Adam Chester

Adam was raised by a single mom who, like many moms, kept her eyes on him at all times. Finally a high school graduate and a freshman at University of Southern California (USC), Adam is breaking the apron strings and moving 2700 miles away from his loving mother. During his years at USC and ever since, Adam has received postcards, letters, and notes from his mother all by snail mail. For whatever reason, Adam kept all those mailings in a box, some unopened, until the day he decided to put them to good use and wrote this book.

Most of these letters are funny, some funny as hell. Adam’s mother tries hard to keep more than a modicum of control over Adam’s life through missives of warnings (“Please do not eat sushi!”), to-do’s (“ . . . go buy a new tire . . .”), and specific career advice (“You could send Clive Davis . . . a sample of your music?”), along with an occasional Hanukah Gelt (money). Adam receives admonitions because he does not write enough, call enough, or think of Mom enough. He learns about the dating habits of the previous generation – sometimes in unwarranted detail. Sometimes there is just a quarter, a newspaper clipping, or flight insurance information (“Enclosed find this insurance document in case my plane crashes.”)

From Adam’s first year at USC (“I don’t understand why your music professor is giving you a hard time. Do you want me to talk to him?”), to worries over his mother-in-law (“She’s a little nutty herself!”), S’Mother will delight and tickle. This is technically an adult title but any teen moving away for the first time, be it college or a new job, will gain insight into the blight of a suddenly childless mother. Why does mom ask so many questions? Why does she call every Friday when I’m getting ready for a date? Why did she send money, I have a job? S’Mother may be the book to explain the “why” better than any other book. Adam’s mother is definitely in the extreme, yet all parents and especially mothers, hold on forever.

Between each letter or postcard Adam tried to explain or understand his mother and sometimes, himself. The funniest section is the aftermath of Adam breaking his hip in an automobile crash. Mom travels across country to take care of him, like most any mother would. Difference? Adam’s mom moves into his shared dorm room at USC. When mom was not nursing her son, cooking for the other guys, or making sure they got off to school each morning, she went on dates. Once Adam got back on his feet and into his classes, mom stuck around. It wasn’t until the Christmas break that Adam could get her back home to Miami – he accompanied her, of course. Freshman year can be a difficult transition in itself, add mom to the mix and . . . well, Adam survived by virtue of the pain medication he needed.

This truly delightful book will keep you in stitches, even if you are a mom with a child in college. It is sweet, irreverent at times, and full of love from both mother and son. I highly recommend this title. S’Mother is a one-of-a-kind, just like Adam’s mom.

Side note: Who is Adam Chester? He is a singer-songwriter who sits in for Sir Elton John during rehearsals and concert warm-ups. He is a composer and a piano man. Most importantly, he is a husband and the father of two boys, who he tries to shelter from grandma.

Note: received from netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, Abrams Books… (meer)

When Adam Chester left his mother in Florida to attend the University of Southern California, he intended to leave all traces of his mother behind. He would finally be free of the woman who’d bring his forgotten sweater to him while he was still changing in the boys’ locker room. But Joan Chester would not be left behind. Not while her son needed her protection. And so she began to send him letters. Lots of letters. And Adam kept every one. Now he gets to exact his embarrassment revenge in the appropriately titled S’Mother: The Story of a Man, His Mom, and the Thousands of Altogether Insane Letters She’s Mailed Him, a collection of the best Joan Chester letters he received.

Joan Chester did not send run-of-the-mill “How’s college? Miss you lots!” letters. These missives were filled with such sage advice as “[I]f you buy U.S. Savings Bonds, you have to keep them in a safe deposit box at the bank so no one can steal them” and “Have a good time next weekend and take your stomach medication with you in case you eat onions again.” Valuable life lessons. But this correspondence was not all fun and games for Joan. She repeatedly reminds Adam—as she’s “getting on in years”—where her will and insurance policies are located if he should ever need to find them.

The letters continue throughout Adam’s adult life—after graduation, after he meets his wife, after he’s hired as an Elton John stand-in. The short collection highlighted in S’Mother jumps from letter to letter with only the shortest setup or reaction from Adam. While the letters (some complete with reproductions) are highly entertaining, this quick read could have easily fit in more backstory without slowing down the pace.

Chester freely admits that this book was meant to help readers feel better about their own moms, but he has a genuine gift in all this material. For all of her mundane and inane information, Joan has provided her son with a tangible stash of motherly love. In this age of trite texts and tweets, a whole generation is growing up not knowing the joy of opening the mail box to find not only bills and solicitations, but also handwritten letters. That you can keep. Without the fear of losing them if your computer crashes or your phone ends up in the pool. Chester wrote and compiled this book for the entertainment of others, and perhaps to poke a little fun at his mom, but I’d also bet he realizes just how lucky he is.

Joan Chester may not win any Mother of the Year awards, but she can’t be accused of not caring about her son. She practically wrote a book for him. Adam cashed in on this valuable material in S’Mother and so does the reader.

(Thanks to NetGalley and Abrams Image for the advance review copy.)… (meer)

Adam Chester's mom is a little crazy. His dad died when he was young, so he's all she's got. When he went away to college she started writing lots of letters...and he saved them all. This book includes actual copies of the letters and newspaper clippings she's sent him over the years.

When you first start to read her letters, she just seems like a normal overprotective mom with possibly some boundary issues. But the more you read, you realize this woman is over the top. Among other things, she's paranoid. Her main message seems to be "don't trust ANYONE." The letters get even crazier toward the end of the book. Depending on your perspective, you will find the letters funny, sad, scary, or a combination thereof. But also by the end of the book, you get to know Adam and his mom even better, and you realize that even though she seems crazy, she is coming from a place of love.

Recommended for overprotective moms, and children of overprotective moms.

(I received this from NetGalley for review.)… (meer)