Readers of the Womanly Art have criticized it for “pushing” strong views of parenting on its readers. Comments on a guest post where I recommended the WAB reflected this. But even the naysayers acknowledged that WAB has always had the most comprehensive and up-to-date technical breastfeeding information available. Neither has changed in the new edition. Those readers who disagree with LLL’s approach to mothering through breastfeeding might still object, but they will buy the book anyway because of the vast amount of information.
One controversial section in the new edition include a recommendation not to use hormonal birth control until six months In previous editions the progestin-only pill is considered to have minimal effect on supply.
As an expectant mom, The Womanly Art gave me a perspective on mothering I wouldn’t have considered otherwise. I had little support and needed much more than technical information. The new edition doesn’t dilute the classic LLL approach to keeping your baby close, following baby’s lead, staying home with your baby or arranging a working schedule to allow maximum togetherness, discipline, toddler nursing, and weaning. But instead of a chapter on each topic, the essence is mentioned in a few pages along with book recommendations. Throughout, it encourages mothers to overcome challenges. The authors see the goal as a loving relationship with the baby.
The authors devote a long section to birth, explaining that few books go into detail on the effect of interventions, including epidurals, on breastfeeding. Other chapters discuss nesting, building a network, “latching and attaching,” common concerns at different stages of breastfeeding, solids, weaning, sleeping and working. Two fact-filled chapters address special concerns like prematurity, adoptive nursing, multiples, and common problems. You’ll find sections on piercing, breast surgery, d-mer (a condition where mothers have a short, sudden emotional dip during a milk ejection reflex), tongue-tie including pictures of lesser-known types, depression, and much more, along with resources for further information on each topic.
At the end of the book you’ll find LLL resources, “tear-off sheets” with charts and useful information for family and friends, and scientific references.
Previous editions referred to the mother as “she” and the baby as “he.” The new edition addresses the mother as “you,” and alternates the gender of the baby. This is a clever approach, although the perky style with an excess of exclamation points— “How important is breastfeeding, really? Extemely!”—may make some mother feel talked down to. And while the content is universal, I wonder whether the style will appeal to readers outside the US.
Expectant and new moms not looking for mothering advice will buy this book for the information, and be sure to find the answers they need. But putting the needs of the baby first, without neglecting your own, has helped mothers throughout history succeed at breastfeeding and learn to enjoy motherhood. Skeptical readers may be surprised to find how much of LLL’s approach in the newest edition of Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (WAB) still works in today’s world.
You may also enjoy:
An Alternative to Adler: Parenting Answers from Dr. Gordon Neufeld
Breastfeeding in Public: The “Cringe” Factor
Flaws in Israeli Study on Dairy Allergy
Breastfeeding posts by A Mother in Israel
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey
In 1913 former US president Theodore Roosevelt,54, accepted a speaking engagement in South America. While there he planned to visit with his son Kermit and travel throughout the continent. Known for his love of adventure, physical prowess, and knowledge of plants and animals, Roosevelt began delegating the arrangements for a trip to people supposedly familiar with the terrain.
But when Roosevelt arrived, a Brazilian official suggested he scrap his planned tour. Roosevelt agreed to explore and chart an unknown river deep in the Amazon rain-forest known as Rio du Duvida, the River of Doubt. Despite the unsuitability of the boats and provisions, he forged ahead with his son Kermit; Colonel Candido Mariana de Silvo Rondon, a Brazilian explorer; and ornithologist George Cherrie.
The difficulties with the journey become apparent during the 100-mile overland trek to the mouth of the river. Much of the staff was sent on its way and provisions abandoned. But the real problems began on the river. Every time the group hit strong rapids, they needed to carry all of the heavy boats and provisions along the banks. The source of the river was high in the mountains, so they often traveled only a few miles a day.
Occasionally they sent boats over the rapids. But if one crashed they spent a day or two making a new one, if they could find suitable wood.
Conflicts arose frequently between Roosevelt and Rondon. Rondon was reluctant to use faster, less effective methods of charting the river even once it became clear that the rations would not hold. When one rower killed another and hid, Rondon wanted to take time to search for him so he could be tried. He was never found, and was later stabbed by an Indian. But a few days later, Roosevelt insisted on spending a day searching for Kermit’s dog. Funnily enough, Rondon’s diary shows more sympathy and affection for his dogs than the three rowers killed during the journey.
Candace Millard, a former writer for National Geographic magazine, quotes frequently from Roosevelt, Cherrie and Rondon’s daily accounts. Her descriptions of the snakes, insects, piranhas, plants, and Indians are equally fascinating.
The Cinta Larga Indians, who lived on the River of Doubt, had never encountered modern man. They had never even seen a boat. Millard analyzes the tribe’s social structure and how they could not come to a consensus about whether or not to attack the invaders. So while the Indians tracked the explorers, they left them alone. Gifts Rondon left along the trail also helped.
Roosevelt contracted malaria and barely survived the journey. He never fully recovered and died several years later. The river was renamed the Roosevelt River in his honor.
When you read The River of Doubt, you feel like you are exploring the Amazon along with Roosevelt. Only you are an expert, thanks to Millard.
This review contains afilliate links.
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ReBack when I decided to take blogging more seriously, I began following Darren Rowse of Problogger.Net. I like Darren because
In his e-book, 31 Days to a Better Blog, Darren helps bloggers of all levels learn and practice new skills and techniques. This book is for anyone who wants to develop a blog, whether you see your blog as a hobby or the road to a full-time career. You can do the exercises over a week, a month, or as long as you need.
Order this week to get three bonuses for the New Year. Click here to view more details.
Update: Reader Se7en left the following comment:
“I did the 31 days when it first came out and I tell you I can’t praise it enough… It really was fantastic and a blogging breakthrough for me.”
