While countless breastfeeding guides crowd bookshelves, not one of them speaks to women with anything approaching bestselling author Fiona Giles's level of intimacy and vitality. In Fresh Milk, through a provocative collection of stories, memories, and personal accounts, Giles uncovers the myths and truths of the lactating breast. From the young mother grappling with the bewildering trappings of maternity wear to the woman who finds herself surprisingly aroused by new sensations, and the modern dad who learns the ins and outs of breastfeeding, the portraits in Giles's eye-opening book offer a funny, wise, and comforting resource for women -- and even their friends and partners who have had, or expect, intimate experiences with the pleasures and pain of lactation. By turns poignant and informative, sexy and witty, empathic and empowering, Fresh Milk delivers everything we wanted to know about breastfeeding that our mothers never told us. This is not your typical book on breast-feeding. Giles, author of Dick for a Day , which asked a group of female writers the question, What would you do if you had a dick for a day? turns her attention here to the lactating breast. Ranging in subject from nursing bras to breast-milk banks, the collection includes personal essays, short fiction, and responses to questionnaires. Notable selections include an essay in which a woman expresses indignation over the discovery that her baby was breast-fed by another woman at day care. Despite the ubiquity of images of (nonlactating) female breasts in the media, Giles argues that the topic remains somewhat taboo--at least in circles beyond baby showers and new-mother discussion groups. Even those venues may shy away from such topics as sexual arousal during breast-feeding, or at least be a bit shocked by the essay from an adult-film producer who specializes in "lactation porn" and whose best-sellers include The Battle of the Ultra Milkmaids and Lactation Nation . A fascinating look at breast-feeding as a personal and social phenomenon. Beth Leistensnider Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Hope Edelman author of Motherless Daughters and Mother of My Mother Provocative and insightful, surprising and occasionally irreverent, Fresh Milk is a lactation primer for the twenty-first century. Marilyn Yalom author of A History of the Breast and A History of the Wife This is NOT your everyday breastfeeding manual. It is a fascinating, quirky... funny collection of stories about breastfeeding that should be read by all women who are nursing or intend to nurse." Noelle Oxenhandler author of The Eros of Parenthood Fresh Milk provides a witty, moving, and compassionate reservoir of honest and intimate experiences....I have no doubt that it will provide a rich and comforting sustenance for mothers and their broods for generations to come. Bernice L. Hausman author of Mother's Milk Fresh Milk is precisely the kind of book that I wish I had had while breastfeeding my own kids. Off-beat, even raunchy at times, the accounts presented by Giles remind us that nursing narratives aren't limited to stories between mothers and infants, that breastfeeding is already present in our lives in ways that we don't even fully realize. Fiona Giles is an Australian scholar, writer, and feminist. A graduate of Oxford University, she lives in Sydney with her partner and two sons. Used Book in Good Condition