“Hilariously biting.”

“Burns’s prose is terrifically engaging and unfailingly humorous ...This is a book that shows the reader what family really means.”

“Burns’ vignettes are wry and touchingly authentic.”

“...complex, loving portrayal of the most important relationship in a woman’s life”

“A deeply honest and ultimately tender book.”

“It Hit Me Like a Ton of Bricks is written with such disarming honesty that it would be uncomfortably unsettling if it weren’t tempered by equal doses of stunning wit. The story sneaks up on you and grabs you, and before you know it, it’s tomorrow morning. Burns can flat-out write, and she does it with her eyes wide open, foot flat on the pedal, and all the windows down—it’s an exhilerating read. I couldn’t find a word out of place.”

“Any reader, male or female, who has ever had a mother will be moved and vindicated by Catherine Burns. Her book is simultaneously funny, poignant, fractious, and beautifully observed, with a finely calibrated sympathy thoughout. Burns is an indelible literary presence.”

“Nicely mingling wit and wisdom, television actress Burns crafts a memoir about being a daughter, becoming a mother and coming to terms with the gap between what you want and what you get.”