海角大神

Ruth Reichl鈥檚 stories of her mother have enriched her memoirs enough that a reporter found it only 鈥渙dd鈥� that 鈥渟he was publishing about her mom on the heels of last year鈥檚 "Not Becoming My Mother.鈥� As the writer soon learned, it was the same book, under the new paperback title 鈥淔or You Mom, Finally.鈥�

The original title from the food writer and former Gourmet editor had been 鈥減erhaps forbidding,鈥� wrote , calling the new name a 鈥淢other鈥檚 Day-friendly moniker.鈥� The president/publisher of Penguin Books told the paper that the change came because 鈥淲e realized that this new title would more effectively reach the intended audience" of mothers and daughters.鈥�

Indeed, when I asked on Twitter if anyone knew the reason for the change, one reader answered that it certainly made it an easier book to recommend to her own mother. (Another joked that the softer approach was classic Jewish-mom guilt from Reichl, a writer who had, after all, once dubbed her mother 鈥淭he Queen of Mold.鈥�) And it鈥檚 a sign of how much Reichl鈥檚 stories resonated with readers that my neighborhood bookseller called it to my attention and asked me, as a fellow fan, why I thought the title had changed. It seemed a significant message.

From Reichl, the explanation was simple. The reported that 鈥渟he never liked the first title, thinking it didn't represent the tone of the book, but the sales and marketing people had insisted on it. She got her way with the paperback edition.

鈥淭he new title captures her feeling that after what she had written about her mother in previous books, she owed her this one: a truer exploration of a brilliant-but-bored woman who felt trapped by family life at the expense of career and personal fulfillment and who was determined that her daughter have anything but that life.鈥�

The new title may well be appropriate, said , and Reichl writes about her mother with affection and compassion.

However, as is so often the case with daughters and mothers, even affection and understanding can鈥檛 simplify a complicated connection.

The gist of the book, said the article, is that 鈥渨hile growing up Reichl saw in (her mother) an unhappy and inert woman, and her negative example inspired Reichl to pursue the life she has today. While the new title may be better at getting the Oprah-watching women鈥檚 book club members into bookstores, those readers may now be in for a surprise once they get home and look inside the pages.鈥�

Rebekah Denn blogs at .

Does Ruth Reichl's memoir about learning from her mother's negative example make a good Mother's Day gift? Join the Monitor's book discussion on and .