Breeder: Real-Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Breeder: Real-Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers
Book Review: Breeder
Summary: 5 Stars
The stories in this book are amazing. They show that we don't HAVE to be June Cleaver or Mrs Brady, we can be ourselves and STILL be excellent parents no matter our background. A must for every parent who has felt as though they were "out of the loop".Book Review: Breeder
Summary: 5 Stars
An excellent compilation of stories from the "front". Many refreshing and touching stories about birth and motherhood. A must read for ALL moms.Book Review: Breeder Gives Mothers a Voice
Summary: 5 Stars
I think new mothers are some of the loneliest, most isolated people on earth. We can be found sitting in our comfortable rocking chairs, nursing our babes, and wondering why nobody bothered to tell us what motherhood was really like. Why nobody told us about the fear, the mind-jarring joy, the emotional intensity, and why nobody told us about the way that becoming mothers would forever change us. Most of the new mothers I know are searching for voices, looking for someone or something who can articulate what they are going through, trying to find someone to tell them that what they are feeling is not only normal and okay, but also as profound as we suspect it to be. That's why a book like Breeder is so important. It's a collection of essays by a collection of young mothers (and one dad) who have a lot of truth to tell. It covers everything from the ambivalence a newly pregnant woman deals with (""Will" by Min Jin Lee) to the penetrating love and connection a teen mother feels even before her child is born ("When I Was Garbage" by Allison Crews). There is the story of the mother who sat vigil over her baby in the neonatal unit at a New York City hospital ("Neonatal Sweet Potato" by Ayun Halliday) and the story of a mother who discovered the ferocity and power of giving birth in her own home ("Birth" by Angela Morill). There are some very funny stories: "Pinworm Patrol" by Gayle Brandeis covers one of the dirtier, more necessary chores of motherhood, and should be required reading for anyone with romantic visions of sleeping cherub children with flushed cheeks and golden curls, and "Baby Vibe" by Julie Jamison is a hilarious story of the way a mother's sexuality can be compromised by the innocent things her child may do. These are women who are dealing with the high expectations society puts on them today, who are working both toward their dreams and turning their backs on the expected path. In "Progress" Coleen Murphy writes about dropping out of college to become a stay-at-home-mom to her two boys. She writes about a disapproving friend who keeps asking when she will get her life back in order and go back to school:
"So," he said brightly, "when these two little guys are a few years older, you'll be thinking of school again, and you can go finish up and head on to law school."
I hesitated. What the hell," I thought, might as well be honest. "The thing is, I'm pretty sure I want to have more children." You could have heard a pin drop.
These essays are frank, ballsy, and fresh. They are honest, funny and fierce. They are inspiring, complex, and deeply moving. They made this writer (and new mother) breath a sigh of recognition and relief; we mothers are not alone, and we have something very important to say.
Book Review: Breeder is all you need!
Summary: 5 Stars
Very rarely do I find a book that drew me in as much as Breeder did! I could not stop reading it. My favorite was Will. It was so beautifully written. My new hero is Ariel Gore!Book Review: Diverse selection of essays inspire this new mom
Summary: 5 Stars
This book came out just in time to help me through the foggy first weeks of my son's life. What a relief to read a book about parents I can relate to! It is too rare to find anything about parenting that isn't all about the beautiful martyr the mother must turn herself into in order to fit into the image of Perfect Mom. Angela Morrill's story of her son's homebirth ("Birth") is the most beautiful birth story I've ever read. Ayun Halliday's "Neonatal Sweet Potato" brought back all the heart-wrenching memories of having my baby have to stay at the hospital after I was sent home. Her description of the feeling a mother gets the first time she brings her newborn to her breast gets me choked up every time I read it. I could relate to Coleen Murphy's frustration to people's constant inquiries about when I am going to quit the full-time parenting gig to get cracking on something "real" as I read her essay, "Progress".
These stories just scratch the surface of the mosaic of diverse "modern motherhood" experiences. The format of the book itself is conducive to frazzled-mom reading habits as they can be absorbed during a nursing session or naptime! I highly recommend this book for any new mother.