In this book, Kim Chernin speaks to mothers and daughters who are trying to connect or reconnect to each other. She tells the stories of many mothers and daughters, including the story of her own relationship with her mother and with her daughter. The concept of giving birth to your mother is one in which a daughter can go through feelings of anger, disappointment, and whatever other feelings she might have toward her mother, take these feelings, and then try to give birth to her own mother, possibly through therapy, through self-care, or something else. I have recommended this book to many clients who struggle with their relationship with their mothers; it is a refreshing, poignant, honest, and enjoyable read.

i loved what chernin had to say about the importance of telling your mother-story over and over until you reach a place of understanding with your idea of your mother as a person. i feel like i am doing this now and this book was a wonderful guide - great stories by all the women.

Chernin describes a way to unravel the knot that binds mothers and their daughters. The first 46 pages are the guide...the rest are stories of women who collectively speak as Everywoman. Chernin's listening skills are apparent on every page, as is her warmth and empathy.

I had been looking for a collection of writings by female writers that could inspire and lift my spirits in these darker days. I was fortunate enough to receive "A Woman's Path" edited by Lucy McCauley, Amy G. Carlson and Jennifer Leo as a gift from a friend. What a little treasure.

With stories by Anne Lamott, Maya Angelou, Linda Ellerbee, and the editors I was struck by the purely sensitive and female perspective of these writings. I loved the sense of pilgrimage and journey and truly believe this could be that one book I keep in my backpack for those day long / week long / month long excursions I am lucky enough to take. It's travelers bible and will keep you company along your way.

Really beautiful and highly recommended!

I was very impressed by the stories included here--Anne Lamott, Maya Angelou, Natalie Goldberg, Kim Chernin...etc. These are not dry stories about spirituality--but rather transformative tales about how these women writers are changed by their travel experiences. Very inspirational and illuminating-read this book.

While looking for information, inspiration (and even a little soothing) in the travel section of the bookstore a few days ago, I picked up this book. Taking you through the highs and lows of life and traveling, it is especially wonderful for anyone who is planning to do a bit of exploring on their own. The stories speak in many different voices from many different places, but all with one strangely similar and strong spirit. It has been so enjoyable that I after I finish this review, I'm going to buy another book in the series. A beautiful collection - buy it, read it, and travel!

This book changed my life. I have read dozens of novels and texts on eating disorders, but only this one granted a new understanding and awarenss. Along with 'Women Who Run with the Wolves', by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, 'The Hungry Self' stands as an intensely emotional and complex piece on women and identity.

Kim Chernin has explored the dangerous and complex world of women's eating disorders with more intelligence and research than most, and this book does the most justice to the power of her ideas. It would be a disservice to her to sum up Chapters here -- suffice it to say that anyone who truly wants to understand this important issue with respect to its depth and power should step up to Chernin's level.

This thoughtful, powerful, and well-researched study of women`s preoccupation with food and weight is one of the best feminist reads ever. I began the book with expectations of simply enjoying a valid cultural history of food and eating. Soon, however, I could`nt put it down, as I recognized myself and many of my friends and relatives in Chernin`s case histories and literary examples. She captures perfectly the feelings of guilt and low self-esteem that ensue when you don`t stick to a society-prescribed diet, even though that diet may be harming you physically and emotionally. She mentions at length the uneasiness felt by women who are miraculously happy with their bodies, because a culture and media obsessed with willowy, thin figures subtly pressure them to feel uneasy. The structure of the book is set up as a neat balance between real-life studies of anorexia and other weight disorders juxtaposed with cultural and literary views on women and their appetites and figures. The section on Margaret Atwood`s novel "The Edible Woman" and its treatment of the anorexic personality is just one instance where Chernin`s insights amaze you. At the book`s fascinating conclusion, I felt like cheering. It makes one feel proud to be a woman, no matter what size you wear or which body part you dislike. I`m not going to say that it turned my entire self-image around, but it definitely helped set me on a path of self- discovery and liking my physical body beter. That`s why I hope today`s young women will find and read it, too. Oh, and the poem comparing designer jeans to girdles is priceless!

I read The Obsession back in 1980, when it first appeared. I was struggling with a severe eating disorder, and thought my problem had to do with will power and discipline. The Obsession was one of three books I read that year that literally turned my life around: the other two were Feeding the Hungry Heart, by Geneen Roth, and Fat is a Feminist Issue, by Susie Orbach. Each gave me a different, and crucial, perspective on my own struggles. Kim Chernin's book reminded me that the craze for skinniness is a very recent development in Western culture; that it has everything to do with the power dynamics of our society, and nothing to do with whether we're good or bad people based on our size; and that the most powerful female figures in history have been amply endowed, if not (by modern standards) downright fat. After reading this book, I felt like a warrior goddess for weeks. It helped me let go of a lot of self-hatred and confusion about my body. Kim Chernin is also an exquisite writer - there were passages that literally took my breath away. I give this book my highest recommendation for any woman struggling with her body image, or any reader wanting to understand women's minds at a deeper level.

