Evelyn
- Now Online
Evelyn
- About the Book
- Any parent may ask "What's the connection between my youthful self and the old fart my kids think I am?" For Evelyn McDonnell, a Janie-come-lately breeder looking back on her bohemian, feminist, punk-rock glory days, the question took her down an introspective road filled with pop epiphanies and baby spew.
"Is the new me still the old me?" McDonnell wondered. The answer is yes: A baby changes everything but your self. Though she may no longer write fanzines or engage in political performance art, McDonnell's revolutionary spirit is strengthened by having added investment in the future-her toddler son and teenaged stepdaughters.
As she makes the transformation from Riot Grrrl to Rebel Mom, this music journalist gives an eye-witness 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. - Reviews
- "This is an exhilarating story of one woman's quest for coolness: as a rebel, a rock writer, a New York hipster, a Miami mom. If you've ever loved music, questioned authority, or wanted to be a pirate instead of a princess, Mamarama is essential reading."
-- Julie Phillips, author of James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
"In Mamarama, Evelyn McDonnell delivers a bouncing, bawling, sprawling portrait of her generation. As a rock critic, she has a finely-tuned ear for the riffs and refrains of evolving popular culture: the backlash,irony, and cross-pollination from which we each learn to make sense of the world. But then McDonnell trains these critical skills on the vicissitudes of her own life. The result is moving and surprising-a familiar lick performed in an entirely revolutionary way."
-- Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home: A Tragicomic
"This is a punk-rock love letter to rocker chicks, the f-word, wayward teens, Midwest lugs, hip-hop, and, finally, a little man who awakened Evelyn McDonnell's dormant mom genes and touched her revolution grrrlheart. We thank her journalistic ass for keeping notes all these years."
-- Lynn Breedlove, author of Godspeed
"A heartfelt treatise on punk motherhood, Mamarama is a great name for a band---a generation of riotmoms transforming parenting roles like they once stormed the mosh pit. A new feminist-womanist breed of breeders is emerging, the great goddesses are rejoicing, and our mother's gardensare blooming."
-- Donna Gaines, Ph.D., author, A Misfit's Manifesto and TeenageWasteland - Contact:
- Please direct all press inquiries to:
Kate Kazeniac, Da Capo/Perseus Books,
Phone: 617-252-5216.
Email: kate.kazeniac@perseusbooks.com
To reach Evelyn McDonnell, please email her at:
info@mamaramabook.com
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09.Mar.07, 01:53 GMT
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The Last Laugh
The Dark Knight (which opened last weekend), started surfacing a few weeks ago, I couldnt help but be cynical. Critics, reputable ones, used words like "brilliant (Rolling Stone) and terrifying (New York Times) to describe the late Heath Ledgers performance as the Joker. Folks were chanting Oscar before the thing even got spooled up on the reels.
In stills from the film, the character appeared shabby and greasy like Johnny Depps Willy Wonka with a bad hangover. And how brilliant could a grown man in smeared clown makeup possibly be? Were talkin Batman here, not Gone With the Wind.
And then I saw The Dark Knight for myself. All I can say is HOLY CRAP!
Its tempting to bust out all the appropriate critic-speak (multi-layered, nuanced, electrifying, etc.), but none of it would be adequate to describe how amazing Ledgers Joker truly is. Its almost as if the drab clothing and half-assed makeup (it looked half-assed, but was somehow perfect) created an empty vessel for the actor to fill with a numbing, complicated evil.
Director Christopher Nolan promised that we would be blown away by the Joker. And I am. Unlike the vain, stylish Jack Nicholson Joker from Tim Burtons 1989 Batman, Ledgers villain is intelligent, droll, unspeakably cruel, and absolutely relentless. Its not greed or a lust for power that drives him: Its a sociopathic rage so deep that he seems to have forgotten exactly where it came from.
And if the empty vessel idea seems a bit on the philosophical side, Nolans interpretation of the character is very much a study in Eastern philosophy and Western psychology. In a particularly tense scene with Aaron Eckhart (in the dual role of good guy Harvey Dent and bad guy Two-Face), Ledgers Joker, disturbing even in a nurses uniform and a wig, sums it up like this: Im an agent of chaos and we all know what chaos is. He leans into Eckhart and mutters seductively, Fear.
As with all great film villains, this Joker is also charming as hell. He may be Gacy-style crazy, but the guy never loses his cool. And even though this film is two and a half hours long (youll need a catheter to watch the whole thing comfortably), it flies by. In my estimation, Christian Bale as Batman is kind of an empty (bat)suit compared to the titanic talent of the supporting cast (Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal). But, with Ledger around, it hardly matters. Batman is simply there to give the Joker something to do.
I can say, unequivocally, that I believe Ledger deserves an Oscar for this performance and not because he got robbed for 2005s Brokeback Mountain (as did director Ang Lee, who should have won Best Picture over the forgettable Crash), but because hes created a truly iconic character. And, though critics suspect Ledgers posthumous Oscar will remain out of reach because the Batman franchise is viewed as popcorn fare, I would argue that his performance is every bit as thought-provoking and intense as Javier Bardems villainous turn in 2007s No Country for Old Men. Bardem, who won Best Supporting Actor last year, played a similar character in the film but his role required only a fraction of the vivid, warped mania that Ledger had to conjure for The Dark Knight.
Though Ill refrain from buying into the rumor that the sleeping pills and anxiety medication that caused his accidental overdose were a byproduct of the role, I will say that its a shame this talented guy, only 28 at the time of his passing, couldnt have stuck around longer.