Mama Learns to Drive

Learning to drive occasions emotions ranging from reasonable caution to unbridled terror. Learning under the watchful eye of one's spouse is an added challenge; undertaking the task with anxious children in the back seat can only heighten the intensity. Davis recalls his mother's driving lessons through the objective eye of a patient and restrained young man of seven, in contrast with his little brother, whose oft-shouted refrain—"You're going to kill us all!"—rings still in memory. Through the writer's unerring eye, Mama is endowed with prescience enough to stay one step ahead of the craftiest child. In these stories narrated by a growing boy who arrives eventually at an appreciation for Mama's wisdom, tact, and—most of all—love, Mama is always the calm in the center of chaos. Developed in live performance at storytelling festivals coast-to-coast, these stories consistently prompt delight, amusement, and recognition.