I’m reading Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom—and Revenge
As throughout history, Jews found creative ways to thrive in a hostile environment. One colorful character is Moroccan Samuel Palache, who may be related to author Hayim Palaggi. Son of an illustrious scholarly family, Palache received rabbinic ordination but engaged in international trade, legal and illegal, both for profit and to find a safe haven for his people. Palache also worked to ally Holland and Morocco against Spain, but when he turned to Spain he was suspected as a double agent. The Spanish monarchy couldn’t live with the Jews, but it turned out they could not live without them either. Kritzler maintains that Palache remained loyal to his people until the end.
Equally fascinating is Kritzler’s description of the new Jewish community in Amsterdam, comprised of Portuguese refugees who had been hiding their Judaism for several generations. These former conversos suffered from a literal understanding of Jewish law and a totalitarian approach to enforcing Jewish communal norms, absorbed from the culture of the Inquisition.
The book suffers from poor editing both of individual sentences and overall structure. Yet Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean describes, with humor and psychological insight, the early settlement of Jamaica and Brazil by Spanish and Portuguese Jews. The Inquisition later followed these Jews to the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Kritzler highlights economic considerations involved in Jewish persecution, showing how religious fervor diminished when the monarchy could benefit from Jewish activity. Jewish Pirates tells of an unusual chapter in both Jewish and world history.
Note: If you decide to order the book via Amazon through the links above, I will earn a small commission. Thank you.
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Writing Group Exercise: Show, Don’t Tell
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The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson is a sequel to The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. When someone from the book club asked my opinion I described it as a poorly translated, stilted, violent, adventure story with wildly improbably plot turns. But one of the women in my book club loved it. She says that that is just how the Swedish write. So I decided to try the sequel. One of the early scenes describe a shopping trip to Ikea in three page, including the color of each item purchased for outfitting her new apartment. But I stuck with it, and by the time I was a third of the way through I was hooked.
There are two main characters: Lisbeth, a brilliant yet socially inept young woman with a history of abuse. An accomplished computer hacker, she has been hurt so badly by the system that she refuses to cooperate with authorities. She is declared mentally unfit and assigned a guardian. The guardian rapes and abuses her, but Lisbeth gets the better of him and manages to escape and live more or less successfully on her own.
Mikael is an established journalist who befriends Lisbeth when they work together solve a serial murder case and uncover the biggest financial scam in Swedish history. When Lisbeth is accused of three murders at the beginning of the second novel, he works to prove her innocence.
I don’t know why it still surprises me when Jews turn up in unexpected places, like Swedish adventure novels. Some characters in the first novel had a Nazi past but I didn’t expect the detective in charge of the muhttp://www.amotherinisrael.com/wp-admin/post-new.phprder investigation to be a Jew. He wears a yarmulke on “certain high holy days,” orders vegetarian meals in restaurants, and avoids working on the Sabbath. But I’m not sure how his Jewishness developed the plot.
I’ll warn you that the novel contains graphic descriptions of the Swedish underworld. But if you enjoy a fast-paced novel with unusual, well-developed characters, I recommend both The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played wtih Fire. Unfortunately, Larsson died shortly after delivering the third manuscript in the series.
If you enjoyed this post you might also like:
Review: Through the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong
Reading the Little House Books
For Those with Low Housekeeping Standards: She Got Up Off the Couch, by Haven Kimmel
Daniel Gordis, Senior Vice President and Senior Fellow of the Shalem Center, sent me a review copy of his new book, Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End
“How was it in jail?” my friend from Los Angeles asked them. Again, I felt my hands gripping the arms of my chair. “Very good,” Mahmoud said. “No,” my friend insisted, certain that Mahmoud had not understood. “In jail, how was it for you in jail?” “Yes,” Mahmoud persisted, “very good.”
In the Egyptian jail, where he had been held for demonstrating outside the UN office, 60 men had to take turns sleeping on the floor in a single cell. In the Israeli jail, they got their own beds and three hot meals a day. Gordis’s point is clear. Those who set out to criticize Israel will find plenty of material. But an unbiased, outsider’s view, often tells a different story. My husband pointed out that Gordis sounds like an American liberal who needed to adjust his views when he arrived in Israel. That explains why Saving Israel contains a chapter on the difference between American-style democracy and Israeli-style democracy. The United States was founded to allow equality for everyone. But Israel was founded to improve the condition of the Jewish people. Both are strong democracies, yet have different goals. Gordis devotes two chapters to explain the painful reality that Arabs in Israel, while enjoying equal rights on an individual level (despite discrimination that should be eliminated), cannot have the same status on a national level without negating the reason for Israel’s existence. Saving Israel is an excellent book for anyone neutral about Israel, or confused about why the Jewish people in modern times need their own state. Gordis describes the appalling condition of the Jews after the Holocaust and what the foundation of Israel meant to them, something hard for the younger generation to appreciate. The first half of the book describes the insidious nature and injustice of relentless and ongoing physical, moral and political attacks on Israel and Jews. He explains that while Judaism does not glorify war and abhors cruelty, pacifism is not a Jewish value. It didn’t work to prevent the Holocaust, and can’t work for any sovereign state with powerful enemies. I read it in sections because there was so much to absorb and because Gordis’ personal, conversational tone, unusual for this type of book, irritated me at times. In Saving Israel, Gordis presents the many dilemmas faced by Israel an answers common charges made against Israel and Zionism. Read it for yourself or give a copy to an ambivalent friend. Whether or not you agree, it will make you think about the issues on a deeper level. More book reviews: She Got Up Off the Couch, by Haven Kimmel Through the Narrow Gate, by Karen Armstrong Show, Don’t Tell. Features a writing exercise based on a passage from another of Brooks’ books. Rashi’s Daughters, Book I, by Maggie Anton.
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