About the Book
"What we had in mind, when my friends and I threw away our bras, was power.We wanted the world to widen to women. We wanted more respect, higher wages, better marriages than our mothers', bigger lives than any generation of womenhad ever known.""We had big plans for men, too. The more optimistic among us envisioned a newbreed of men who would cook and cry, go to therapy and diaper babies, assist usin achieving the multiple orgasms we so deserved, and then pop out of bed toclean the bathroom."
Meredith Maran's first book, "What It's Like to Live Now," was anamazingly candid and often hilarious memoir of her journey from a sixtiesidealist to a nineties new woman, complete with two teenage sons, a femalelover, and a hefty mortgage. Now, with the same reckless honesty, she returnsto explore life--hers and ours, female and male--in the wake of the women'smovement.
Today we earn more money than our mothers did, at jobs they never dreamed ofdoing. We are less likely to stay in unhappy marriages, to bear unwantedchildren. But have we achieved what we set out to accomplish? Dowomen--whether they're twenty or forty or sixty--feel more in control of theirlives? Has feminism made us more--or less--fulfilled in our relationships withmen and with each other?
"I'd marched for reproductive rights, but I still mourned the baby I abortedwhen I was twenty. I'd been in a lesbian relationship for eleven years, butwhen my car broke down I still longed for a husband. I'd picketed beautypageants, but I'd been secretly dieting for fifteen years."
With her keen eye for contradictions, Meredith Maran finds our new realities insurprising places: on a racquetball court facing an unyieldingfemale opponent; before a classroom of high school students, openly discussing her bisexuality; in a courtroom during a sexual abuse trial. Through her singular experiencesshe illuminates the issues millions of women confront daily: her thornyrelationship with her mother; the politics of flirting; the struggle to raisecaring, responsible children in the face of racism and violence.
This is writing we need--alive with humor and emotion and totally engaged withthe life of our times.
Advance Praise for "Notes from an Incomplete Revolution"
"Amid the clatter of debate about what feminism is and isn't, Meredith Maran'sfunny, poignant stories reveal, in real-life terms, the battles we've won andthose we're still fighting."
--Marie C. Wilson, President, Ms. Foundation for Women, and co-author of "Mother Daughter Revolution"
"As guys, we're just glad we had this chance to consider all the heart-opening, provocative questions Meredith raises about women--and men--today."
--Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders, Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.
"This honest and necessary accounting from the front lines of how we live nowshould be read by anyone who cares about women and the future of thefamily."
--Marita Golden, author of "Saving Our Sons: Raising Black Children in aTurbulent World"
Critical acclaim for Maran's previous work, "What It's Like to Live Now"
"Unexpectedly compelling...fascinating, and heartening."
-- "The New York Times Book Review"
"Meredith Maran captures all the heartbreak and glory of coping in difficulttimes."
--Armistead Maupin, author of "Tales of the City"
"A delight...a West Coast, distaff Woody Allen, with a good dollopmorecompassion."
-- "Los Angeles Times"
Review :
Advance Praise for "Notes from an Incomplete Revolution
"Amid the clatter of debate about what feminism is and isn't, Meredith Maran's funny, poignant stories reveal, in real-life terms, the battles we've won and those we're still fighting."
--Marie C. Wilson, President, Ms. Foundation for Women, and co-author of "Mother Daughter Revolution
"As guys, we're just glad we had this chance to consider all the heart-opening, provocative questions Meredith raises about women--and men--today."
--Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders, Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.
"This honest and necessary accounting from the front lines of how we live now should be read by anyone who cares about women and the future of the family."
--Marita Golden, author of "Saving Our Sons: Raising Black Children in a Turbulent World
Critical acclaim for Maran's previous work, "What It's Like to Live Now"
"Unexpectedly compelling...fascinating, and heartening."
--"The New York Times Book Review
"Meredith Maran captures all the heartbreak and glory of coping in difficult times."
--Armistead Maupin, author of "Tales of the City
"A delight...a West Coast, distaff Woody Allen, with a good dollop more compassion."
--"Los Angeles Times "From the Hardcover edition.
