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Milkshake
When she tries to feed her baby in an art museum, new mother Lauren Bruce suffers a wardrobe malfunction -- and becomes a poster child for the breastfeeding wars. A sexy politician, running for Massachusetts governor, enlists Lauren to help her win the women's vote. Breastfeeding advocates, who call themselves the BOOBs, want to make her a true believer. And a group called the MOMs -- for "Mothers on Modesty" -- wants everyone to cover up. Now, Lauren has to decide where she stands, all while dealing with political rallies, breast pumps, talk show hosts, perfect-mommy friends, and post-baby sex. "Smart, compassionate, gently ferocious and always hilarious, MILKSHAKE is about the spectrum of women's mothering choices, breasts, breastfeeding, and babes, and how competition doth make fools of us all. Utterly charming." -- Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of "Those Who Save Us" and "The Stormchasers"
252 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2011
5 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Joanna Weiss
8 books6 followersJoanna Weiss is an op-ed columnist for the Boston Globe. Her columns appear, via the New York Times wire, in newspapers across the country. MILKSHAKE is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 10, 2012
This is a fun and educational read so far. The author takes a controversial subject, breastfeeding, and through her plot and characters shows the various points of view, while keeping it light. Don't worry, those who know me, I will have a huge "review" when I finish reading this delightful book.
*****
This book doesn't let up! That's a good thing. There are no stones left unturned. All aspects of womanhood are addressed, none being perfect, none being wrong. I don't know how Joanna Weiss did it. Maybe by calling this "Chick Lit?" Fem-lit works better for me. This addresses deep issues women face from the time they consider themselves adult. The main issues are those of guilt, shame, and lack of self confidence. As a new mom you are bathed in those issues and may not even know it. But our main character, Lauren, in Milkshake represents those insecurities.
Don't get me wrong, this is far from a downer. As Lauren battles the new mom issues, her life is taken over by others who are stronger and manipulative. But Lauren shows she does have her own mind and sees things differently than those who would use her.
Ugh! This still sounds like a debbie-downer. It is funny! It hits on all the points of view, bottle versus breast, breast ownership, art, politics, very political, Earth-mothers versus career-ladder-climbers. Ok, still not sounding as enjoyable as the book actually was.
Actually, that is what I am trying to say: this book takes deep subjects and lightens them to help us to see the wisdom in our choices is far from the wisdom of others, but the choices are equally valid.
This book has very little romance, YAY! Yet women are portrayed with needs and desires and they face the changing world and political climate, while maintaining her own goals... HOW did you write this, Ms. Weiss? Amazing!
I am Earth-mom. Natural everything. SAHM. Now at 62, I see one important thing I left out: Care of my future self. Even this issue is brought up in the book. As a SAHM you are not putting anything away for yourself. Keep that in mind, young mothers. I'm on disability, not with the father of my children, nor my adult children. The money I have to survive on is so minimal. I wish I would have had someone to address that with me while I was cleaning up spit-up, changing diapers and chasing children: What will there be for me to fall back on? Society had me convinced that I was doing my best for my children. That I was saving money for my little family and offering some sort of stability. That sort of means nothing as I now choose whether I need meds more than more beans and rice. Young moms look out for your future selves as much if not more than you do that little one in your arms. Just my word to the wise. Nothing else would I have changed of my early motherhood. I loved, still love my offspring (they do get upset when I use the word child/children), I love that we had a great chance to bond. But now I see there were other ways of mothering and all ways have their good points and bad points. Being a womyn means more compromise than MAN has even had to consider. Much of the above is brought out in Milkshake. There are a lot of issues we still need to work out to have an equal status between men and fem. But while I SAHMed, my ex-husband collects quite the handsome retirement while having given little to actual care of the beings he wanted and created with me, meanwhile it was my all-consuming role. Looking at it from this end of life, Love isn't enough to live on.
I would love to see what others have to say about the book and the essentials of being XX chromosomes.
Oh, and a side-note: I read this using my text-to-speech on. That means words like breastfeeding became brEEstfeeding and breastfed became brEEst(f)ed. So not only did I have many LOL moments from the author's point of view, I enjoyed the robot-talk, too!
