rick2's review
2.0
So here’s what happened. Kim Brooks wrote a blog post about how fed up she was about being prosecuted for leaving her kids in the car outside a target. And because that blog post got some 10M views, and Kim has an advanced degree in English, there is now yet another blog post that has been inflated into a book.
I don’t have kids, full disclaimer. So disregard my opinion if you’re the type of person who does that. And as such I don’t know how I’d actually react to having kids. It’s possible that all my thoughts about this book get completely reversed as soon as I see a positive pregnancy test. I am sure that when you are raising a child, your world becomes myopically focused on that child to an extent, but this book read like a frustrating how not to manuel.
Untreated neuroticism and anxiety bleeds through and ruins what would otherwise would be a mildly interesting examination of middle class child rearing. My dentist liked this book because I ground my teeth through reading most of it. it’s basically what happens when a privileged middle class mom with a MFA in English feels wronged. It’s the Karen-ist of the Karen diatribes. This book is the textual opposite of Xanax and conveys two strong messages.
1. There’s a lot of bullishit out there about raising kids. I think this was the intended message of the book and the author is a good writer so I got the message. thanks.
2. What you don’t examine it in yourself is passed unconsciously to your children. Depictions of backstabbing mommy groups and gossip seemed more of a testament to tolerating shitty friends than I thought it spoke to the universality of modern child rearing. The consistent whine about “I can’t believe I’m being persecuted for this” bled through many of the more interesting examinations of larger context around child rearing and I couldn’t help but think “those poor kids.”
Now I recently (yesterday) finished Empire of the Summer Moon, which depicts the Comanche way of life and it’s decline across the 1800s. And a few days before that a memoir from the women who started BLM which is has a focus on the minority experience growing up in Van Nuys. After hearing about how the settlers and their children existed and the Comanches and their children existed, I found it hard for me to really buy into the modern American myth that “childhood is dangerous” when the vast majority of white middle class kids now survive into adulthood. That thinking is in line with this book, but combine that with the polar opposite experience that minority and lower class populations currently have, and I was way less empathetic than I might have been in regards to this book. It’s seemed like the author spent way too much time rationalizing her experience instead of working on or examining it.
I don’t have kids, full disclaimer. So disregard my opinion if you’re the type of person who does that. And as such I don’t know how I’d actually react to having kids. It’s possible that all my thoughts about this book get completely reversed as soon as I see a positive pregnancy test. I am sure that when you are raising a child, your world becomes myopically focused on that child to an extent, but this book read like a frustrating how not to manuel.
Untreated neuroticism and anxiety bleeds through and ruins what would otherwise would be a mildly interesting examination of middle class child rearing. My dentist liked this book because I ground my teeth through reading most of it. it’s basically what happens when a privileged middle class mom with a MFA in English feels wronged. It’s the Karen-ist of the Karen diatribes. This book is the textual opposite of Xanax and conveys two strong messages.
1. There’s a lot of bullishit out there about raising kids. I think this was the intended message of the book and the author is a good writer so I got the message. thanks.
2. What you don’t examine it in yourself is passed unconsciously to your children. Depictions of backstabbing mommy groups and gossip seemed more of a testament to tolerating shitty friends than I thought it spoke to the universality of modern child rearing. The consistent whine about “I can’t believe I’m being persecuted for this” bled through many of the more interesting examinations of larger context around child rearing and I couldn’t help but think “those poor kids.”
Now I recently (yesterday) finished Empire of the Summer Moon, which depicts the Comanche way of life and it’s decline across the 1800s. And a few days before that a memoir from the women who started BLM which is has a focus on the minority experience growing up in Van Nuys. After hearing about how the settlers and their children existed and the Comanches and their children existed, I found it hard for me to really buy into the modern American myth that “childhood is dangerous” when the vast majority of white middle class kids now survive into adulthood. That thinking is in line with this book, but combine that with the polar opposite experience that minority and lower class populations currently have, and I was way less empathetic than I might have been in regards to this book. It’s seemed like the author spent way too much time rationalizing her experience instead of working on or examining it.
real_life_reading's review
2.0
Brooks was pretty thorough in her research and I could totally see exactly how all of the points in her book play out in my life. I totally judge my own parenting based on how I think others might judge my parenting. I totally did the same thing with planning the births of my children and doing all the research to make sure I was informed on exactly how I could make it the best.
