Rating: 
Summary: Superficial at Best; A Very Slanted View of Motherhood
Review: I picked up this book at the library because I do not relate to most parenting things and find myself spending an absurd amount of time trying to find alternative parents, clothes, toys and activities. I don't know if I am hip but I am definitely not mainstream.What a disappointment this book is! It's all about white sophisticated liberal single teen moms living on food stamps. Yup. Broad demographic, ay! While I am sure there are about 100 women out there who are similar to the author and would enjoy a how-to guide uniquely tailored to these circumstances, this 35 year financially secure married woman who practiced birth control in her teens and 20s so as to avoid being a single mom living on food stamps really found little of value in this very auto-biographical tome. Moreover, I find it almost insulting that someone who comes from an educated liberal background would presume to speak for destitute single moms who did not have access to the same choices she did. When I think of women struggling to raise their children, I think about women who were raised in extreme poverty who do not have access to information about family planning and education/job training. I think about immigrant women who work 4 jobs just so their kids will have a better life. I certainly don't think of some clueless teenager partying in Mallorca who had a birth control lapse and then did not allow a little detail like pregnancy to upset her extended vacation in nearby Italy. Who upon arrival to the US, believes its her birthright to have taxpayers support her as she decides it's now time to go to college. The saddest commentary I can make about this book is that while I despise Newt Gingrich and was overjoyed by his demise, the author succeeded in making me relate to him when she recounts her debate with him on MTV.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh.. please
Review: I received this book as a gift at a baby shower. I thought it was going to be a fun read with insights on how to remain somewhat cool and not end up carrying around a Winne The Pooh diaper bag. Though there were funny moments, most of the book was angry commentary against anything and everything that didn't fit into her definition of being 'hip' (which appears to be unmarried, single mothers who live on welfare and hate anyone with different beliefs). For someone who claims to be open-minded she is sure closed to any person who is Christian, Republican, married, or has steady income. In some parts I was actually offended by what she was saying and I don't offend easily! Went straight into my middle-class Republican recycling bin after slogging through it. I guess I'm a little too white bread for this book :)
Rating:
Summary: Superficial at Best; A Very Slanted View of Motherhood
Review: I think Ariel Gore is a wonderful writer. She's funny & she writes about feminist issues without being too preachy. I guess my problem with this book is that it wasn't for me. I'm a liberal, young, hip mom -- but not hip enough I guess. This book is geared toward really young moms, unwed moms, poor moms, moms without traditional partners, moms without partners at all, moms without cars, moms without shelter, etc. Having a husband, a house, a car & some money in the bank made a lot of this book irrelavent. The author makes it seem that if you aren't fighting to just get by that you aren't hip. Well, fine, I'm not hip then, I guess. If you don't think you'll need to know how to get cheap legal advice to sue for custody, balance school & your kids from 4 different dads, or take the bus with your infant, you could probably just read another book. I suggest Naomi Wolfe's Misconceptions -- it's for the truly hip feminst mom, not the down & out one.
Rating: 
Summary: I guess I'm not as "hip" as I thought
Review: I think Ariel Gore is a wonderful writer. She's funny & she writes about feminist issues without being too preachy. I guess my problem with this book is that it wasn't for me. I'm a liberal, young, hip mom -- but not hip enough I guess. This book is geared toward really young moms, unwed moms, poor moms, moms without traditional partners, moms without partners at all, moms without cars, moms without shelter, etc. Having a husband, a house, a car & some money in the bank made a lot of this book irrelavent. The author makes it seem that if you aren't fighting to just get by that you aren't hip. Well, fine, I'm not hip then, I guess. If you don't think you'll need to know how to get cheap legal advice to sue for custody, balance school & your kids from 4 different dads, or take the bus with your infant, you could probably just read another book. I suggest Naomi Wolfe's Misconceptions -- it's for the truly hip feminst mom, not the down & out one.
Rating:
Summary: This is more of a feminist book then a survival guide
Review: I wanted information on pregnancy and how to deal with it. All the info this book gave was what was going to happen in each trimester and very vagulely I might add. It is mostly a feminist book. Her advice is shadowed by this. Also in the book she slams the movie Beauty and the Beast. It was not about an awful beast that will always be a beast, It is about peoples impresssions of how someone looks and judging them by that. She needs to watch the movie again and put her man hating aside
Rating: 
Summary: "real life" parenting
Review: I'm not a parent yet but working on it. Although my current situation is pretty mainstream (married and middle class) I have no intention of parenting traditionally. I really appreciated this book because I grew up in a non-traditional family, and it is nice to see other configurations of "family" acknowledged. Also the book was just plain fun!
Rating:
Summary: Ariel, Thank You for writing this book!
Review: If traditional pregnancy and parenting books make you feel inferior and inadequate, get this book! This book deals straight up with the reality of pregnancy and newfound motherhood for those of us who were not exactly waiting anxiously for the stick to have two lines. This book will assure you that you can do it and offers many wonderful and practical ideas for parenting solo, going back to school, and dealing with issues that no one ever talks about, like having a nervous breakdown, or how to keep the baby's dangerous father away. I wish this book had been written 6 years ago when I was pregnant with my first, but I estatic that it's here for my second.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh.. please
Review: Sadly, this was the 14th pregnancy book I bought and not the first... yet it was the one I was looking for all along. Entertaining and Informative... "Hip Mama" contains info that no other pregnancy book contains... such as "Can you breastfeed with pierced nipples" and "Are vibrators OK during pregnancy?" You may not be that alternative, but still the book is a good one...filled with good advice....and will help free you from the Bonds of "I Must Do Everything Perfectly (Including Have a Traditional Family Structure and a Gazillion Dollars) or Else My Baby Will Be A Freak" mentality. Five stars...absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: Buy This to Keep Your Sanity
Review: Sadly, this was the 14th pregnancy book I bought and not the first... yet it was the one I was looking for all along. Entertaining and Informative... "Hip Mama" contains info that no other pregnancy book contains... such as "Can you breastfeed with pierced nipples" and "Are vibrators OK during pregnancy?" You may not be that alternative, but still the book is a good one...filled with good advice....and will help free you from the Bonds of "I Must Do Everything Perfectly (Including Have a Traditional Family Structure and a Gazillion Dollars) or Else My Baby Will Be A Freak" mentality. Five stars...absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: by far, the coolest, most realistic parenting book ever !!
Review: this book has been wonderfully entertaining, it covers a wide range of topics including my personal fave "nervous breakdowns". it is appealing to all ages and friendly to more than just the traditional family. reading Hip Mama gave me a sense of unity with all other mothers out there. Big shout out to Ariel Gore!!
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