She
has a great job and an even greater sense of humor. In Laura
Zigman's follow-up to her hilarious ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, the material
of love between the sexes and the outcome of this love is examined
by way of babies. When Ellen Franck, the 35-year-old P. R. rep for
a well-known clothing designer, meets her niece, "the Pickle," for
the first time, she realizes that the only thing lacking in her
life is a "pickle" of her own. And off she goes, into the strange
and awesome territory of motherhood.Single girls wanting babies is all the rage in American pop
culture now. Thanks to unwed mothers like Madonna, adoptive moms
like Rosie O'Donnell, or wannabe moms like everybody I seem to
know, maternity doesn't have to go hand in hand with marriage. But,
if you want the baby, you must find the sperm to make one, and that
sets Ellen off on an interesting journey that leads to her almost
DATING BIG BIRD.Within the first 50 pages, we meet Ellen's sister and the
Pickle and her dad; and Ellen's every word, her every heartfelt
outpouring of love brings tears to our eyes. The whole idea of Big
Bird as the perfect dad --- warm, friendly, great with kids --- is
great, very original. Ellen is clearly ready to be a mom in some
respects, sharing quiet moments with her niece, showing a
willingness to understand every feeling the little girl could have
that the child can barely articulate herself. However, when it
comes to the part about the man, Ellen is in love with a troubled
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose life unraveled when his
young son died of leukemia at the age of seven. His marriage
crumbled soon after, then his career, and he has declared that he
will never have children again. The complications of loving someone
who doesn't see in his life something that you see so clearly in
yours leads Ellen to make some tough decisions. Her journey from
sperm donor ads to Mommy groups is heart wrenching and
true-to-life.Zigman's first book, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, mined the general
goings-on of young urban professionals as they hesitantly made
their way through the complex machinery of love and sex and
relationships. DATING BIG BIRD takes the process a step forward.
And now that Zigman in real life is expecting a child with a
longtime boyfriend, it is my hope that her next book takes the
process even further. As a young married professional with hopes of
children in the near future, I found that DATING BIG BIRD had me
tearing up at the same time I laughed along with Ellen's exploits.
Zigman's ability to combine the complicated emotions and situations
that come from loving another person, regardless of whether it's a
lover, friend, or a precious, precious niece, makes DATING BIG BIRD
a hilariously human and touching work.