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Full title: Maybe Baby: 28 Writers Tell the Truth About Skepticism, Infertility, Baby Lust, Childlessness, Ambivalence, and How They Made the Biggest Decision of Their Lives.
Nonfiction, a collection of essays by a variety of writers addressing the question of parenthood. The book opens with a preface by Anne Lamott and then an intro by Leibovich, and then it is structured in three sections: the Nos, the Maybes, and the Yeses (I think they have different titles than that, but I don't have the book in front of me right now and that's the gist of it). Just by looking at the structure I assumed that the book was taking a stance and ending on the Yeses to drive home the "Yes" point of view, but after reading the book I didn't have that feeling at all. Many of the essays in the book were bittersweet--the Yeses as well as the Nos. Many of the fears expressed in the No section were realized by the Yes writers as very real consequences of having a child and as personal regrets. Many of the No writers were perfectly happy in the lives they'd built for themselves and just wished their families and friends would stop feeling sorry for them. Hard topics like abortion are dealt with honestly. There are also quite a number of male perspectives (among them writers like Cary Tennis and Rick Moody), which for some reason surprised me, quite pleasantly--it was lovely to see perspectives on the idea of becoming a father. I am going to make F read this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone considering having a child and anyone considering not having a child. No definitive answers, plenty of food for thought.
Nonfiction, a collection of essays by a variety of writers addressing the question of parenthood. The book opens with a preface by Anne Lamott and then an intro by Leibovich, and then it is structured in three sections: the Nos, the Maybes, and the Yeses (I think they have different titles than that, but I don't have the book in front of me right now and that's the gist of it). Just by looking at the structure I assumed that the book was taking a stance and ending on the Yeses to drive home the "Yes" point of view, but after reading the book I didn't have that feeling at all. Many of the essays in the book were bittersweet--the Yeses as well as the Nos. Many of the fears expressed in the No section were realized by the Yes writers as very real consequences of having a child and as personal regrets. Many of the No writers were perfectly happy in the lives they'd built for themselves and just wished their families and friends would stop feeling sorry for them. Hard topics like abortion are dealt with honestly. There are also quite a number of male perspectives (among them writers like Cary Tennis and Rick Moody), which for some reason surprised me, quite pleasantly--it was lovely to see perspectives on the idea of becoming a father. I am going to make F read this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone considering having a child and anyone considering not having a child. No definitive answers, plenty of food for thought.
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Date: 2009-10-28 07:16 pm (UTC)From:I think I'll check to see if my library has it.
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Date: 2009-10-28 09:15 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-01-24 09:17 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-01-25 02:58 pm (UTC)From: