Description
In paperback at last: Rivka Galchen’s beloved baby bible—slyly hilarious, surprising, and absolutely essential reading for anyone who has ever had, held, or been a baby
In this enchanting miscellany, Galchen notes that literature has more dogs than babies (and also more abortions), that the tally of children for many great women writers—Jane Bowles, Elizabeth Bishop, Virginia Woolf, Janet Frame, Willa Cather, Patricia Highsmith, Iris Murdoch, Djuna Barnes, Mavis Gallant—is zero, that orange is the new baby pink, that The Tale of Genji has no plot but plenty of drama about paternity, that babies exude an intoxicating black magic, and that a baby is a goldmine.
Reviews
"Galchen does something more profound than tackle motherhood; she utterly reinvents and reanimates the subject. " — Christopher Bollen, Interview Magazine
"Witty and delightfully intelligent. " — Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times
"A quietly revolutionary little book." — The Millions
"Everything one could possibly need is dispensed via dense, tiny, mysterious pellets—a fortified shot of literary enrichment we didn't even know we needed, but that now feels vital and enthralling." — The New Republic
"A highly original book: I adore Galchen's quiet and bravery. I am confident that many mothers (and other sleepless readers) will pick up this book and feel that they have found an unexpectedly intimate friend." — The New York Times Book Review
"Not your mother’s motherhood lit. Brief, gemlike reflections on adjusting to life under the rule of a baby daughter (called ‘the puma’): it's a book that will ring both familiar and strange." — NPR (Best Books of the Year)
Also By: Rivka Galchen 
Mrs. Caliban
Paperback, 2017
Now back in print, Mrs. Caliban is “totally unforgettable” (The New York Times Book Review) and “something of a miracle” (The New Yorker)
