Unbuttoned: Women Open Up About the Pleasures, Pains, and Politics of Breastfeeding
, . . Harvard Common, $14 (223pp) ISBN 978-1-55832-397-1
In this revealing collection of essays, 25 writers talk about their personal breastfeeding experiences. The beautifully written, heartbreaking first entry, “Breast-Laid Plans” by Heidi Raykeil is about how nursing her daughter for three and a half years helped her become whole again after the loss of her first-born child. In “Motherhood Made a Liar Out of Me,” Daryn Eller writes about feeling left out as the mother of an adopted, bottle-fed daughter and when asked in the playground if her child is weaned, she always answers “yes.” Dawn Porter's “In a Man's World” tackles the difficulties of pumping milk in the workplace, while Patricia Berry is clear on her decision in “Because I Don't Want To,” her husband and La Leche League be damned. The authors are all accomplished writers and their collected emotions and sentiments form a powerful and informative commentary on this most loaded of parenting topics that will especially resonate with anyone who has raised a child.
Reviewed on: 02/23/2009
Genre: Nonfiction
Open Ebook - 240 pages - 978-1-55832-614-9