The Essential Hip Mama: Writing from the Cutting Edge of Parenting

Hip Mama

by Ariel Gore (Editor), Marcy Sheiner (Contributor)

It’s been over a decade since Ariel Gore, in a caffeine-induced brainstorm, invented Hip Mama as her senior project in college. The zine that’s been called "fun and irreverent" by USA Today, "delightful" by Glamour, and "cutting-edge" by the Chicago Tribune has grown up alongside Gore’s daughter, covering subjects from weaning to home schooling with a political edge and a puckish sense of humor. The Essential Hip Mama captures the heart of a decade’s worth of earthy, honest, soulful parenting—and topics from circumcision to dating, abortion to the belief that "mothers don’t fart." Gore has gathered in one volume the whispers and conversations heard in homes, on playgrounds, and in coffeehouses around the country. Reassuring and hopeful, The Essential Hip Mama is a brilliant testament that one becomes an "expert" simply through the act of mothering, echoing Gore’s own words, "Whenever I’ve needed parenting advice, I’ve put out a call for submissions."

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Feminism, Anthologies

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2004

About the author

ARIEL GORE is the author of We Were Witches (The Feminist Press, 2017), The End of Eve (Hawthorne Books, 2014), and numerous other books on parenting, the novel The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show, the memoir Atlas of the Human Heart, and the writer’s guide How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead. Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness in January 2010.

Reviews

[Lo · Rating 2 out of 5]

My friend gave this to me after I admitted to serious baby fever. SHe thought it might help me sweat it out. It's a pretty decent collection and I liked the different voices. Some of the stuff is a little too trapped in the moment, which is not really the fault of the book. I wished there was little commentaries by the writers of each essay, especially the ones written in the 90s.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fun book, full of hilarious stories and poems that speak to most, if not all mothers and friends of mothers.

I particularly loved the poem, from the perspective of a mom/graduate student, artfully telling second child to stop knocking, not yet, I'm just not ready, well okay, here you come.

This would be a great baby shower gift!

[Lata · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gem of a book, for anyone interested in mothers and motherhood, from multiple perspectives, even if they are not mothers themselves. I found even the pieces to which I could not relate to be thought provoking and moving. Read it and laugh, cry, rant, and love, sometimes all at the same time.

[jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the finest of the Hip Mama canon. With a variety of voices & experiences, it reaches across a diversity of mamas. Highlights: Nina Hagen interview. Mary Water interview. Utah Philips (R.I.P) interview.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of writings from the magazine. It really helped pass the time when Lars Oskar was newborn and he was nursing pretty much constantly. Gave me something to do other than stare at the cracks in the ceiling above my bed.

[Hauntie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liking it so far, kind of jumping around, checking out what's interesting and funny ...

[Asher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book of essays to re-read when I'm beginning to feel that parenting is sucking away all of my brains. Not too hip for me. Another book that lets me know I'm not alone.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect reading material when you're up during the night feeding your newborn! Very easy to identify with some of the stories, overall pretty entertaining.

[Carleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I laughed a bit, but there were too many of the stories that I just didn't relate to.

[SUVENDRINI HELENA CAMILLE]

amusing!