JANUARY 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Emily Woo Zeller delivers this captivating history of how civilizations across the world raise children. Zeller captures the author’s humor and irony without overshadowing her mission: to give fretting parents a reprieve from overly ambitious parenting advice. Her understated, often charming performance will hold listeners’ attention, giving them time to absorb the colorful stories and insights Jennifer Traig has compiled. This audiobook delivers the weight of its views indirectly over many hours, rather than being too explicit. Zeller’s skillful unfolding and the author’s natural sense of irony make this an entertaining and memorable lesson for parents who are being driven crazy by unrealistic expectations of themselves. T.W. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
The New York Times - Jennifer Szalai
…a fascinating narrative, tracing the long history of mistakes and reversals and cultural presuppositions that have structured our most intimate relationships.
Publishers Weekly
10/15/2018
Traig (Devil in the Details) explores parenting throughout the ages in this alternately hilarious and disturbing historical survey. A mother of two, Traig emphasizes how difficult parenting is in any era, observing that “to do even a half-assed job is a Sisyphean task.” Though the topics explored in different chapters—childbirth, feeding, sibling conflict, sleep, and children’s literature—are familiar, this is no ordinary childcare book. Traig finds a wealth of shocking “historical horrors”; in ancient Rome, for instance, parents often “exposed,” or abandoned, their unwanted offspring, and in later times sent them to “foundling homes,” which almost invariably proved fatal (infanticide and abandonment, Traig writes, functioned, in an era before safe and reliable birth control, as crude forms of “early family planning”). Alongside such ghoulish details, Traig finds amusingly offbeat ones, such as bizarre names bestowed by Puritan parents on their children for purposes of moral instruction (these include Kill Sin, Fly-Fornication, and Faint-Not). Throughout, Traig exhibits a sardonic wit, as when noting the historical curiosity that many early gynecological texts were written by monks, “who presumably knew less about female reproductive anatomy than anyone on the planet.” This information-rich history lesson is so entertaining it may keep parents up reading well past their bedtimes. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Traig mocks contemporary and historical parenting advice with usually spot-on dark humor…. The upside of reading “Act Natural” is that you feel better about whatever nonsense your children have committed, which is the point.” — Wall Street Journal
“In Act Natural, her informative deep dive into Western caretaking, Traig investigates the history of parenting manuals, nutrition, children’s literature, and more to show that, in the end, no one really knows the right way to raise a child. We’re all just doing the best we can.” — Real Simple
“This is the best parenting book I read in a very long time. I recommended it to everyone I could.... After reading through this cultural history of parenting, I feel so much better about many of my parenting choices.” — Book Riot
“With a dry wit, and brutal honesty about her own parenting experience, Traig weaves personal anecdotes throughout this thoroughly researched, incredibly interesting read.... Completely refreshing. Much like parenting itself, Act Natural will teach readers something new in one moment and make them laugh out loud the next.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Traig explores parenting throughout the ages in this alternately hilarious and disturbing historical survey. A mother of two, Traig emphasizes how difficult parenting is in any era.... Traig exhibits a sardonic wit.... This information-rich history lesson is so entertaining it may keep parents up reading well past their bedtimes.” — Publishers Weekly
“In Act Natural, Jennifer Traig brings wit and perspective to the grand stage of late-bloomer parenthood, infusing the by-now tired tropes of new family life with her own brand of zany common sense, irreverence, and deeply-researched understanding. A fundamental parenting guide for parents uninterested in parenting guides.” — Elisa Albert, author of After Birth
“Meticulously researched, engagingly written, and often extremely funny, this excellent book will make you feel much better about your own lousy parenting techniques and decisions.” — Neal Pollack, author of Alternadad
Booklist (starred review)
With a dry wit, and brutal honesty about her own parenting experience, Traig weaves personal anecdotes throughout this thoroughly researched, incredibly interesting read.... Completely refreshing. Much like parenting itself, Act Natural will teach readers something new in one moment and make them laugh out loud the next.
Real Simple
In Act Natural, her informative deep dive into Western caretaking, Traig investigates the history of parenting manuals, nutrition, children’s literature, and more to show that, in the end, no one really knows the right way to raise a child. We’re all just doing the best we can.
Elisa Albert
In Act Natural, Jennifer Traig brings wit and perspective to the grand stage of late-bloomer parenthood, infusing the by-now tired tropes of new family life with her own brand of zany common sense, irreverence, and deeply-researched understanding. A fundamental parenting guide for parents uninterested in parenting guides.
Book Riot
This is the best parenting book I read in a very long time. I recommended it to everyone I could.... After reading through this cultural history of parenting, I feel so much better about many of my parenting choices.
Wall Street Journal
Traig mocks contemporary and historical parenting advice with usually spot-on dark humor…. The upside of reading “Act Natural” is that you feel better about whatever nonsense your children have committed, which is the point.
Neal Pollack
Meticulously researched, engagingly written, and often extremely funny, this excellent book will make you feel much better about your own lousy parenting techniques and decisions.
Wall Street Journal
Traig mocks contemporary and historical parenting advice with usually spot-on dark humor…. The upside of reading “Act Natural” is that you feel better about whatever nonsense your children have committed, which is the point.
Neal Pollack
Meticulously researched, engagingly written, and often extremely funny, this excellent book will make you feel much better about your own lousy parenting techniques and decisions.
Booklist (starred review)
With a dry wit, and brutal honesty about her own parenting experience, Traig weaves personal anecdotes throughout this thoroughly researched, incredibly interesting read.... Completely refreshing. Much like parenting itself, Act Natural will teach readers something new in one moment and make them laugh out loud the next.
JANUARY 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Emily Woo Zeller delivers this captivating history of how civilizations across the world raise children. Zeller captures the author’s humor and irony without overshadowing her mission: to give fretting parents a reprieve from overly ambitious parenting advice. Her understated, often charming performance will hold listeners’ attention, giving them time to absorb the colorful stories and insights Jennifer Traig has compiled. This audiobook delivers the weight of its views indirectly over many hours, rather than being too explicit. Zeller’s skillful unfolding and the author’s natural sense of irony make this an entertaining and memorable lesson for parents who are being driven crazy by unrealistic expectations of themselves. T.W. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
