LITERATURE

Wild Mama: One Woman's Quest To Live Her Best Life, Escape Traditional Parenthood, and Travel the World

by Carrie Visintainer
Thought Catalog. 2015. 216p. ISBN 9780996487108. pap. $18. MEMOIR
COPY ISBN
Visintainer's textual meditation to both discover and define her identity after the birth of her children emphasizes the effort that goes into taking care of one's authentic self. It's ongoing work, something that one can't do just once and then never again. While excited to become a parent, the author worries about the loss of opportunities for adventure and exploration. We learn how she sold her motorcycle to pay for the home birth not covered by her insurance company and about the family yurt trip with her infant son that first sparked her self-realization, as well as the solo trip to Rome that provided an epiphany. What starts out as a search for an individual identity—the author's own—becomes the story of how she and her family have "forged [an] authentic life as a family."
VERDICT With so much pressure on modern parents to "live for their kids," this title is a refreshing reminder that it's both possible and necessary to live for oneself, too.
Reviewed by Staff , Dec 17, 2015
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