Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids, and Rock 'n' Roll

By Evelyn McDonnell

Book Overview

Critically acclaimed from Bust to People , this "heartfelt treatise on punk motherhood" (Donna Gaines) is "moving and surprising-a familiar lick performed in an entirely revolutionary way" (Alison Bechdel). Any parent may ask, "What's the connection between my youthful self and the old fart my kids think I am?" It's especially relevant for McDonnell, a recent mom looking back on her bohemian, feminist, punk-rock, East-Village glory days and wondering, is the new me still the old me? As she makes the personal transformation from Riot Grrrl to Rebel Mom, this music journalist gives an eyewitness account of the cultural movements of the '90s, from alternative rock and third-wave feminism to hip-hop, raves, and Rent , and their relationship to the conventions and pressures of motherhood.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738211079
• ISBN13: 9780738211077
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.8" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

excellent book!

OK, so I'm not cool anymore (maybe I never was), but so what? I still have the NYC hip-hop 90's in me which means I can dance and groove when I get the chance. Mamarama is a reminder that the teenager/twenty-something/thirty-something in still in all of us moms. Music, art, deep thoughts, bad deeds, good deeds... all the things we had time for pre-kids are not the past. All you have to do is dig down a little below the everyday chaos to see it's all still there. As McDonnell puts it: 'A baby changes everything: Except your self.' Long live Mamarama!

Funny, smart and nostaglic--read this book

You don't have to be an indie music lover, a feminist, a writer, a NYCophile, or a mom to connect with this book, but if you are any of those things, you will not be able to put it down. McDonnell's perspectives on American life and politics from the 70s on are enlightening and entertaining. She places the experiences of working, protesting, finding friends and cities, and finally mothering, in the larger social context of feminism in a personal and provocative way. I loved this book.

An original and fun journey

I felt like I was reading about my older sister. McDonnell brought back a lot of memories of growing up in the 70's, 80's and 90's. It was a lot of fun reading about how and where her life's path has taken her so far and always trying to stay true to herself. I look forward to reading GRAMARAMA??

mamarama rules

just finish this book and really enjoyed the journey. love, love, love the author's writing, so cutting edge yet sophisticated and funny.

Yes to "Need More Rama"

"Mamarama is about changing the way we look at mothers, about realizing we are the cutting edge, the creators of the future." This book is thought-provoking and engrossing. All stories of motherhood carry a timeless core, an essence of this mind-boggling, mad and divine experience. Mamarama brings the timely to the timeless. The choices available to a human, a woman, a mother, a professional change moment to moment, year by year, decade to decade. Seen from the perspective of McDonell, who is not only an observer and chronicler of current US culture, but someone who has not been afraid to live fully within it, one stops to examine what choices you yourself are making. . . . and taking the precious moment to remind yourself to enjoy the ride.