Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Essay. On growing up in an unhappy family in a blighted American town. "Fresno is amorphous, a conical blob that looks like a piece of bubble gum squashed against a sidewalk". Downtown died in the 1970s. Gangs took over the streets
American edition of Elizabeth Badinter's book re-opens debate on breast-feeding, styles of mothering. Smart French parents affect "laid-back" approach to their children. For Americans, "obsessive mothering" is the class marker
Sportswriter's daughter had never shown much interest in his area of expertise. Then, unaccountably, she developed an interest in NASCAR, one of the few sports her father knew virtually nothing about. Eh? Classic, charming Posnanski
Will we ever build an artificial womb? Complications exist, but lure is clear. "Ectogenesis comes with an irresistible hook: This technology would bring us closer to the day when motherhood and fatherhood mean the same thing"
Nine year old Michael is unlike others. His parents took him to see psychologist Dan Waschbusch. Who diagnosed him as a psychopath. "Even if accurate, it’s a ruinous diagnosis. No one is sympathetic to the mother of a psychopath"
An alternative approach to parenting: "Courage and a moral compass are fascism’s bane. Dare to live a moral life, I tell my kids, the beautiful hoodlums, and sometimes what’s right wins out over what is merely prescribed"
If you have school-age children, that is. "You childless people don't understand. Just rip my spine out and use it for suspension bridge cable, because having a child out of school is like having your home invaded by 17 bats" (NSFW)
In America, eccentrics are not born, but made. Usually by ingesting large quantities of illegal drugs. "When I landed in the People’s Republic of Berkeley in 1970 it felt as though I had followed Alice down the rabbit hole"
Review of "Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History", a "surprisingly emotional book" by Florence Williams. A mother's breasts supply a baby in the first year of life with enough energy to move 100 trucks at 100 miles per hour
A writer and his son. "It is the most terrible pain of my life. As much as I try to engage Zach, I also run from this challenge. I run out of guilt. I run because he was robbed and I feel I was robbed. I run because of my shame"
Clever, nuanced essay reconsiders Amy Chua's parenting advice. "Precisely because I was raised in a Tiger Mom world, but rebelled against it, I understand where Chua is coming from, but I can also see what remains invisible to her"
"I stole a swaddling blanket from his incubator and now I sleep with it every night because it smells like him. He's breathing, and he's eating, and he's peeing, and he's pooping, and everything will be all right"
"If someone asked me to prove my undying love for my daughter, I would tell him that I have pretended to be over 50 different Pokémon characters. I have watched an entire Pokémon Advanced Battle DVD, which is essentially like roasting your soul on a spit"