Kim Chernin's latest effort, THE GIRL WHO WENT AND SAW AND CAME BACK is an incredible book, quite different from any other novel I've read. Mignon is a troubled and mysterious figure, who appears and disappears from Charlie, the protagonist's life, over the course of a lifetime. It's a quite provocative premise and Chernin does an excellent job of creating an element of suspense and addressing difficult issues. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to read intelligent fiction.

Chernin has such a wonderful and lurid character in Minon, a young, yet old-souled little girl. I loved how she wove her characters lives together in a natural and transfixing way. THe book is a treasure. Look for other EdgeWork publications on Amazon, they are a growing body of amazing work.

A compelling true story about an altruistic woman's growth as a charismatic communist organizer and the challenges/sacrifices she and her family face as a result of her ideals and activism. Starts with the mother's version of her life, including the exhilarating but few years spent in the Soviet Union shortly after the revolution, and ends with daughter's darker experience in Soviet Union and her struggle to accept her mother while rejecting her ideology.

"In My Mother's House" provides an eye-opening look at a period of history when ordinary people felt like they truly could change the world. Many may find the stark black and white view of communist activity in America they were taught in school no longer rings true.

When the mother and daughter describe their own activities, the reading is effortless. However, when Chernin diverges to comment upon the actual process of storytelling, the reader can become annoyed and bogged down by Chernin's excessive self-absorbed emoting. However, this is a tiny part of the book and can be easily skimmed over.

Rose's story is very inspirational. Many will be motivated to look at their own lives and activities and ponder how they can be of more service. Rose Chernin was a tiny woman, but fueled by her strong dedication to justice and fairness, she was able to inspire other idealistic people to change discriminatory laws and create numerous needed community organizations, such as daycare for working women.

This is a book about idealism, finding a purpose in life, mothers and daughers, feminism, communism, unions, American history, and much more. A good read for active minds.

Kim Chernin offers a heart-felt portrayal of matriarchial family history, using both her mother's unique voice and her own. Eloquantly and honestly written, Chernin sits the reader at her mother's (Rose Chernin) feet to experience first-hand the stories told in her mother's house. Born in Russia in the early 1900's, Rose speaks through Kim simply, with exquisit detail about life in the Russian Pale of Settlement, her families move to New York and her alliance with the communist party. If for no other reason, this book is worth reading purely for the portrayal of Rose's voice.

This is Kim Chernin, merely wishing to point out that you list In My Mother's House as highly available, and as at the same time out of print. It isn't out of print. I hope you can correct this. thanks. Kim

The best thing about this hard cover volume of 204 pages, is the photo on the dust jacket of a young, very attractive, and very butch looking woman.

The book actually is somewhat mis-titled, as the story has more to do with the main character's obsession with a neighborhood acquaintance who becomes a close friend, named Hadamar.
When the book begins, the main character, Kim Chernin,( it is told in the first person), is a young married woman in her thirties.
She seems to have a rather nice husband named Max, and a daughter who has gone off to college.
For reasons that remain rather vague, Kim decides to suddenly become a boy.
Oddly enough she never identifies herself as being butch.

Kim and Hadamar at times speak in vague, odd ways. The book does offer a somewhat unusual and unexpected twist when Kim returns from a women's gathering and discovers what Hadamar has been up to during her absence.

This alone made the book worth reading.
As a lesbian who reads numerous lesbian works of fiction, I found I could relate to some of Kim's feelings, and have experienced knowing a woman similiar to Hadamar.

However, the book is written in an odd, disconnected kind of way.

First, I was jealous of your priveleged lifestyle... no apparent work, surrounded by those who have the money and the leisure time to seek self-fulfillment. Oh, for the luxury of pondering! If you had less time on your hands, you may have made it with this babe, or you may have searched elsewhere sooner. I floundered for almost two years too; a first-timer, groping for someone inaccessible. Twenty years later, she still occupies my thoughts and rains on me like sadness on an umbrella. I applaud you for baring your mind and heart, and hope to run into you some day in Berkeley. Yes, life is serious

Ms. Chernin's autobiographical vignette is a well constructed narrative of her transformation from timid married woman and mother into a strong, impulsive lesbian. She likens this new power she has to the power a boy has. Personally, I think she is a little hung up on gender stereotyping but her point is well taken. It's a tightly written little book that should be of interest to women of all types, but especially for those of us interested in butch-femme dynamics as well as the transition from wife into lesbian. One does sort of get the feeling that had she not lived in Berkeley and been surrounded by fabulously interesting people, she might never have made this transformation, but she did and has created a very nice example of autobiography as a result

This book not only shares the horrifying tales of several unhealthy mother/daughter relationships, but it also examines the process of actually sharing those stories -- how women remember and retell the tales. A therapist might find such analysis interesting, but the average reader will not. Also, the stories are WAY beyond what most of us think of as struggles with our moms or daughters.

Obviously the previous reviewer assumes all mother daughter relationships are like her own. For me, this book was an engrossing study of various themes in relationships, some of which are quite familiar and relevant to my own relationships with my mother and daughter. I found it a helpful and interesting book, and recommend it to all my friends and family.

