Martha N. Beck
Paperback | Pages: 336 pages Rating: 3.83 | 9244 Users | 1291 Reviews
Define Books Toward Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
| Original Title: | Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic |
| ISBN: | 0425174484 (ISBN13: 9780425174487) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Explanation In Pursuance Of Books Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
The "slyly ironic, frequently hilarious"(Time) memoir about angels, academics, and a boy named Adam...A national bestseller and an important reminder that life is what happens when you're making other plans.
Put aside your expectations. This "rueful, riveting, piercingly funny" (Julia Cameron) book is written by a Harvard graduate--but it tells a story in which hearts trump brains every time. It's a tale about mothering a Down syndrome child that opts for sass over sap, and it's a book of heavenly visions and inexplicable phenomena that's as down-to-earth as anyone could ask for. This small masterpiece is Martha Beck's own story--of leaving behind the life of a stressed-out superachiever, opening herself to things she'd never dared consider, meeting her son for (maybe) the first time...and "unlearn[ing] virtually everything Harvard taught [her] about what is precious and what is garbage."
"Beck [is] very funny, particularly about the most serious possible subjects--childbirth, angels and surviving at Harvard." --New York Times Book Review
"Immensely appealing...hooked me on the first page and propelled me right through visions and out-of-body experiences I would normally scoff at." --Detroit Free Press
"I challenge any reader not to be moved by it." --Newsday
"Brilliant." --Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Describe About Books Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
| Title | : | Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic |
| Author | : | Martha N. Beck |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 336 pages |
| Published | : | August 1st 2000 by Berkley Trade (first published January 19th 1999) |
| Categories | : | Autobiography. Memoir. Nonfiction. Biography. Parenting |
Rating About Books Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
Ratings: 3.83 From 9244 Users | 1291 ReviewsEvaluate About Books Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
While the story itself was amazing, I just couldn't get past the authors underhanded bad comments about the LDS church. She lumped all members under what she grew up with. I kept waiting for her to get a clue and realize the "puppets" she had helping her along the way was really God. I kept telling myself I wasn't going to finish reading the book but I kept going back in hopes that she would wise up. For a Harvard graduate with a bunch of degrees she isn't all that wise. If I had known moreA fantastic, poignant, funny, moving memoir from Martha Beck, one of my all time favorite authors. This is about her experience of being pregnant with a son she found out would have Down Syndrome while pursuing a Ph.D. at Harvard and raising another daughter, alternating with chapters about examples of the magic her son brought into her life as he grew up -- proving that a disorder she thought would be an unbearable burden ended up being her greatest gift and teacher. Gave me an amazing sense of
I am going to have a tough time writing this review. And I really don't even want to write much of anything because all my criticisms make me think I am writing just like Martha N. Beck, Ph.D., shallow as hell, narcissist above all. But anyway, the blurbs and jacket cover are misleading, so I'm adding to the reviews that attempt to give a clearer picture of what is going on in this book.Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic is a pregnancy memoir. Beck, a Harvard
I love people with Down's Syndrome. I am bothered by the fact that 90% of fetuses with a known dianosis of Trisomy 21 are aborted. It scares me that the world can do away with anyone who is not perfect.Favorite quotes:"...the word 'mother' is more powerful when it is used as a verb that as a noun. Mothering has little to do with biological reproduction. You can always find it, if you're smart and know where to look.""...the Taoist saying that "when two great forces collide, the victory will go
This book was recommended to me as a wonderful read, filled with spiritual strength. Unfortunately, I had a very different experience with it. It greatly disturbs me that so many women have been duped by this book.It's a memoir of Martha Beck's spiritual struggle as she gives birth to a son with Down Syndrome. In reality, it's the story of a woman's fall from truth and grace. She repeatedly rejected the hand of the Lord reaching out to her during her time of need. After I read the book, I
To the friends (and other Goodreads readers) who chastise me when I say this book touches my soul: I know. I know Martha Beck grew up Mormon, left the Church, and wrote a nasty book where she accused all Mormons of being child molesters and liars and other things. I've heard it all several times before, so I'm going to ignore any comments that point this out to me. (And by the way, that other book of hers wasn't nearly as bad as everyone says.)Martha and her husband, John, are in post-graduate
Here's the review I wrote on Amazon a couple years ago when we read this book for book club:As an LDS woman, Harvard alum, mother, and friend to someone who has Down Syndrome, I anticipated loving this book. I somehow imagined that Beck's experiences might have mirrored mine, that I would find in her a kindred spirit. I was wrong. Beck's Harvard is inhabited with mean-spirited, intensely competitive, narrowly focused, hamsteresque charicatures. None of the students or professors has the wisdom,
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