Humorous, ribald, powerful, and filled with wisdom, anecdotes, and shared affrmations, this collection of voices -- single and working moms, moms creating extended families, a mom with a special-needs child, moms trying to balance their needs against those of their children -- celebrates the quiet heroism of mothers. Inspired by Margaret Dragu's radio program, Mothers Talk Back features fifteen true accounts of mothering -- not the baby-blue-and-pink, sanitized nursery rhyme presented in the popular media, but explorations of the enormous (and underacknowledged) transformation that motherhood brings to a woman's sense of self, her mate, her body, and her connection to mothers throughout history.