- momoir
- n.A memoir about motherhood. [Mom + memoir.]—momoirist n.Example Citations:In May, she came out with "Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace," a new bestselling book from Doubleday that extolls the virtues — with all its conflicts — of modern motherhood as an exercise in laxity....She isn't alone. Waldman's book is one of a new batch of "momoirs" hitting the shelves, written by Jewish women who cop to being a certain kind of "bad mother."—Debra Nussbaum Cohen, " The Jewish Mother, Revisited: http://www.forward.com/articles/110378/," Forward, July 31, 2009His life is tied so tightly to his work that it's impossible to consider one without the other. His eight books include award-winning memoirs of his mother ("Looking After") and his father ("Rogue River Journal"), which he calls his "momoir" and "popoir."—Ann Robinson, " Northwest writers at work: John Daniel: http://blog.oregonlive.com/books/2009/04/northwest_writers_at_work_john.html," The Sunday Oregonian, April 19, 2009Earliest Citation:We, on the other hand, are more interested in reading about the experience of parenthood. As a result, a whole new genre of nonfiction parenting literature — sometimes called "momoirs" — has erupted in the past seven or eight years, led by the confessional essays of Gen X writers like Spike Gillespie...and Ariel Gore....(Full disclosure: My agent is currently shopping my own momoir around to publishers. But mine is different from all the others, really.)—Katie Allison Granju, " Navel-gazing their way through parenthood: http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2003/10/21/genx_parents," Salon.com, October 21, 2003Notes:Be sure to note the neologism popoir in the second example citation which, of course, refers to a memoir about fatherhood. Also, there's a more recent sense of the term momoir that refers to a memoir that focuses on the writer's mother:[W]e chatted with actor Bryan Batt about his experience working on the show. Batt is also the author of "momoir" She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother.—Bobby Hankinson, " 10 Questions with Mad Men's Sal Romano: http://blogs.chron.com/tubular/archives/2010/07/post_154.html," The Houston Chronicle, July 25, 2010Related Words:momoirCategories:I'd like to see you add the term "tiger mother" as related to this one.You must have read my mind! I've been researching the phrase "tiger mother" and should post it to the site early next week.
New words. 2013.
