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ovenbird_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Did an excellent job of describing ambivalence about children and the complexity of deciding whether or not to have one. I was glad to read a story from a woman who didn't feel she wanted a baby from the time she was a little girl.
allysonbogie's review against another edition
2.0
I was excited to read this because I recently finished an anthology called "One Big Happy Family" that Rebecca Walker edited, and it was awesome. I have also read her book called "Black, White, and Jewish" which I remember enjoying although it was a long time ago. This book is about how she finally decided that she wanted to have a baby after "a lifetime of ambivalence" and it's basically about her experience being pregnant. It was kind of annoying and I decided not to finish it. It got repetitive and stopped being that interesting.
uchlaraai's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
1.0
This author was incredibly unrelatable. Glad she's living her truth, but man, we meshed on almost nothing.
barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
4.0
very light memoir, not a lot of meat to this book, enjoyable to read though
brdgtc's review against another edition
3.0
As other reviewers have pointed out, there is a little false advertising here - the author's ambivalence isn't really about whether or not she would have children, but under what circumstances she would eventually decide that she would. I appreciated her honesty and intelligence, if her privilege did detract somewhat. I think she represents a lot of women in their 30s, who grew up smart, engaged feminists and struggle with how to reconcile that with relationships with their mothers, partners, and children. If, at times, she seems a bit childish, privileged, or neurotic - well, I believe there is a phrase about glass houses that may be appropriate.
chirson's review against another edition
3.0
Baby Love was both more interesting than Black, White & Jewish, and more frustrating. Rebecca Walker's "honest and personal" writing about becoming a mother - or about making motherhood the centre of her identity - feels very much like an artistic and very self-conscious effort at the creation of the self. And there's nothing wrong with that, but in comparison to, say, Ayelet Waldman's Bad Mother what felt missing was a sense of humour, some self-deprecation, some distance. Walker at times seems completely unaware of how self-centred and self-involved she sounds; her professions of how completely having a baby changes you and how there's nothing as important, or that makes one grow up / develop as much as having *one's own* *biological* baby does come off judgmental and preachy, and the "honesty" regarding her family situation seems to possess an undercurrent of meanness to it that I did not much enjoy (whenever she mentions how important her baby is to her, the subtext seems to be - and I wasn't as important to my mother, what's wrong with her?). She would probably think I lack the life experience and there simply is a "biological truth" to her position, but I'd say there are many different way in which one can grow and develop, and privileging pregnancy / birth over them all is simply biased.
That said, there's something utterly transfixing about reading such a personal story; and weirdly enough, my own (old) interest in motherhood / parenting makes me enjoy those types of stories all the more. (I had lots of younger siblings and read up on parenting and pregnancy quite extensively in my early teens.)
As a side note: her husband comes off (at least to me) as quite annoying, which is interesting, because she clearly sets out to describe him in superlatives, and the final effect is not too positive at all.
That said, there's something utterly transfixing about reading such a personal story; and weirdly enough, my own (old) interest in motherhood / parenting makes me enjoy those types of stories all the more. (I had lots of younger siblings and read up on parenting and pregnancy quite extensively in my early teens.)
As a side note: her husband comes off (at least to me) as quite annoying, which is interesting, because she clearly sets out to describe him in superlatives, and the final effect is not too positive at all.
yourfriendtorie's review against another edition
1.0
Almost as boring as the Andy Warhol diaries, just more neurotic in its self-analysis. Add Sex and the City references and tedious descriptions of a privileged yuppie lifestyle, and I am officially left cold. My initial interest in this book was based on the subtitle: "Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence," but I had to double check the definition of "ambivalence" when, on the very first page, Walker claims that she's wanted to have a baby since she was a teenager. I guess this is where I stopped being able to relate. I'm not sure why I kept reading.
mrsthrift's review against another edition
4.0
2007, baby, babies, becoming a mom, feminist, third wave, motherhood, parenting, parenthood, pregnancy, birth, birthing, tenzin, Buddhism, biracial, memoir, ambivalence
emilylandry's review against another edition
4.0
This book gave me a lot to think about: the relationships of mothers to their children; operating as part of a family; buddhism; Western vs. Alternative health care. Also, I just really enjoyed it. If you like to read about pregnancy and babies (ahem, ALEX), this book serves up a lot of that.