I just finished this book, and I was disappointed to recognize many sections of it as coming from another book that I am currently reading, Milk, Money, and Madness. I don’t think the author exactly plagiarized, but its pretty close. For example, Cassidy says in Birth
“At Dublin Foundling Hospital, of ten thousand hand-fed infants between 1775 and 1796, only forty-five survived infancy, an astounding mortality rate of 99.6 percent.”

In Milk, Money, and Madness, it reads
“At the Dublin Foundling Asylum during 1775-96, where dry nursing was in vogue, only 45 children survived out of 10,272-a horrendous 99.6% mortality rate.”

Just a few paragraphs later Cassidy says
“The ignorance and confusion surrounding bottle preparation spurred Nathan Straus, owner of Macy’s department store in New York, to give away pasteurized milk to poor children at philanthropic “stations,” a concept that had also taken hold in Europe…”

Milk, Money, and Madness says
“Milk stations were soon all the fashion. At the turn of the century, “milk depots” were established in France, Britain, and the United States… In New York, Nathan Strauss of Macy’s, working through health department clinics, organized milk stations where pasteurized, bottled milk was provided free for the needy and at low cost to others.”

You get my point. I saw dozens of these kinds of passages, which was a real turn-off. Milk, Money, and Madness came out 11 years earlier, and apparently used fantastic sources since Cassidy lifted passages like the ones above.

My other complaint is that Cassidy swings back and forth throughout the text. First she talks about how its a miracle that any of us can survive childbirth and that we’ll soon all need C-sections because our kids keep getting bigger and bigger. Then she talks about how doctors are killing us all and homebirths with midwives are safer. Then she says she’d never homebirth.

I’m very glad that I read this after my latest pregnancy. Cassidy admits that she doesn’t trust her body, and it is evident in the text. I wouldn’t recommend this book to a pregnant woman.

Cassidy has some really cool pictures in here though. The chapter on C-sections was horrifying, but really interesting at the same time. I feel so many mixed emotions about this book. I’m glad that I read it, but I wonder if the sections that I liked could’ve been found in other books.

Although Barbara Brown Taylor is coming from a different place than I am theologically, I am still very glad that I chose to read this book. Her descriptions of life as clergy gave me new respect for the clergy members in my life. It is easy to view clergy as different, even the clergy members that I know, but her descriptions of how she felt when people treated her differently were more than a little thought provoking.

I think she reminded me that it is OK to go through different seasons in your life with regards to church. She also encouraged me to explore some of the early church writings on finding God in nature, and I have really been enjoying that discovery. Her thoughts on theological and doctrinal debates made me pause and ponder.

I don’t think many of her ideas are orthodox, at least not for the kinds of churches that I have always attended, but that didn’t bother me. There is still plenty to learn.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. :)

When my mother-in-law gave me this book, I was a bit skeptical. Some of her past suggestions included directions on how to pick the proper switch for your child. Thankfully this book wasn’t like that – or at least she was not as outspoken about punitive ideas.

Overall I agree with this book. She has some great ideas and I think it gives a good kick-in-the-pants for parents who have slacked off in the food department. She comes across a bit militant, but that’s easy to ignore ;)

My main complaint is that I was not at all impressed with her recipe for “formula”. It reminded me of something L. Ron Hubbard would suggest.

I’m not sorry that I read it, but I would only suggest it to my friends who know enough about nutrition to ignore her bad advice and formula recipe.