Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids, & Rock 'n' Roll [Hardcover]

Evelyn McDonnell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007

Any parent may ask, "What's the connection between my youthful self and the old fart my kids think I am?" The question is especially relevant for Evelyn McDonnell, a Janie-come-lately breeder looking back on her bohemian, feminist, punk-rock glory days and wondering, is the new me still the old me? The answer is yes: A baby changes everything but your self. In fact, though she may no longer write fanzines or engage in political performance art, McDonnell's revolutionary spirit is strengthened by having an added investment in the future--her toddler son and teen stepdaughters. As she makes the 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, poetry, and Rent. Through this pop-culture lens she confronts the conventions and pressures of modern motherhood. Part of an emerging generation of cultural commentators and memoirists, McDonnell adds an original, humorous, and edgy voice to the ongoing literature of motherhood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a lightweight offering, McDonnell, a 1990s music critic and a former editor at the Village Voice, explores the harmonious convergence of art and motherhood at age 40. Born to suburban bohemians in Milwaukee the year the Beatles played Ed Sullivan's show, McDonnell was weaned on the Jackson 5 and the women's movement, blow-dried hair and cowl necks, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop. She attended Brown at the height of its coolness, and found "refuge in noise." Moving to Manhattan's East Village in 1989, she got a job as a copy editor at the Voice, a pacesetter in rock criticism, which segued into writing for other magazines. Her "tomboy soul" was undercut by a short-lived marriage to a man named Tad, but rebounded with a secure job as a senior editor at the Voice. Her romance with a Michigan carpenter with two young daughters, Bud, led to moving them all out to New York, then on to booming, multicultural Miami, where the author got a job as pop music critic at the Miami Herald. Motherhood soon followed in the form of son Cole, and the author has to wing it mostly as a parent and stepparent. Her rather tedious, unenlightening memoir closes as she bemoans the loss of feminist progress in the behavior of Britneys and Jessicas.
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Review

"A fun, refreshing look at the personal journey of a rocker mom." -- Austin Family, May 2007

"Above the...ranks of "mommy-come-lately" lit...often startling personal honesty...Refreshing...rich chronicle of our larger cultural terrain." -- Ocean Drive, March 2007

"It's no surprise that the strength of this "momoir" is its commentary and style." -- Bust, April/May 2007

"McDonnell reports honestly and movingly from the front line of a struggle she never expected to fight." -- Time Out New York, February 8-14, 2007

"McDonnell's sincere and loving memoir is part of an important larger cultural conversation." -- Miami Herald, 2/13/07

"Not just another `momoir,' this is one rockin' read." -- OK! Magazine, 4/23/07

"The resulting wry and heartfelt stories...give this quirky and candid book merit." -- Library Journal, January 2007

"Wry, funny, witty, fast-paced and often delightful." -- InfoDad.com, 3/15/07

"[A] brilliantly honest new book." -- Interview, February 2007

"[McDonnell] has added a smart, funny, and unflinchingly feminist voice to the rising tide of maternal memoirs." -- Seattle Weekly, 5/7/07

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First THUS Edition edition (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738210544
• ISBN-13: 978-0738210544
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,492,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Evelyn McDonnell is assistant professor of journalism and new media at Loyola Marymount University. She has been writing about popular culture and society for more than 20 years. She is the author of three books: Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids and Rock 'n' Roll, Army of She: Icelandic, Iconoclastic, Irrepressible Bjork and Rent by Jonathan Larson. She coedited the anthologies Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop and Rap and Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth. She has been the editorial director of www.MOLI.com, pop culture writer at The Miami Herald, senior editor at The Village Voice, and associate editor at SF Weekly. Her writing on music, poetry, theater, and culture has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including the Los Angeles Times, Ms., Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Spin, Travel & Leisure, Us, Billboard, Vibe, Interview, Black Book, and Option. She codirected the conference Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth at the Dia Center for the Arts in New York in 1998. She has won several fellowships and awards, including an Annenberg Fellowship at USC and a fellowship to the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. Her 2004 Herald expose of hip-hop cops was awarded first place for enterprise reporting by the South Florida Black Journalists Association and second place in the Society of Professional Journalists' Sunshine State Awards. She earned her Master's in Specialized Journalism, the Arts, from USC, where she was chosen for the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. She earned her Bachelor's in American studies, graduating magna cum laude from Brown University. She leaves in San Pedro with her husband, son, many animals, and a fantastic view of the ocean.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars McDonnell delivers weakly on her premise of the rebel mom rock n' roll lifestyle, July 30, 2007

By 

Jessica Lux (Rosamond, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids, & Rock 'n' Roll (Hardcover)

Evelyn McDonnell's memoir has tattoo-inspired cover art, a title to rock your socks off, and a hook: How does a riot grrrl become a rebel mom? McDonnell weakly delivers on the premise, musing about reconciling your old self with your new (mom) identity, but it doesn't make for compelling reading. The story is a chronological account of boyfriends and bands of the moment, a nice people of 1990's nostalgia, a memory book for those people in between the Me Generation and Generation X, but little more. The reader might enjoy the bands, songs, and tales of travels around the world, but this is no end-all book about the rock n' roll motherhood.

McDonnell fancies herself a feminist and intellectual, but her memoir is weakly constructed and the conclusion is merely a rant against modern pop music superstars. I only recommend this memoir if you're looking to relive 1990's hipster life. Don't pick this up expecting to expand your mind.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so revolutionary---, March 26, 2007

By 

Rebekah Lauderdale (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids, & Rock 'n' Roll (Hardcover)

I would suggest buying this book if you want to read about a modern hipster bumping shoulders with celebrities and making it as a writer in New York. If you don't want to listen to McDonnell drone on and on about her credentials and experiences as an East Villager, I would NOT buy it, seeing that this is what approximately 75% of the book focuses on.

This book doesn't even deliver what the title says it will. Rock 'n' Roll, sure. But kids? They don't even enter the picture until over halfway through the book, and her own child arrives much later than that. The sex? Nonexistent, unless you count two pages that discuss her three dates with a woman, or her casual mention of sex with her current husband or former lovers. The title makes it seem as though Mamarama is going to read as some sort of a diary/expose, which it is not. Even the word "memoir" is a stretch. A chronological account of McDonnell's life would be more accurate.

Kids change everyone's life. This is not a revolutionary concept. McDonnell's attempt to integrate her child(ren) into her former life is not a new struggle. She offers no unique perspective to the reader. Moreover, her cultural commentary on the backslide of feminism carries no weight whatsoever when she herself has had extraordinary success as a female writer in what she herself admits is a male-dominated industry, and has essentially attained everything she has ever wanted.

This book is nothing special. McDonnell, obviously, thinks she is something special. Unfortunately, her own book proves otherwise.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book!, February 7, 2007

By 

Amy Clement - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids, & Rock 'n' Roll (Hardcover)

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!