I did feel like Brooks' writing was a bit all over the place, and it was sometimes difficult for me to follow her sequencing of events and arguments. 2.5 stars.
I did feel like Brooks' writing was a bit all over the place, and it was sometimes difficult for me to follow her sequencing of events and arguments. 2.5 stars.
cook_memorial_public_library's review
4.0
A 2019 staff favorite recommended by Jean. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Ssmall%20animals%20brooks__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
aszalecki's review
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! This is for any mom who is caught in the rat race of parenting kids in today’s society, with the culture of “mom shaming and social media comparison.
lbkimmerly's review
5.0
EVERYONE should read this book, parents and non-parents. Insightful and thought-provoking social commentary.
crscarberry84's review
5.0
This book was fantastic. I'm so glad to not be the only parent who looks at other parents like they are crazy. There seems to be an overly, irrational fear in today's parenting that not only gives much unneeded stress and anxiety to parents, but projects the same to their children. It's not only the fear of the unknown and unknowable that has grown, but there is a fear of looking like a bad parent to other parents, who whether they believe so or not are judgy and competitive. I'm over simplifying the book, but Kim does an amazing job of researching, interviewing, and interacting with other parents and experts in the field of childhood development and sociology. In the end, I'm still letting my son walk to the park by himself.
gummifrog's review
5.0
These days, older generations bemoan the fact that kids don't play outside - but was anybody aware of the pressure that is placed on modern-day mothers to constantly coddle and stifle their kids, to supervise them almost every second of every day? Kim Brooks opens the eyes of anyone who has ever considered being a parent in this captivating memoir, which is chock-full of shocking anecdotes and fascinating statistics. Small Animals sheds light on the fact that communities of mothers tend to be competitive rather than supportive, hoping to get a leg up on the women around them rather than lifting them up and choosing to support their children in becoming independent individuals. This was a fascinating, heart-wrenching read that will hopefully change the tide of parenting in generations to come.
justjoshinreads's review
5.0
I devoured this book in one day yesterday and kept waking up during the night thinking about it. Small Animals is part memoir and part sociological analysis. It’s an honest, well-researched look at how batshit crazy modern American parenting has become. The book starts when Kim Brooks decides it’s not worth the fight to get her son out of the car to run into Target for one thing so she leaves him in the car, locked, not too hot, happily occupied by a game on a tablet, for 5 minutes to grab headphones for a plane trip. He was fine and perfectly happy when she returned. Interspersed in the rest of the book are the two years following, when she gets home and finds someone had taken video of her son in the car and called the police.
The bulk of this book is a mixture of interviews and case studies, conversations, and her own thoughts about the fear drives modern parenting: Judgement, avoidance of judgement, Irrational and improbable what-if scenarios, competition, social pressures, class and race. Brooks does the research and takes the time to uncover why parents, and mothers in particular, are overwhelmed, frenetic, unhappy, and forced to parent as a competitive sport. The writing is easy and friendly, and doesn’t read like a textbook. I felt like it was a conversation with a friend and found myself identifying with nearly every chapter, like it was an echo of my own feelings and conversations with other moms. If you’re a parent you should read this book, it will change the way you think about raising your kids and what it’s doing to them, to you, to our society. 5/5 stars ⭐️
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Goodreads giveaways in exchange for an honest review.
The bulk of this book is a mixture of interviews and case studies, conversations, and her own thoughts about the fear drives modern parenting: Judgement, avoidance of judgement, Irrational and improbable what-if scenarios, competition, social pressures, class and race. Brooks does the research and takes the time to uncover why parents, and mothers in particular, are overwhelmed, frenetic, unhappy, and forced to parent as a competitive sport. The writing is easy and friendly, and doesn’t read like a textbook. I felt like it was a conversation with a friend and found myself identifying with nearly every chapter, like it was an echo of my own feelings and conversations with other moms. If you’re a parent you should read this book, it will change the way you think about raising your kids and what it’s doing to them, to you, to our society. 5/5 stars ⭐️
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Goodreads giveaways in exchange for an honest review.