*****
This book doesn't let up! That's a good thing. There are no stones left unturned. All aspects of womanhood are addressed, none being perfect, none being wrong. I don't know how Joanna Weiss did it. Maybe by calling this "Chick Lit?" Fem-lit works better for me. This addresses deep issues women face from the time they consider themselves adult. The main issues are those of guilt, shame, and lack of self confidence. As a new mom you are bathed in those issues and may not even know it. But our main character, Lauren, in Milkshake represents those insecurities.
Don't get me wrong, this is far from a downer. As Lauren battles the new mom issues, her life is taken over by others who are stronger and manipulative. But Lauren shows she does have her own mind and sees things differently than those who would use her.
Ugh! This still sounds like a debbie-downer. It is funny! It hits on all the points of view, bottle versus breast, breast ownership, art, politics, very political, Earth-mothers versus career-ladder-climbers. Ok, still not sounding as enjoyable as the book actually was.
Actually, that is what I am trying to say: this book takes deep subjects and lightens them to help us to see the wisdom in our choices is far from the wisdom of others, but the choices are equally valid.
This book has very little romance, YAY! Yet women are portrayed with needs and desires and they face the changing world and political climate, while maintaining her own goals... HOW did you write this, Ms. Weiss? Amazing!
I am Earth-mom. Natural everything. SAHM. Now at 62, I see one important thing I left out: Care of my future self. Even this issue is brought up in the book. As a SAHM you are not putting anything away for yourself. Keep that in mind, young mothers. I'm on disability, not with the father of my children, nor my adult children. The money I have to survive on is so minimal. I wish I would have had someone to address that with me while I was cleaning up spit-up, changing diapers and chasing children: What will there be for me to fall back on? Society had me convinced that I was doing my best for my children. That I was saving money for my little family and offering some sort of stability. That sort of means nothing as I now choose whether I need meds more than more beans and rice. Young moms look out for your future selves as much if not more than you do that little one in your arms. Just my word to the wise. Nothing else would I have changed of my early motherhood. I loved, still love my offspring (they do get upset when I use the word child/children), I love that we had a great chance to bond. But now I see there were other ways of mothering and all ways have their good points and bad points. Being a womyn means more compromise than MAN has even had to consider. Much of the above is brought out in Milkshake. There are a lot of issues we still need to work out to have an equal status between men and fem. But while I SAHMed, my ex-husband collects quite the handsome retirement while having given little to actual care of the beings he wanted and created with me, meanwhile it was my all-consuming role. Looking at it from this end of life, Love isn't enough to live on.
I would love to see what others have to say about the book and the essentials of being XX chromosomes.
Oh, and a side-note: I read this using my text-to-speech on. That means words like breastfeeding became brEEstfeeding and breastfed became brEEst(f)ed. So not only did I have many LOL moments from the author's point of view, I enjoyed the robot-talk, too!
January 26, 2012
A funny and fast-paced political satire on the breastfeeding debate and the so-called "Mommy Wars."
I began reading this with some trepidation ... Would the characters be cruel stereotypes that only fuel the fire of the breast vs. bottle debate? Or could the novel actually explore the complex, often contradictory feelings that women have about breastfeeding and motherhood, in general? I'm pleased to report it was the latter, and the book provided a refreshingly balanced outlook on an issue too often fraught with extreme rhetoric and trite catch-phrases.
I began reading this with some trepidation ... Would the characters be cruel stereotypes that only fuel the fire of the breast vs. bottle debate? Or could the novel actually explore the complex, often contradictory feelings that women have about breastfeeding and motherhood, in general? I'm pleased to report it was the latter, and the book provided a refreshingly balanced outlook on an issue too often fraught with extreme rhetoric and trite catch-phrases.
September 10, 2011
A sly and funny satire of two subjects that are rarely yoked-- breast feeding and politics. Weiss makes it work with inside knowledge of both arenas and a sweetly sardonic tone that engages the reader. Vote for Candace!
May 22, 2018
Interesting enough to keep me reading, wanted to find out the end of the campaign etc but ending felt very ruahed and abrupt. 18 chapters of build up and then 1 last chapter of trying to end the story. Too rushed out for me.
December 28, 2015
I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was a fantastic piece of satire that highlights an extremely important underlying issue: namely, the way women gang up against other women rather than directing their anger at the continued oppression suffered at the hands of the patriarchy. As Weiss astutely points out, women are doing a great job of helping to maintain the status quo. A more completely review to follow.
