MARTHA BECK is a writer, life coach, and columnist for O, the Oprah Magazine. She has a B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard. Beck's other books include the New York Times bestseller Finding Your Own North Star, Leaving the Saints, The Four Day Win, The Joy Diet, and Steering by Starlight. Dr. Beck lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her family.
“A wonderful book, funny, unbelievably tender, and smart. It
shimmers.”—Anne Lamott
“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
“A rueful, riveting, piercingly funny, thoroughly modern, and
deeply old-fashioned memoir. In short, a book to be reckoned
with.”—Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way
“I can't believe I almost didn't read this book. The thing is, I
thought it was about a lady who had a baby with Down Syndrome. This
is like saying Anna Karenina is a book about a lady who commits
suicide. In fact, this book is about matters so important and yet
so totally way-out that I would accept no one but a comic genius
with seven years at Harvard under her belt telling me about them.
That’s Martha Beck: funny, companionable, razor-sharp,
down-to-earth, and onto the Big Secrets of Life Itself. Anyone
considering having a child should have to read this book. It has
changed some of my thinking about pregnancy and about children with
disabilities, and I don’t think it’s too much to say it could
change my life.”—Marion Winik, author of First Comes Love and The
Lunchbox Chronicles
“Expecting Adam is not one of those grit-your-teeth,
lemons-into-lemonade sagas that leave the reader feeling more
besieged and guilty than the writer. It is a long hymn, from a
practical woman caught flatfooted by amazing grace. Martha Beck is
a celebrant skeptics can trust.”—Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The
Most Wanted and The Deep End of the Ocean
“I laughed. I cried. I couldn't put it down. I didn't want it to
end. I wish I knew Adam and his family—and of course I do. A brave,
uplifting, life-transforming book.”—Sophy Burnham, author of A Book
of Angels
“With uncommon sense and dependable wit, Martha Beck unravels every
assumption about the meaning of life, choice, love--and the wisdom
of pursuing happiness through any of the usual routes. If Expecting
Adam raises suspicions among more rational readers that Martha Beck
is slightly crazy, it raised my hopes that I’d catch it from
her.”—Mary Kay Blakely, author of American Mom
Perhaps best known as a columnist for O, the Oprah Magazine, Beck has an MA and a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. Here, she tells a very personal story. After years of working toward academic goals, Beck found herself unexpectedly pregnant. When told that their baby would have Down syndrome, she and her husband opted to follow their instincts rather than trust that medical professionals would know what was best for their family. The ways in which their goals and lives change are bittersweet. VERDICT Read by Earphones Award winner Joyce Bean, the memoir is quiet and gentle, allowing the listener time to absorb the story line.-Pam Kingsbury, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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