about themselves. So here she is, offering us all this and more, awash in New York color which I aways love.Even her writng style has the feel of a mom with too many things going on at once. At the same time it has touch of Anatole Broyard, pointing out that artists weren't necessarily born in the Village - they just often end up there.
Rating:
Summary: Hip Mama x 2
Review: Rumpus: uproar, chaos, fracas, bedlam...see parenthood. What Ariel Gore does for the single young mother on welfare in The Mother Trip, Ayun Halliday does for the older mother of young children in an urban setting. The message from the trenches is loud and clear: we may not be June Cleaver, but we love our messy imps. Ayun Halliday writes with humor and love of her husband Greg and two children, Inky and Milo. Their day-to-day adventures stomping through the streets of the Big Apple make hilarious and heart-tugging reading. Halliday is particularly gifted at capturing the wisdom of her preschool-aged daughter who says things like "Daddy smells bad" as the Dad in question is puking his guts out while Halliday is going into labor with her second child. Birth and nursing stories aside, Halliday writes from the perspective of someone who has landed on a strange planet and is determined to make the best of it. In other words, she gives voice to the kind of mother I find myself being, which makes her work almost impossible to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: Somebody published a book about my fifth wife's overgrown buttocks. Simply amazing and surprisingly good reading. HHD.
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