Emily Flake

A fun, quick read about pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn care, with a coda about toddlers. The author lives in/near Park Slope, Brooklyn, a.k.a. Ground Zero of the yuppie/hipster parenting wars. She's an excellent observer of this environment and about early parenthood in general: Mama Tried is laugh-out-loud funny, sprinkled with gross, graphic, entirely true bits. Pages of narrative are interspersed with illustrations and pages of cartoons (e.g. Why is my baby crying?). A great gift book show more (I think? Depending on the receiver's sense of humor?) for expectant parents, new parents, veteran parents.

See also: Welcome to the Club by Raquel D'Apice, Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary

Quotes

I didn't feel a deep sense of her belonging to me so much as profound sense of stewardship of her. She belonged to herself, but had been given to us for safekeeping. Perhaps it was a little magical after all. (33)

I'm not entirely sure she even knows her real name. She might think "Augustine" is a thing I say when she's in trouble. (71)

[illustration of an empty toilet paper roll and a set of keys, captioned "Really the only toys you need for the first year"] (77)

A tendency toward glibness can be a gift; it keeps you from panicking too quickly and can help leaven a heavy situation. (85)

[On the breastmilk vs formula debate] People always feel entitled to say some shit to you about how you should be doing something differently. You are well within your rights to tell these people to go fuck themselves. (111)

Baby care, especially in the early days, is lonesome, isolating work. You have, in effect, moved to a new country, one where you don't know anyone yet and you haven't moved any of your stuff in and your friends won't come visit you because you live on the moon and if they do, all of a sudden you don't speak the same language anymore. (127)

[On the fun of toddlers] I liked having a baby when she was one, but babies are, unless you're a serious Baby Person, a bit boring. (174) show less

I think this author could be my soul mate. The parts on breastfeeding were so spot on I nearly laughed myself sick. As a new mom with a 3 month old, I could relate to almost everything here. Except for the stuff on smoking and binge drinking.

Well-done graphic essay about Flake's relationship to cigarettes. I enjoyed it, and think she did a beautiful job illuminating the tenacious hold that nicotine has on people.

Both cynical and sweet. Too crude for my taste, and I wasn't a fan of the art. Some of the essays/comics made me laugh, but the last essay was a huge bummer.