Full review:
Two days after I finished this book, my Google Reader exploded with links discussing the latest issue of Time magazine, which profiles Dr. Sears and attachment parenting, and features a cover depicting a woman breastfeeding her 4-year-old son. Sometimes, it's scary how much literature imitates life. I've come to see the whole breastfeeding versus formula debate as representative of something larger in our society: the insidious ways in which women have been pitted against women; the very issue Weiss is exploring in her novel. Spoilers to follow.
Though this is a work of fiction, it's more of an issues book than it is a book about characters. While I did like the characters, it seemed clear to me that they were there to serve very specific purposes: Lauren represented the middle ground, the BOOBs (and, to a lesser extent, Mia) represented those firmly in the breastfeeding camp, etc. Of all the characters, I thought Lauren was the best developed and the one with whom I could relate. She's emblematic of new motherhood, that phase where mothers are exhausted and a little overwrought, worried about how to do the best they can for this baby they've just brought into the world, and struggling with how to best fill that role.
As for the political side, I believe Weiss is very purposely over the top in this book precisely because it highlights how surreal and bizarre our discourse has become where it relates to women. While Maisy isn't exactly indifferent, she's mostly concerned with how to profit from the zeitgeist, which is exactly what the savviest political analysts do, but then the message gets out of hand, as these sorts of emotional issues so often do. Candace is the quintessential powerful woman: she's had a successful career and is on the cusp of seizing a place of prominence and power--and then she begins to doubt herself and wonder if she's missed out by not having children. Isn't this really where we're at in society? A woman who decides to invest in her career may later agonize over whether she should have focused on a family while a stay-at-home mother may eventually wish she'd pursued a career. As much as women have been told it's possible to have both children and a career, we don't live in a society that is really very supportive of that option.
When women do choose to have children, they open a whole new can of worms. At the end of the day, feminism and freedom are about choice. But what is happening in the raging "mommy wars" debates is the stripping of those choices; we are being told that parenting is an all or nothing game. What I really liked about this book was Weiss's ultimate solution: why not find some middle ground?
If women choose to nurse their children, that's wonderful and they absolutely should be allowed to do it. I know from friends what a struggle it can be to maintain nursing once they go back to work, and this is just plain wrong. Why is it so difficult for women to find a place to pump or a boss that supports their need to pump? If breastfeeding is so important, why is it that it's really only manageable for women who choose to be stay-at-home moms?
On the flip side, if women choose to bottle feed, do they really need to be berated and branded as bad mothers? In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I am the mother of two and I nursed my children for six weeks before switching to formula because I had problem after problem with nursing, as well as low supply. I am very sensitive to this particular argument precisely because I did have to rely on formula, and I felt a great deal of guilt over my inability to nurse effectively. Formula feeding has become stigmatized, and women face a lot of pressure to breastfeed. Motherhood is fraught with so many challenges and is so difficult both physically and emotionally, that I think it's unfair to add one more element to the mix.
I think another extremely important central theme of this novel is that women have more or less been manipulated into going to war with one another. Rather than uniting and fighting for things like better, more affordable childcare options, healthier food choices in schools, and better education for all children, women are standing on two separate sides of the fence taking potshots at one another. What drove us to this point? There certainly are forces actively working to oppress women, and it's depressing to think that women have become complicit in this. Wouldn't we all be so much better off if we could put this aside and fight for common causes?
Full review:
Two days after I finished this book, my Google Reader exploded with links discussing the latest issue of Time magazine, which profiles Dr. Sears and attachment parenting, and features a cover depicting a woman breastfeeding her 4-year-old son. Sometimes, it's scary how much literature imitates life. I've come to see the whole breastfeeding versus formula debate as representative of something larger in our society: the insidious ways in which women have been pitted against women; the very issue Weiss is exploring in her novel. Spoilers to follow.
Though this is a work of fiction, it's more of an issues book than it is a book about characters. While I did like the characters, it seemed clear to me that they were there to serve very specific purposes: Lauren represented the middle ground, the BOOBs (and, to a lesser extent, Mia) represented those firmly in the breastfeeding camp, etc. Of all the characters, I thought Lauren was the best developed and the one with whom I could relate. She's emblematic of new motherhood, that phase where mothers are exhausted and a little overwrought, worried about how to do the best they can for this baby they've just brought into the world, and struggling with how to best fill that role.
