Motherhood is something the majority of women will experience, yet until fairly recently, this complex, transformative state of being has been idealized, disparaged or ignored altogether in contemporary literature.

Funny, feminist writers such as Ayun Halliday ("The Big Rumpus"), Ariel Gore ("The Mother Trip") and Catherine Newman ("Waiting for Birdy") have begun filling this yawning gap. And Chaison, an admitted fan of the aforementioned authors, fits comfortably in their ranks.

After a somewhat wine-soaked discussion with friends about how the mothering experience has flown under the literary radar, Chaison decides to write her personal stories of motherhood as a re-visioning of scholar Joseph Campbell's description of the archetypical hero's journey.

The book is written in the style of a medieval illuminated manuscript with graphic novel-like illustrations in the sidebars of each page. There are frequent footnotes that refer both to the text and the comics. At first, this rather manic presentation was pretty confusing, especially combined with a long exposition, but I hung in there and, like Campbell's hero, was greatly rewarded.

Chaison's point that motherhood is as epic a journey as any Odysseus ever took is well made, but her stories really stood on their own without her attempt to impose Campbell's narrative structure.

Like a good hero tale, her individual story is, in many ways, every mother's story. Who among us, for example, hasn't mentally judged another's parenting choices only to be handed a heavy dose of comeuppance when we find ourselves in a similar situation with our own children? Chaison's payback comes in the form of a gruesome Halloween mask and a moment of weakness at the local drugstore.

Chaison's account of parenting -- her attempts at "courting" potential mommy friends, manufacturing a Norman Rockwell-esque holiday scene, being the disposer of all things gross and/or dead -- is comic, touching and decidedly nonsugarcoated. Yet, even after a day full of meltdowns (the kids) and barely held tempers (Mom), Chaison illuminates the simple truth: The journey is its own reward.