Summary of Penny Marshall's My Mother Was Nuts

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I have never wanted to grow up and stop playing. I have never wanted to stop playing outside with my friends, and I have never wanted to stop playing with my iPad. I have always tried to maintain a connection to the sense of play that I remember from my childhood.

#2 My mother, Rosalie, was married to my father, Anthony Tony Masciarelli, in 1932. They had a small house in Pelham, just north of the Bronx, with my mother’s parents, who helped with the payments. My father worked as an art director, and my mother taught dance in New Rochelle at the Arcaro Dance School.

#3 My mother, who was very afraid of fires, was deathly afraid of pregnancy, and she and my father had to move out of their apartment in the Bronx. They moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, and my mother started her own dance school.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822527713

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I have never wanted to grow up and stop playing. I have never wanted to stop playing outside with my friends, and I have never wanted to stop playing with my iPad. I have always tried to maintain a connection to the sense of play that I remember from my childhood.

#2

My mother, Rosalie, was married to my father, Anthony Tony Masciarelli, in 1932. They had a small house in Pelham, just north of the Bronx, with my mother’s parents, who helped with the payments. My father worked as an art director, and my mother taught dance in New Rochelle at the Arcaro Dance School.

#3

My mother, who was very afraid of fires, was deathly afraid of pregnancy, and she and my father had to move out of their apartment in the Bronx. They moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, and my mother started her own dance school.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

I was born on October 15, 1943, in St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York. My mother, who was a fan of Carole Lombard, named me Carole. From then on, I started the first day of each school year with a note from my mother saying not to call me Carole.

#2

I had a soft side for my grandmother, who was blind. I loved playing with my doll, Nancy, and I would spend hours hiding in her closet. My mother’s ermine coat was hanging in the back of the closet, and I would suck my thumb as I rubbed my face against the soft fur.

#3

My parents were in the other bedroom. They had separate beds, of course, separate dressers, and separate everything. My father kept all of our school drawings and family photographs neatly organized and filed in a locked cabinet near his bed. I guess he was sentimental. My mother wasn’t.

Insights from Chapter 3

#1

I was constantly being watched by my grandmother, who was the building’s witch lady. I would play outside with my friends, but I had to be careful because my grandmother could hear us and would call the super if we were noisy.

#2

I barely knew my brother and sister, who were nine and six years older than me, respectively. I rarely