As for the political side, I believe Weiss is very purposely over the top in this book precisely because it highlights how surreal and bizarre our discourse has become where it relates to women. While Maisy isn't exactly indifferent, she's mostly concerned with how to profit from the zeitgeist, which is exactly what the savviest political analysts do, but then the message gets out of hand, as these sorts of emotional issues so often do. Candace is the quintessential powerful woman: she's had a successful career and is on the cusp of seizing a place of prominence and power--and then she begins to doubt herself and wonder if she's missed out by not having children. Isn't this really where we're at in society? A woman who decides to invest in her career may later agonize over whether she should have focused on a family while a stay-at-home mother may eventually wish she'd pursued a career. As much as women have been told it's possible to have both children and a career, we don't live in a society that is really very supportive of that option.
When women do choose to have children, they open a whole new can of worms. At the end of the day, feminism and freedom are about choice. But what is happening in the raging "mommy wars" debates is the stripping of those choices; we are being told that parenting is an all or nothing game. What I really liked about this book was Weiss's ultimate solution: why not find some middle ground?
If women choose to nurse their children, that's wonderful and they absolutely should be allowed to do it. I know from friends what a struggle it can be to maintain nursing once they go back to work, and this is just plain wrong. Why is it so difficult for women to find a place to pump or a boss that supports their need to pump? If breastfeeding is so important, why is it that it's really only manageable for women who choose to be stay-at-home moms?
On the flip side, if women choose to bottle feed, do they really need to be berated and branded as bad mothers? In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I am the mother of two and I nursed my children for six weeks before switching to formula because I had problem after problem with nursing, as well as low supply. I am very sensitive to this particular argument precisely because I did have to rely on formula, and I felt a great deal of guilt over my inability to nurse effectively. Formula feeding has become stigmatized, and women face a lot of pressure to breastfeed. Motherhood is fraught with so many challenges and is so difficult both physically and emotionally, that I think it's unfair to add one more element to the mix.
I think another extremely important central theme of this novel is that women have more or less been manipulated into going to war with one another. Rather than uniting and fighting for things like better, more affordable childcare options, healthier food choices in schools, and better education for all children, women are standing on two separate sides of the fence taking potshots at one another. What drove us to this point? There certainly are forces actively working to oppress women, and it's depressing to think that women have become complicit in this. Wouldn't we all be so much better off if we could put this aside and fight for common causes?
August 18, 2013
Joanna Weiss, Milkshake (J Weiss via Stella Link, 2011)
While I was stuck in the hospital at the beginning of 2013, I blew through a bunch of Kindle shorts I'd stacked up over the year or so previously. Not remembering it, I clicked on Milkshake, thinking it was one of said shorts. Nope, it turned out to be a full-length novel. Since I was already deep into a feature-length novel, I put it aside for a while and ended up not getting back to it until very recently. The portion of it I read whilst still prone had me wondering. Self-published political satire? That's a recipe for disaster, right there. And while I'm going to stop short of calling Milkshake unpredictable, but the way it ends up getting where it goes is not exactly the way I expected it to go.
Plot: new mother Lauren Bruce suffers a wardrobe malfunction while breastfeeding her son, unintentionally exposing some girly bits to a room full of horny high-schoolers with camera phones. Video of the incident goes viral, but that doesn't have quite the effect Lauren fears it will; Maisy Street, campaign manager for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Candace Calloway, convinces Candace that public breastfeeding is the now issue, and Lauren Bruce is a perfect girl-next-door to boost Calloway's flagging campaign. Maisy, Lauren, and breastfeeding activists who call themselves the BOOBs (as I'm writing this review, I'm wondering how much of it I'm going to need to censor before it's actually publishable on Amazon...) take on the media, and Candace's campaign finds some new life. Reacting to the new angle, Calloway's opponent enlists fellow activist group Mothers on Modesty (the MOMs), and the two campaigns clash through rallies, media, stumping, and all the rest of the political machine.
