Candidly sharing how they organize their lives to nurture both their children and their craft, Ursula le Guin, Rita Dove, Dorothy Allison, Faith Ringgold, Linda Vallejo, and 20 other remarkable artists and writers illuminate how their challenging and renewing experiences as mothers have shaped their creative work. 25 photos.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
"Art grows organically out of its society at its best... And if your connections happen to be family ones... then that's your world." So speaks Ursula K. LeGuin, on the myth of the isolated artist, in just one of the remarkable interviews in Judith Pierce Rosenberg's "A Question of Balance," where working artist/author moms, ranging from Dorothy Allison to Rita Dove, and many more, wax eloquently, movingly -- and practically -- on how one embraces the gifts of family and children, yet stays true to one's muse. An indispensable book for art-producing moms -- and dads -- everywhere.
From Publishers Weekly
"When I had my daughter, I learned what the sound of one hand clapping is?it's a woman holding an infant in one arm and a pen in the other," says poet and novelist Kate Braverman, who, along with 24 others, describes the often arduous path a woman must travel to combine motherhood with a career as a writer or artist. Certainly she must have the drive and self-discipline to do her work despite the demands of home and family; being organized helps, too, as does having a partner who is emotionally and?just as important, as interviewees stress?financially supportive. Linda Vallejo, who movingly describes how she is fulfilled artistically, spiritually and emotionally as an artist and mother, is also resolutely pragmatic, with a hired housekeeper and a strict work schedule. On the other hand, writer Perri Klass shares caring for the children with her writer husband and describes the couple's laissez-faire system of housework as "both of us do as little as possible.... Which means that we live in a fairly chaotic and messy house." Rosenberg's interviewees, who include such notables as Rita Dove, Ursula LeGuin, Mary Morris, Rosellen Brown and Trina Schart Hyman, offer a wealth of insights into the creative life and motherhood, as well as no-nonsense advice to women seeking to combine the two.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST READ FOR ALL WOMEN!,
By A.L.T. "Avid Reader" (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Question of Balance: Artists and Writers on Motherhood (Paperback)
Whether or not you are an artist or another career-woman, this book offers insight and advice and encouragement to anyone who is struggling with combining ambition and motherhood while keeping sane. I recommend this book to my women's group and any mother I meet.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely Worth Reading,
By JacksonsMom "knarlee1" (New England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Question of Balance: Artists and Writers on Motherhood (Paperback)
As an artist and mother of a toddler with another on the way, I found this book invaluable in helping me see that I am not alone in my frustrations & struggles of balancing my two passions.
There are 11 artists and 14 writers interviewed. While I couldn't relate to every woman featured, I took bits of advice and perspective from most of them. It was the first book I've ever read on this topic and it made me hungry for more. I've listed the artists & writers interviewed below: Artists: Linda Vallejo, Alisa Saar, Sarah Charlesworth, Roxanne Swentzell, Bea Nettles, Karen Horn, Elizabeth Murray, May Stevens, Trina Schart Hyman, Betye Saar & Faith Ringgold Writers: Mary Morris, Cristina Garcia, Perri Klass, Dorothy Allison, Mary Gordon, Rita Dove, Kate Braverman, Joyce Maynard, Patricia Smith, Alicia Suskin Ostriker, Jane Yolen, Linda Hogan, Rosellen Brown, Ursula K. Le Guin
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wish there were more books like this,
By
This review is from: A Question of Balance: Artists and Writers on Motherhood (Paperback)
I find biographies so inspiring and this collection of 25 mini-biographies on artists and writers balancing their craft with motherhood was just what I needed since it addresses what I'm struggling with now. I think what distinguished this book from others I've read on similar topics is that the interviewer included the practicalities, how they actually do it: these women's daily schedules, their weekly schedules, whether they have home help, how the practicalities changed as their children got older. It's such a wide selection of women that you get a great sense of the variety of the ways women cope. She also covers artists and writers of different ages and stages of motherhood - women with babies and women whose children are grown and left home. Such a great book. I wish someone would update it.
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