How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids

Dunn (coauthor of Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir) proves herself a clever, honest, and hilarious writer who isn’t afraid to take her own marriage on a great experiment. Few writers would be courageous enough to lay bare such uncomfortable truths as her verbal abuse of her husband in response to his selfishness and how it may be threatening the normal development of their daughter. This book-length intervention tackles the whole spectrum of marital stressors, including dishwasher disagreement, financial infidelity, and weekend activity management. Dunn talks to experts in their fields, including $800-per-hour family therapist Terry Real, sociologist Michael Kimmel, and marriage researchers John and Julie Gottman. Her warm and funny prose will restore hope for moms—and dads—everywhere, as when she writes, “I’ve made myself reach for his hand when a fight is looming—even if I’m so irritated that I’d rather pick up a live rodent... the familiar contours of his hand remind me that this is the person I married, not the bogeyman.” Her book should become a baby shower classic. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM. (Mar.)