It's a terrifying concept, mostly because any author who tackles this sort of material is likely to have an agenda. I assume that's the case with Joanna Weiss—but the fact that I have finished this book and don't quite know the answer is testimony to Weiss' not letting her agenda get in the way of a good story. She focuses more on character than on plot, which was a huge surprise, and a welcome one. Because of this, she had a lot of wiggle room when it came to putting her characters into situations that novelists who were wearing their idealism on their sleeves would never have been able to get away with (though telling you about any of them would be spoilers). She has a lot of fun with these characters, and it's infectious; the reader will, too.
That does have its drawbacks, though. Despite Lauren Bruce being the agent of change here—a role that she consistently plays throughout the novel—there are times when she seems like a minor character rather than the central figure. This may have been intentional on Weiss' part; if so, a few structure changes would have probably been worth implementing; Lauren's friend Mia would have been a good place to begin, or we could have started out with Maisy, who often seems like the book's real main character, coming across footage of the incident while trolling Youtube. That's a minor quibble, though the rest of the quibbles I have with the book, all of which would be spoilers if I talked about them, build on it. We're given the expectation of Lauren being the book's main character in the first chapter, and because of that, we expect things from her that we end up getting from other characters. Not that you can't overlook that while reading the novel—I did, for the most part—but it's nagged at me in the week or so since I finished this, and ultimately, I knocked off half a star from my rating for what is, ultimately, a structural defect. With that said, however, I'm still recommending this one for people who have the same basic relationship with politics (I can't stand the stuff) and feminism (it's a Good Thing(TM), but I know a lot of folks who should probably take themselves a touch less seriously) that I do. It's less a laugh-out-loud satire than an evil-chuckle satire, but those can be just as funny—and are often just as rewarding. ***
While I was stuck in the hospital at the beginning of 2013, I blew through a bunch of Kindle shorts I'd stacked up over the year or so previously. Not remembering it, I clicked on Milkshake, thinking it was one of said shorts. Nope, it turned out to be a full-length novel. Since I was already deep into a feature-length novel, I put it aside for a while and ended up not getting back to it until very recently. The portion of it I read whilst still prone had me wondering. Self-published political satire? That's a recipe for disaster, right there. And while I'm going to stop short of calling Milkshake unpredictable, but the way it ends up getting where it goes is not exactly the way I expected it to go.
Plot: new mother Lauren Bruce suffers a wardrobe malfunction while breastfeeding her son, unintentionally exposing some girly bits to a room full of horny high-schoolers with camera phones. Video of the incident goes viral, but that doesn't have quite the effect Lauren fears it will; Maisy Street, campaign manager for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Candace Calloway, convinces Candace that public breastfeeding is the now issue, and Lauren Bruce is a perfect girl-next-door to boost Calloway's flagging campaign. Maisy, Lauren, and breastfeeding activists who call themselves the BOOBs (as I'm writing this review, I'm wondering how much of it I'm going to need to censor before it's actually publishable on Amazon...) take on the media, and Candace's campaign finds some new life. Reacting to the new angle, Calloway's opponent enlists fellow activist group Mothers on Modesty (the MOMs), and the two campaigns clash through rallies, media, stumping, and all the rest of the political machine.
It's a terrifying concept, mostly because any author who tackles this sort of material is likely to have an agenda. I assume that's the case with Joanna Weiss—but the fact that I have finished this book and don't quite know the answer is testimony to Weiss' not letting her agenda get in the way of a good story. She focuses more on character than on plot, which was a huge surprise, and a welcome one. Because of this, she had a lot of wiggle room when it came to putting her characters into situations that novelists who were wearing their idealism on their sleeves would never have been able to get away with (though telling you about any of them would be spoilers). She has a lot of fun with these characters, and it's infectious; the reader will, too.
