Knocked Up

February 21, 2005
Canadian journalist Eckler was a young hipster covering club openings, trends and the minutiae of yuppie life for a newspaper when a "whoopsie" moment after her engagement party (later dubbed the Conception Party) left her pregnant. The 29-year-old author and her fiancé, who lived far away and whom she planned to marry and move in with at some point, were initially shocked but later accepting. This wasn't exactly in Eckler's plan (though what was
in the plan isn't quite clear, either). She becomes cautiously excited about her vague perception of parenthood, but repeatedly horrified by what pregnancy brings: weight gain, a ban on alcohol, stretch marks. Eckler writes, diary-like, about each of these revelations as well as more than anyone would want to know about both her weight and her daily trips to McDonald's. Eventually, she and her fiancé move in together and seem genuinely excited about the baby's arrival, which may comfort readers unimpressed with some of Eckler's other decisions (she doesn't completely stop smoking; she schedules a C-section for nonmedical reasons). Sometimes this mommy memoir feels like a humorous crash course in maturity, though at other points the author's attitude comes dangerously close to that of one who has a baby as a chic accessory. Agent, Denise Bukowski.

May 1, 2005
This is the type of book that Bridget Jones would write if she suddenly discovered that Mark Darcy had gotten her pregnant. Whether it succeeds wholly depends on the reader's tolerance for self-absorbed neurosis as occasion for humor. At 29, Eckler, a columnist for Canada's "National Post", and her fiancé unexpectedly conceived their daughter, Rowan, and this diary-style memoir details the author's thoughts and feelings as she changes from boozing, big-city scribe to mother of an infant. While she fortunately avoids the usual cliché s of discovering the "real" meaning of life, her aforementioned self-absorption can be tedious rather than hilarious. This could hit the mark among twenty- and thirtysomething mothers; for larger memoir collections in urban areas.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2005
When journalist Eckler--Canada's answer to " Sex and the City" author Candace Bushnell--became pregnant on the night of her engagement party, she decided to chronicle the travails of pregnancy as experienced by the Cosmo-drinking crowd. Eckler woke up the morning after the party and simply " knew" she was pregnant (despite the fact that her symptoms fit both pregnancy and a hangover). Since she wasn't living in the same city as her fiance, Eckler was able to experience pregnancy as a quasi-single mom-to-be. " Knocked Up "is a fast, light read that will either entertain or infuriate readers interested in pregnancy and child rearing. Those who see a bit of themselves in Eckler will identify with her maverick stance, but those who take issue with smoking and drinking during pregnancy (she cuts down but doesn't quit) and elective C-section (she didn't want to go through labor) won't be charitable. Straddling the two camps will be the ambivalent few who feel they should be infuriated but can't help secretly admiring Eckler for admitting that she continued to smoke and drink.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)