Family Room: Book & Magazine Reviews

Mothers Who Think

Edited by Camille Peri and Kate Moses of SALON Magazine

Villard, 1999. Hardcover
Washington Square Press, 2000. Paperback

Among the nearly 40 entries in this tantalizing volume are essays on such unlikely topics as waterbeds, cold coffee, lust and rage. Gathered together from the first two years of material published in the Mothers Who Think department of the on-line magazine SALON, the authors of these essays are “grappling with the new and compelling ideas that motherhood has dangled before them.”

If you find the title of the book a bit off-putting, know this: Mothers Who Think stands in sharp contrast to the corporate and consumer-driven tedium of mainstream parenting magazines. These essays are honest, intelligent and thought provoking — and many have significant literary merit. Collectively they will prod you out of any complacency you’ve let your good mind stray into — some will touch you to your very core and all are relevant to the issues faced by today’s parents and families. Highly recommended!