That does have its drawbacks, though. Despite Lauren Bruce being the agent of change here—a role that she consistently plays throughout the novel—there are times when she seems like a minor character rather than the central figure. This may have been intentional on Weiss' part; if so, a few structure changes would have probably been worth implementing; Lauren's friend Mia would have been a good place to begin, or we could have started out with Maisy, who often seems like the book's real main character, coming across footage of the incident while trolling Youtube. That's a minor quibble, though the rest of the quibbles I have with the book, all of which would be spoilers if I talked about them, build on it. We're given the expectation of Lauren being the book's main character in the first chapter, and because of that, we expect things from her that we end up getting from other characters. Not that you can't overlook that while reading the novel—I did, for the most part—but it's nagged at me in the week or so since I finished this, and ultimately, I knocked off half a star from my rating for what is, ultimately, a structural defect. With that said, however, I'm still recommending this one for people who have the same basic relationship with politics (I can't stand the stuff) and feminism (it's a Good Thing(TM), but I know a lot of folks who should probably take themselves a touch less seriously) that I do. It's less a laugh-out-loud satire than an evil-chuckle satire, but those can be just as funny—and are often just as rewarding. ***
November 25, 2012
I mostly read on the bus to & from work & this book was another example of me sitting there chuckling to myself, while I am sure my fellow passengers were wondering what was so funny.
Milkshake is about Lauren Bruce, a new mom who is kind of lost. Lost in her new role, feeling like she has lost herself, her identity & is not entirely sure she’s up to the task of being a mom & making all of the right decisions for her baby. Then Lauren heads to the museum with her friend Mia, who is a bit of a militant on all things “Mom” & “Baby” – Mia has all the right answers, or so it seems to Lauren. While at the museum Lauren sits down (at Mia’s instance), in the middle of one of the exhibits & starts to breastfeed her daughter. Then everything goes very wrong & before she knows it, Lauren is the latest cause célèbre & involved in a tug-of-war between the pro breastfeeding (The BOOBS) camp & the pro-choice/pro-bottle (The MOMS) camp, a pawn stuck in the middle in the senate race.
Milkshake is a funny look at what is a very emotive issue – a woman’s right to breastfeed her baby in public, without having to worry about being hassled by the “decency” police, but it is also a look at a woman’s right to make a choice – the best choice for her & for her baby – and not be vilified by the other camp for the choice she has made, or has had to make.
I am not a mother myself, so have never had to make these kinds of choices, but Milkshake still really appealed to me. I loved the characters, Lauren, Mia, the Senator & the Senator’s campagne manager were all likeable & funny in equal measures. Lauren manages to get herself into some very funny & tricky situations (love the breast pump!) & just when things are spiraling out of control Lauren manages to redeem herself & her dignity.
From what I have read Milkshake was the debut novel for Ms Weiss – and a very good one it is!
Milkshake is about Lauren Bruce, a new mom who is kind of lost. Lost in her new role, feeling like she has lost herself, her identity & is not entirely sure she’s up to the task of being a mom & making all of the right decisions for her baby. Then Lauren heads to the museum with her friend Mia, who is a bit of a militant on all things “Mom” & “Baby” – Mia has all the right answers, or so it seems to Lauren. While at the museum Lauren sits down (at Mia’s instance), in the middle of one of the exhibits & starts to breastfeed her daughter. Then everything goes very wrong & before she knows it, Lauren is the latest cause célèbre & involved in a tug-of-war between the pro breastfeeding (The BOOBS) camp & the pro-choice/pro-bottle (The MOMS) camp, a pawn stuck in the middle in the senate race.
Milkshake is a funny look at what is a very emotive issue – a woman’s right to breastfeed her baby in public, without having to worry about being hassled by the “decency” police, but it is also a look at a woman’s right to make a choice – the best choice for her & for her baby – and not be vilified by the other camp for the choice she has made, or has had to make.
I am not a mother myself, so have never had to make these kinds of choices, but Milkshake still really appealed to me. I loved the characters, Lauren, Mia, the Senator & the Senator’s campagne manager were all likeable & funny in equal measures. Lauren manages to get herself into some very funny & tricky situations (love the breast pump!) & just when things are spiraling out of control Lauren manages to redeem herself & her dignity.
From what I have read Milkshake was the debut novel for Ms Weiss – and a very good one it is!
July 27, 2012
What a ridiculous book. Truly a waste of time and a waste of paper, ink, and the energy it took to format for e-book. Sheesh. Ms. Weiss tried to make a common topic of motherhood, breastfeeding, a political platform and make it funny. In my opinion it just came off as a waste of her time and mine since I choose to read the book. Oy.