Who said all families are dysfunctional? Kim Cernin helps prove it, but also offers creative and healthy ways to relate to our mother and daughter(s). It seems that as women we share common expectations of the 'right' way for good daughters and mothers to behave ... expectations that none of us can possibly live up to. In a series of artfully told stories, Ms. Cernin recounts ways her patients in therapy work to accept themselves and their mothers and learn to nuture themselves as they wish their mothers had. Ms. Cernin has made her book intimate and accessable by weaving in stories of her own daughter and mother. She confirmed for me that this is the some of the most important psychological work women do, that there are no instant solutions, and that it is a lifelong and ongoing task. It was a great relief for me to read stories so similar to my own attempts to understand and be understood by the most important women in my life. I wholeheartedly recommend "The Woman Who Gave Birth to Her Mother." I plan to send it to all my female relatives as soon as it comes out in paperback!

If what you're after is a self-indulgent opus created by the representative of an elitist club apparently bent on rediscovering their own sexuality by squatting over a mirror, then The Passion of Song is for you.

One cannot help but feel that, not unlike Cecilia Bartoli's first TV appearances on Fantastico in her native Italy, this book was completely out of her control, and that that show, together with The Passion of Song, could go a long way towards creating completely the wrong perception of the singer.

Apart from the second half of the book, which dispenses mildly interesting details about what are presumably key performances in Bartoli's career, this publication has precious little to offer. For heaven's sake, we all know Bartoli is a beautiful, sensuous young woman, with an extraordinary voice and astonishing talent (they're not the same thing) - that's why we bought The Passion of Song... to find out where she came from, and where she's going! The book didn't say...

I should have given The Passion of Song to someone I don't like on or shortly after page 18, where the author buys her Bartoli CDs and then takes them home in order NOT to listen to them, while she replays the singer's Berkeley concert over and over in her mind. It was at that point that I started suspecting that what I was in fact reading was not a biography, but an autobiography, during the course of which the author was turning herself into a sort of operatic Nelson Mandela, with a monkey the size of the original Fafner on her back.

I am an unadulterated Bartoli fan, and I'm very sad about having bought and (partly) read The Passion of Song. It's going to be a long old time before I can listen to the Bartoli voice again without feeling like having a bath afterwards... and I have this author to thank for it. Incidentally, I never did finish reading it - I was dreading the moment I turned a page, only to be told that Bartoli is a Leo, with Mars (who is Female, now you come to mention it) in the ascendant in Aquarius, or something equally, well, shall we settle for "startling?"

This book achieves a remarkable balance between the authors' enthusiasm for Ms. Bartoli and their obvious knowledge of opera and music. What distinguishes this book from others of this genre is its well-modulated emotional timbre and the willingness of its authors to express their emotional as well as intellectual analysis of Ms. Bartoli's work.

This book is a treasure for current Bartoli fans and could tempt even the most devoted heavy metal rocker to venture with her into the intense and passionate world that Chernin and Stendhal so deftly portray.

Some may be skeptical of a biography of Cecilia Bartoli at such an early point in her - hopefully long - career. Not to worry. This book is really a description of a fan's passion. Ms Chernin's writing is both rapturous and down to earth, and extremely readable, to boot. This first section describes the author's experience of five recitals or concerts; a lengthy interview; and a description of a master class given by Ms. Bartoli's teacher and mother. It is a delight, and would appeal to all music lovers. The second section, by Ms Stendhal, is more objective. It details ten years of performances, with all the statistics that any die-hard diva fan would want. Thus the combination of the two sections produces a book of broad appeal. Highly recommended.

Psychoanalysis is indisputably a worthy subject -- academically, personally -- but in this disappointing foray Chernin is so self-absorbed that it's annoying. It's more a diary than anything else. Chernin has said it all before, and so this book is not very interesting or illuminating.

I do love this book. I recommend it for mental health professionals, mental health professionals in training, and for individuals who have been committed to their own counseling, psychotherapy, or psychoanalysis, past or present.

Chernin relates her own experiences with psychoanalysis--a stunning 25 years--with candor, eloquence, and yearning. She openly acknowledges the ways in which she needed to grow, the ways in which psychoanalysis was able to help her, and the ways in which psychoanalysis eluded her. Because psychoanalysis is a consuming enterprise, many choose to undertake it for brief periods of time; Chernin is admiringly frank about how consuming psychoanalysis can be, and the toll it had on her personal relationships at times. In my opinion, having devoted 25 years of her life to psychoanalysis makes Chernin uniquely qualified to talk about its benefits and limitations in depth.

Again, I do love this book. I love the yearning and devotion with which she lived her life, and the way in which she describes figuring out different things about herself (e.g., she realized that when she was angry at another person and felt compelled to eat, that the eating was an act of aggression that she took out on herself). She writes frankly about her love for her therapists, and the way she still misses the first one years later. The writing is beautiful--she describes fascinating dreams that she has of arriving too late for her therapy appointments, she reflects that possibly a stitch could be dropped in the self's early knitting that makes it impossible to heal no matter how dense the analytic texture. I found it inspiring to read that every year she was a more coherent self, more able to produce a body of writing and to have deeper relationships.

I do love this book. I recommend it very highly.