Judith Warner

Judith Warner is a good writer. The problem with this book is its lack of ideas. She writes about middle- and upper-middle-class mothers and their unhappiness, but she doesn't offer any real solutions. What she does offer (government programs for mothers including childcare standards and maybe even a government tax credit for working mothers) won't be viable until they're economically necessary for population (and, hence, economic) growth, as in France and Sweden, where the governments show more implement such programs in order to encourage women to have children. show less

A fascinating book which seeks to examine that murky dreadful specter of adolescence: Middle School. Most adults recall it acutely as a painful time full of insecurity, drama, and hurt feelings. Parents with children entering these years dread it for the pain their child might endure and the surly changes which may overcome their once lovely child. It seems a truth universally acknowledged that the Middle School years are especially unpleasant, but why exactly is this? And what can be done show more by parents and educators to improve matters?

The author will conduct interviews, research of developmental psychology, and pour over case studies to see if she can come to a satisfactory answer. The book itself is easy to digest and accessible, if it does have the potential to stir up terrible memories from the reader's past. show less

After reading the "Perfect Madness. Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety" I was honestly wondering why any woman would ever chose to have a child. Maybe Judith Warner just painted a very grim picture, but according to her book it doesn't sound as if there is much to be gained from motherhood. She made it sound like all sacrifice and no play. The ideal of an egalitarian marriage in which all the child rearing and household duties are equally shared seems to be a myth. Apparently mothers still get show more stuck with the most chores and on top of that mothers of today raised the pressure by striving for insanely perfect standards. What happened to feminism? And why aren't more women really upset about this? show less

As a perfectly mad, anxious mother, I found this book a relevant commentary on modern maternal mahem. It lagged in parts, providing too much historical detail for my taste.
What I gained from this book was the comfort that I'm not the only one who thinks this life is crazy, too full and yet oddly empty; and that the village it takes to raise a child is a myth in the modern-nuclear-transient-suburban family. As long as mothers try to be the entire village for their children, they will go mad. show more I didn't learn anything I didn't already suspect, and I wished for more suggestions for change. show less