Lauren Bruce is a new mom and breastfeeding. But she isn't sure how she feels about it and struggles with it. However she has a friend, Mia, is a breastfeeding Nazi and so she's feeling the pressure to become a Nazi as well. At the same time a woman is running for Governor of the state Lauren resides in and her campaign manager is looking for something to make into a platform that will help her candidate get the women's vote. Unfortunately for Lauren she's about to become the unofficial - official spokeswoman for Candace Calloway's newest political platform - the freedom to breastfeed whenever and wherever. So a story is born...or so thought Weiss apparently as she crafted a satirical story from this topic.
In all fairness it is a hot topic that prompts heated debates and opinions among the ranks of mommies (at least in the U.S.) but to take it to the political level to make a point about the ridiculousness of the camps of thought turned me off. The book was written with some disjointedness and didn't flow naturally. Weiss gets a 1 star for her portrayal of both camps of thought on breastfeeding - she accurately painted them, even though it was a bit exaggerated for her satire.
I was disappointed in this book and was irritated by it.
Lauren Bruce is a new mom and breastfeeding. But she isn't sure how she feels about it and struggles with it. However she has a friend, Mia, is a breastfeeding Nazi and so she's feeling the pressure to become a Nazi as well. At the same time a woman is running for Governor of the state Lauren resides in and her campaign manager is looking for something to make into a platform that will help her candidate get the women's vote. Unfortunately for Lauren she's about to become the unofficial - official spokeswoman for Candace Calloway's newest political platform - the freedom to breastfeed whenever and wherever. So a story is born...or so thought Weiss apparently as she crafted a satirical story from this topic.
In all fairness it is a hot topic that prompts heated debates and opinions among the ranks of mommies (at least in the U.S.) but to take it to the political level to make a point about the ridiculousness of the camps of thought turned me off. The book was written with some disjointedness and didn't flow naturally. Weiss gets a 1 star for her portrayal of both camps of thought on breastfeeding - she accurately painted them, even though it was a bit exaggerated for her satire.
I was disappointed in this book and was irritated by it.
February 2, 2012
I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway. It is a story about a new mother, Lauren, who while breastfeeding her baby at a museum, has a bit of a slip-up and ends up exposing herself to a group of teen-agers. One thing leads to another and she finds herself involved with a politician's campaign for governor. One campaign is pro-breastfeeding, the other is pro-modesty.
I think the book touches on various issues of a new mother's thoughts on breastfeeding as well as motherhood. As a mother of two who breastfed, I also remember those days when I felt like my body wasn't my own while even at the same time loving every minute I spent feeding my little baby. I could relate a bit to Lauren and Mia who worried if they were doing everything right.
I thought it was fairly entertaining, however for me, I enjoyed the political aspect of the book more than the breastfeeding part of the book. I do think it shows how crazy people can get about the issues of motherhood and what is "right" and what is "wrong". It doesn't matter if the issue is breast vs. bottle , diapering, or working vs. staying at home, there seems to be very emotional opinions surrounding the everyday decisions that are made concerning parenting.
I think the book touches on various issues of a new mother's thoughts on breastfeeding as well as motherhood. As a mother of two who breastfed, I also remember those days when I felt like my body wasn't my own while even at the same time loving every minute I spent feeding my little baby. I could relate a bit to Lauren and Mia who worried if they were doing everything right.
I thought it was fairly entertaining, however for me, I enjoyed the political aspect of the book more than the breastfeeding part of the book. I do think it shows how crazy people can get about the issues of motherhood and what is "right" and what is "wrong". It doesn't matter if the issue is breast vs. bottle , diapering, or working vs. staying at home, there seems to be very emotional opinions surrounding the everyday decisions that are made concerning parenting.
January 27, 2012
The concept is pretty funny: When breast milk and politics combine! It started out slow and a bit uncomfortable, but as it progressed, there were moments that were truly amusing. It's a pretty light read. And I enjoyed the ending. If you've ever nursed, it's going to bring back all sorts of memories. If you haven't, you're probably going to be thankful that you never did (;
April 22, 2012
Like others, I received my copy through Goodreads giveaways. I was excited to start this book because of the interesting concept. As the book progressed, I had difficulty connecting with the characters which made it feel a little slow at times. All in all, it was a fun, easy read with potential for a good summer beach book!
April 5, 2012
Guys! This book is not just for breast feeding mothers. I read it a was throughly entertained with the story line. War and Peace it is not but it is a very engaging, entertaining, and funny read that is a perfect way to spend a few days of your summer vacation.
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