You're going on a journey to a strange new country where you will look different, act different, even feel different. It's like you're becoming a whole new person, and that person is your mother. Your new homeland is middle age, and you need a native guide to teach you how to survive here, or at least to show you where the good bars are.

Written for every woman who knows that turning 40 is no reason to become respectable, Kissing the Crisis is the field guide you need to blaze your own unconventional trail through the jungle of middle age. Humorist Kara Martinez Bachman reports from the front lines of the battle to stay awake after 9 p.m., and her adventures will make you scream with laughter, cringe with embarrassment, and vow to tackle your own midlife crisis with a can-do attitude and a tasty cocktail.

Whether she's searching for a child-friendly bar for a parents' drinking session, starting the world's best ukelele/harp gothic rock band, coping with a baby cursing like a sailor in the grocery store, or conquering her fear of a terrifying death during Hurricane Katrina, Bachman shows that life doesn't end at 40 ... it just gets weirder.